By Shannon Tiezzi
China’s special representative on Korean affairs is in the US this weeks for talks with his American counterpart.
The U.S. and Chinese special representatives for North Korean policy are meeting in the U.S. this week. Glyn Davies is hosting his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei for a series of discussions in New York City and Washington DC. Meetings took place in New York Monday and Tuesday, with discussions expected to wrap up in DC on Friday, according to the U.S. State Department.
The ongoing talks over North Korea come after Pyongyang threatened to carry out a “new form” of nuclear test. The statement from North Korea tied its threat to condemnation of its recent missile tests from the UN Security Council. Pyongyang fired two mid-range ballistic missiles in late March of this year, a move that the United States called “a troubling and provocative escalation.” For its part, North Korea said the missile tests were themselves a response to provocations from the U.S. and South Korea, namely, their bilateral annual military exercises recently conducted on the Korean Peninsula. Meanwhile, two rudimentary North Korean drones crashed in South Korean territory in early April.
China has been watching the rise in Korean tensions with concern. On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying fielded a general question on the Korean Peninsula, possibly as a way to provide an official Chinese statement on the issue while Wu is in the United States. “To safeguard peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia and push forward denuclearization serves the common interests of all parties concerned,” Hua said. In this context, China denounced both “joint military drills and the threat of nuclear tests,” effectively laying equal blame on North Korea and the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
Read the full story at The Diplomat