Beijing calls on US to suspend military drills

published: 2017-03-21 15:01:04 (16 Mar 2017) China said on Thursday that the best way to halt the escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula was for the US to suspend its military drills with South Korea and for North Korea to halt its nuclear capacity and development. The comments came from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a regular briefing and were in response to comments made by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a news conference in Tokyo. On his first visit to Asia, Tillerson called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, saying the isolated nation “need not fear” the United States or its neighbours. Tillerson also urged China to use its economic leverage over North Korea to push it to change course. Japan is his first stop on a tour that also takes him to South Korea and China. In Thursday’s briefing Hua reiterated that China’s proposal of both sides backing down was “objective, fair and quite reasonable.” She suggested that if the US or others had a better proposal then they should speak out. Tensions are running high on the divided Korean Peninsula, and North Korea last week launched four missiles into seas off Japan and where the US is currently conducting annual military drills with South Korea. Pyongyang views the drills as a rehearsal for invasion. North Korea has accelerated its weapons development in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and despite tough sanctions levied against it. Last year, the North conducted two nuclear test explosions and 24 ballistic missile tests.

Experts say it could have a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States within a few years.