China opposes 'military provocation' on Korean Peninsula - Summary

Thu, 25 Nov 2010

Beijing - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his government opposes "any military provocation" on the Korean Peninsula and urged all sides to exercise "maximum restraint," state media reported Thursday.

"China has all along devoted itself to maintaining the Peninsula's peace and stability, and opposes military provocation in any form," Wen was quoted as saying during talks in Moscow with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"Under the current serious and complex circumstances, all concerned parties should exert maximum restraint and the international community should make more efforts conducive to easing the tension," he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said later Wednesday that China "expresses concern" over plans for a US-South Korean joint naval exercise from Sunday, which Washington said would include the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington.

Hong also said Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had postponed a planned visit to South Korea due to scheduling problems.

"We express gratitude to South Korea for the arrangement and will communicate with South Korea to negotiate another time for the visit," Hong told reporters.

Wen's remarks were the first reported comments by a Chinese leader since a North Korean artillery bombardment of a South Korean island that left two soldiers and two civilians dead and injured another 18 people Tuesday.

Hong avoided blaming North Korea for the exchange of fire, saying Chinese officials had "noted that there are different views of the cause of the incident."

The official Xinhua news agency quoted Wen as saying the resumption of six-nation talks was an "essential way to secure stability and denuclearization on the Peninsula."

The agency said Medvedev told Wen that Russia supported an early return to the stalled talks, which involve North Korea, the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia and are aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

North Korea on Thursday threatened new attacks against the South and rejected a proposal by the United Nations Command to hold talks, South Korean media reports said.

The United Nations Command is tasked with monitoring the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea blamed the South and its ally the United States for the clash that set Yeonpyeong island on fire and forced many residents to flee.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/355155,korean-peninsula-summary.html.