In its joint declaration, the fifth CICA meeting of foreign ministers said they “condemn in the strongest terms” North Korea’s January 6 nuclear test and launches that used ballistic missile technology on February 7, April 15 and April 23 “in violation and flagrant disregard of the UN Security Council’s relevant resolutions”.
Advertisement
The foreign ministers of Russian Federation and China are expressing their joint opposition to the USA deployment of an anti-missile system in South Korea and say non-claimants shouldn’t take sides in the dispute over the South China Sea.
Wang reiterated China’s insistence that there should be no nuclear weapons on the peninsula, no matter whether they were possessed by the north or the south side, and no matter whether they were developed locally or introduced from the outside.
“The move goes beyond the actual defence needs of relevant countries”.
China has for the second time in as many months officially protested Washington’s expected deployment of an advanced missile system in the Korean peninsula.
North Korea test-fired what appeared to be two intermediate range ballistic missiles on Thursday, but both failed, according to the USA military.
North Korea is expected to conduct another nuclear test before the rare congress, set to begin on May 6, at which young leader Kim Jong Un is expected to try to cement his leadership. The North routinely threatens to destroy South Korea and its major ally, the United States. “Today, the UN Security Council held unofficial deliberations and discussed ways to respond to North Korea’s launch of the Musudan missiles”, a source at the UN said on April 28.
Pledging that the region would not plunge into chaos due to the actions of the neighbouring North Korea, Xi said: “As a close neighbour of the peninsula, we will absolutely not permit war or chaos on the peninsula”. Pyongyang followed that test with launches of various missiles that it hopes will eventually be able to deliver a nuclear warhead.
North Korea’s diplomatic isolation has grown with provocations.
The six-party talks among China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas have been stalled since late 2008, when Pyongyang walked out.
Lavrov accused Washington of using North Korea’s nuclear tests and ballistic missile tests as “an excuse, as a pretext” to deploy a “global antiballistic missile defense”.
Stressing that China greatly values its cooperation with Russia, Wang said Beijing was ready to work with Moscow to ensure the success of Putin’s China visit.
He added: “China fully complies with the UN Security Council resolution on North Korea”.
Advertisement
Last Saturday, April 23, it successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile – a move that was promptly condemned by the UN Security Council.
