China says more talks needed after U.S. comments on Beijing's position on North Korea

Record ID: 875969

  • Title: China says more talks needed after U.S. comments on Beijing's position on North Korea
  • Date: 26th May 2017
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (MAY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LU KANG WALKING IN FOR REGULAR BRIEFING MEDIA SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LU KANG SAYING: "If all sides cannot get back to the negotiating table as soon as possible it's obviously not going to help solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula, and is obviously not helpful for peace and stability on the peninsula. We always maintain that all relevant parties should display flexibility and move forward together to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. We have also continuously advocated restarting the six-party talks as soon as possible and through this solve the issue. All sides need to work hard together." BRIEFING IN PROGRESS EXTERIOR OF CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY CHINESE NATIONAL FLAG FLYING
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2017 11:09
  • Keywords: negotiation nuclear programme Susan Thornton foreign ministry
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA
  • City: BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016IH5OHZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: China said on Friday (May 26) more talks on North Korea were needed after a senior U.S. State Department official said Beijing has realised it has limited time to rein in North Korea's nuclear programme through negotiations and is open to further sanctions against Pyongyang.
    Susan Thornton, the acting assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs told a news briefing in Beijing that China understood that the U.S. viewed the North Korea situation as an urgent "time-limited problem set". Pyongyang has conducted dozens of missile tests, the most recent last Sunday, and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of 2016, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. It says the programme is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.
    Thornton said the United States was looking at discussing with China a new U.N. Security Council resolution on pre-negotiated measures to reduce delays in any response to further nuclear tests or other provocations from the North.
    Asked about Thornton's comments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China supports the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula through talks and strictly implements U.N. Security Council resolutions. While China believes sanctions against North Korea "don't work overnight", Thornton said there were no indications Beijing had gone cold on potentially implementing more of them against Pyongyang.
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