China warns against force as North Korea
prepares celebration
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[April 13, 2017]
By Michael Martina and Sue-Lin Wong
BEIJING/PYONGYANG (Reuters) - Military
force cannot resolve tension over North Korea, China said on Thursday,
while an influential Chinese newspaper urged the North to halt its
nuclear program in exchange for Chinese protection.
With a U.S. aircraft carrier group steaming to the area and tension
rising, South Korea said it believed the United States would consult it
before any pre-emptive strike against the North.
Fears have been growing that the reclusive North could soon conduct its
sixth nuclear test or more missile launches in defiance of U.N.
sanctions and stark warnings from the United States that a policy of
patience was over.
China, North Korea's sole major ally and benefactor, which nevertheless
opposes its weapons program, has called for talks leading to a peaceful
resolution and the denuclearization of the peninsula.
"Military force cannot resolve the issue," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang
Yi told reporters in Beijing.
"Amid challenge there is opportunity. Amid tensions we will also find a
kind of opportunity to return to talks."
While U.S. President Donald Trump has put North Korea on notice that he
would not tolerate any provocation, U.S. officials have said his
administration was focusing its strategy on tougher economic sanctions.
Trump has diverted the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group towards
the Korean peninsula, which could take more than a week to arrive, in a
show of force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting another
nuclear test or launching more missiles to coincide with important
events and anniversaries.
The possibility of U.S. military action gained traction after the U.S.
Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield last week in
response to a deadly gas attack.
Wang warned that history would hold any instigator to account.
"Whoever provokes the situation, whoever continues to make trouble in
this place, they will have to assume historical responsibility," Wang
said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told parliament in Seoul he
believed Washington would consult Seoul if it was considering a
pre-emptive strike. The United States has about 28,500 troops in South
Korea.
A Washington-based think-tank that monitors North Korea, 38 North, said
satellite images on Wednesday showed activity around the North's
Punggye-ri nuclear test site on the east coast that indicated it was
ready for a new test.
South Korean officials said there were no new signs to indicate a test
was more likely, although they also said the North appeared ready to
conduct a test at any time.
An influential state-backed Chinese newspaper said the best option for
North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Un, was to give up its nuclear
program, and China would protect it if it did.
"As soon as North Korea complies with China's declared advice and
suspends nuclear activities ... China will actively work to protect the
security of a denuclearized North Korean nation and regime," said an
editorial in the Global Times, which is published by the Communist
party's People's Daily.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe underscored fears about threats from
North Korea, telling parliament in Tokyo that Pyongyang could have the
capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas.
A senior Japanese diplomat said the United States was putting "maximum
pressure" on North Korea to resolve issues peacefully while putting
responsibility on China to sway its old ally.
"We will watch what action China takes," the diplomat said.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves to people cheering during an
opening ceremony of a newly constructed residential complex in
Ryomyong street in Pyongyang, North Korea April 13, 2017.
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
While Japan did not see a high risk of military action, it expected
to be consulted by the United States if it decided to attack. North
Korea has about 350 missiles that can hit Japan.
"DAY OF THE SUN"
About 200 foreign journalists gathered in Pyongyang for North
Korea's biggest national day, the "Day of the Sun", were taken to
what officials billed as a "big and important event" early on
Thursday.
It turned out to be the opening of a new street in the center of the
capital, attended by leader Kim.
North Korea marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of state
founder Kim Il Sung on Saturday. In 2012, it tried but failed to
launch a long-range rocket carrying a satellite to mark the date and
tested a newly developed intermediate-range missile last year.
North Korea's official KCNA news agency said early on Thursday that
Kim Jong Un had guided training of the army's special operation
forces jumping from aircraft.
On Tuesday, North Korea warned of a nuclear attack on the United
States at any sign of American aggression. The North is technically
at war with the United States and South Korea after the 1950-53
Korean War ended in a truce and not a peace treaty.
The North regularly threatens to destroy both countries.
U.S. officials said Trump was considering sanctions that could
include an oil embargo, banning North Korea's airline, intercepting
cargo ships, and punishing Chinese banks doing business with it.
"There's a whole host of things that are possible, all the way up to
what's essentially a trade quarantine on North Korea," one official,
speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters in Washington.
Customs data in Beijing on Thursday showed that China's coal imports
from North Korea had plunged 51.6 percent in the first three months
in 2017 from a year ago.
China suspended issue of permits for coal imports from North Korea
on Feb. 18 as part of its effort to implement U.N. sanctions.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on
Wednesday, just days after they met in the United States for the
first time, underscoring the sense of urgency about North Korea.
Trump said on Twitter his call with Xi was a "very good" discussion
of the "menace of North Korea". He said later on Wednesday the
United States was prepared to tackle the crisis without China, if
necessary.
(Additional reporting by Natalie Thomas in PYONGYANG, Ju-min Park
and James Pearson in SEOUL, Christian Shepherd in BEIJING, Linda
Sieg in TOKYO, and Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom and Jeff Mason
in WASHINGTON; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel)
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