China urges united efforts on Korean Peninsula nuclear issue

China on Tuesday criticised what it said were “irresponsible” remarks made by a US official this week calling for Beijing to do more to curb North Korea’s banned nuclear program.

Experts warn of the dangers posed by North Korea if it succeeds in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit them into missiles and successfully develops SLBM technology, which will boost the range and strength of its arsenal.

Blair said that the US should make an “authoritative statement” warning the North that “a major conventional attack would be defeated by combined forces of the Republic of Korea and the United States and a WMD attack would be met with a devastating retaliatory nuclear strike by the United States”.

However, analysts say China sometimes appears to be hesitant about imposing additional penalties on its neighbor because of competing interests.

Jingdong Yuan, of the University of Sydney’s Centre for International Security Studies, said that even so, Beijing might be open to discussion on the proposed new sanctions, such as more stringent inspections of cargo through Chinese ports with regard to a list of sanctioned items.

Another official said the U.S. plans to carry out a further show of its power as part of its campaign to deter Pyongyang from conducting more nuclear tests.

The United States, South Korea and Japan should reassess whether American “extended deterrence” is still strong enough to counter growing nuclear threats from North Korea, a former top USA military commander said Monday.

Also, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China’s support is crucial for passage of any UN penalties against North Korea.

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of China’s Foreign Ministry, speaks at a regular news conference, in Beijing, China, January 6, 2016.

The six-party talks were launched in 2003 with the aim of solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, but stalled in December 2008. “It calls for concerted efforts of all parties to work toward the same direction”.

The six-party talks include China, North Korea, South Korea, the United States, Russia and Japan.

No government, including Pyongyang, Seoul, or the United States, should have nuclear arms on the Korean Peninsula, Sergei Lavrov said.