A man looks from a boat at the port near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, across the Yalu River from Dandong in China’s Liaoning Province, April 1, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Damir Sagolj
Beijing: China would step up its protection of North Korea should the isolated state halt its nuclear programme, an editorial in a state-backed newspaper said on Thursday, as Beijing tries to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea’s continued nuclear and missile testing programme has prompted the US to send a navy carrier group to near the Korean peninsula in a show of force aimed at detering more tests.
North Korea marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung on Saturday (April 15), North Korea’s biggest national day called “Day of the Sun”. Leaders have in the past used the date to carry out weapons tests.
China, North Korea’s main ally, has called for a peaceful resolution of the Korean tensions.
“As soon as the North Korea complies with China’s declared advice and suspends nuclear activities… China will actively work to protect the security of a denuclearised North Korean nation and regime,” said the editorial in the Global Times, which is published by the People’s Daily, the Communist party’s official paper.
“This is Pyongyang’s best option,” it added.
North Korea has launched several missile tests this year, the latest on April 5 when it fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast. It conducted its fifth nuclear test on September 9, 2016.
China’s foreign ministry on April 12 reiterated Beijing’s position of calming the situation via a “dual suspension” of North Korea’s nuclear tests and the US’s joint military drills with South Korea.
The main goal of North Korea’s nuclear programme is to protect the country’s security and to place itself on an even footing with the US, the Global Times said in the editorial in its Chinese language edition.
But North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are merely a “utopia”, given US military might and UN Security Council sanctions.
“North Korea is currently just about the world’s most isolated country, it is already totally blocked-off,” the paper said. “A modern state cannot continue to exist like this.”