Daily US Times, Beijing: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on the US to take ‘concrete steps’ with North Korea to deliver what was agreed between the two nations at their Singapore meeting last year.
He said this in a year-end interview with People’s Daily, the Chinese state-controlled newspaper.
Mr Yi said. China encourages moves from both countries to establish peace and denuclearization on the Peninsula.
He mentioned the recent tension between the two countries after the failure of the Hanoi Summit and the ‘legitimate concerns of the DPRK has not been taken seriously or addressed.’
In a joint statement after the Hanoi Summit, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ‘reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula’, and US President Trump agreed to ‘provide security guarantees’ to North Korea.
But North Korea has continued its nuclear program since then, and further insisted the US to lift all sanctions on the country.
Tensions between the nations have raised in recent days when a North Korean official warned that it might deliver ‘a Christmas gift’ if the US doesn’t take any step to remove sanctions.
President Trump reportedly joking this comment by saying he is ready to handle North Korea’s gift.
‘Maybe it’s present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. I may get a vase. I may get a nice present from him. You don’t know. You never know’, Trump said in his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday.
The US military officials are closely watching North Korea’s actions. The commander of Pacific Air Forces said it was possible for North Korea to launch a long-range missile.
China and Russia impact
Amid speculations of North Korea’s long-range missile test, it is still a ‘very low’ chance in reality. A familiar source with the North Korean leadership’s current mindset told CNN that if the country would conduct a provocative test like a satellite launch, firing an ICBM, or detonating a nuclear weapon, that would be provocating to China and Russia as well because they have the similar capability too. China and Russia are the most important trading partner of North Korea.
It is believed that China is the source of North Korea’s 90% imports, and also buy a large amount of coal from the country.
China has been an advocate for resolving tensions with the isolated country.
