China today said it was opposed to close-ally North Korea's latest ballistic missile test but asserted that the crux of Pyongyang's missile launches issue was its dispute with the US and South Korea.
China today said it was opposed to close-ally North Korea's latest ballistic missile test but asserted that the crux of Pyongyang's missile launches issue was its dispute with the US and South Korea.
China was opposed to the test-launch of a ballistic missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which was in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.
He said China calls for parties concerned to exercise restraint and maintain regional stability.
China will take constructive and responsible part in the relevant discussion in the UN Security Council (UNSC) to finalise a response to North Korea's missile test, which is the first after US President Donald Trump took over power.
The DPRK today claimed it successfully test-fired a surface-to-surface medium- and long-range ballistic missile Pukguksong-2 and its top leader Kim Jong Un guided the test firing, state news agency KCNA reported.
The test conducted yesterday coincided with the meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the US to firm up their military alliance and work out a response to the nuclear and military threats posed by Pyongyang.
In his briefing, Geng, while replying to questions on how China would resolve the crisis in the Korean peninsula in the backdrop of nuclear and missile threats by North Korea, said, "the root cause of the (North Korea) nuclear missile issue is its differences with the US and South Korea." "We have been pointing repeatedly from this podium that the crux and the cause of the Korean nuclear issue is the dispute between DPRK and US. China has been faithfully implanting the UNSC resolutions in their entirety," he said.
While supporting UNSC resolutions imposing a spate of crippling sanctions against North Korea, China opposed any military action on Pyongyang which remains its close ally.
The missile test poses a major challenge to Trump.
Appearing with Trump at a news conference, Abe yesterday condemned the missile launch as "absolutely intolerable".
He read a brief statement calling on North Korea to comply fully with relevant UNSC resolutions. Abe said Trump had assured him of US support and that Trump's presence showed the president's determination and commitment.
Trump, for his part, had said, "I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 per cent."
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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