US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday agreed on the need for a significant new UN Security Council resolution targeting North Korea after its Jan. 6 nuclear test, in talks that also addressed the issue of militarization in the South China Sea.
Kerry, on a two-day visit to Beijing — had been expected to press China — North Korea’s lone major backer, for more curbs on Pyongyang after it said it had successfully conducted a test of a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device, although the US has voiced skepticism over its power.
China says it is already making great efforts to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and Wang rejected any “groundless speculation” on its North Korea stance, following remarks from US officials that China could do more.
Photo: AFP
“We agreed that the UN Security Council needs to take further action and pass a new resolution,” Wang told reporters at a joint briefing with Kerry. “In the meantime, we must point out that the new resolution should not provoke new tensions.”
The two sides had agreed to an “accelerated effort” at the UN to reach a “strong resolution that introduces significant new measures” to curtail North Korea’s ability to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Kerry said.
“It’s not enough to agree on the goal. We believe we need to agree on the meaningful steps necessary to get the achievement of the goal,” Kerry said.
The exchange of goods and services between China and North Korea was one area where steps could be taken to pressure Pyongyang back to talks, he said.
Shipping, aviation, trade of resources, including coal and fuel and security at border customs, were key areas in the sanctions debate, Kerry said.
“All nations, particularly those that seek a global leadership role, share a fundamental responsibility to meet this challenge with a united front,” Kerry said.
The US would take “all necessary steps” to honor security commitments to allies, he said, signaling that the US was prepared to continue ramping up its military presence in the region, a move that is likely to unsettle Beijing.
After talks yesterday, which went hours past schedule, Kerry said details still had not been set.
In a sign that Beijing could be reluctant to take a more hardline stance on North Korea, Xinhua news agency said it was “unrealistic to rely merely on China to press the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] to abandon its nuclear program, as long as the US continues an antagonistic approach wrought from a Cold War mentality.”
“Bear in mind that China-DPRK ties should not be understood as a top-down relationship where the latter follows every bit of advice offered by the former,” Xinhua said.
Kerry said that a need for the US and China to find a way forward on easing tension in the South China Sea weighed heavily in talks.
“I stressed the importance of finding common ground among the claimants and avoiding a destabilizing cycle of mistrust or escalation,” Kerry said. “Foreign Minister Wang Yi accepted the idea that it would be worth exploring whether or not there was a way to reduce the tensions and solve some of the challenges through diplomacy.”
Wang said China’s activities in the region, which have elicited unease from the US and its allies, should not be construed as militarization.
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