China's foreign minister says North Korea still an international “security issue”

Record ID: 905573

  • Title: China's foreign minister says North Korea still an international “security issue”
  • Date: 7th August 2017
  • Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (AUGUST 7, 2017) (REUTERS) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER, WANG YI, WALKING DOWN STAIRS FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER, WANG YI, SAYING: "The international community has told North Korea to abandon its development of nuclear warheads and to maintain the international proliferation regime, this is a security issue. While the North Korean side believes, it has been threatened and pressured militarily, which is also a security issue. Sorry (apologises to journalist). So, the (Korean) peninsula nuclear issue is not an economic issue but a security issue." CAMERAMAN POINTING CAMERA AT WANG (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER, WANG YI, SAYING: "But on the other hand, there are some countries that are not part of the South China Sea region, I should say some countries, whose understanding of the issue not only remains in the past but who also do not see the positive changes occurring in the South China Sea, and do not want to endorse the valuable progress that China and ASEAN have made through concerted efforts." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER, WANG YI, SAYING: "Is it that some countries do not want to see greater stability in the South China Sea? Is it that greater stability in the South China Sea does not serve their own interests? I think everyone can think about this issue." WANG WALKING AWAY, FOLLOWED BY OFFICIALS
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2017 15:08
  • Keywords: Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi North Korea missile test ASEAN
  • Location: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
  • City: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016T5ROZP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday (August 7) that North Korea remained a "security issue" after Pyongyang expressed outrage at U.N. sanctions imposed on Saturday (August 5) in response to two intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
    Wang said the issue was fundamentally a security matter, not an economic one, as North Korea believed it faced an external security threat, while other parties saw Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes as a threat.
    Wang also said that a statement issued by the United States and Japan calling for a binding code of conduct in the South China Sea showed that "some countries" remained "in the past with their knowledge of the issue".
    Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on Sunday (August 6) adopted a negotiating framework for a code of conduct, a move that they hailed as progress, but one that was seen by critics as a tactic to buy China time to consolidate its maritime power. Several ASEAN countries want the code to be legally binding and enforceable and to have a dispute resolution mechanism.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register