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U.S. State Secretary Rex Tillerson, left, passes by the table of Chinese
Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the start of the 7th East Asia Summit
Foreign Ministers' Meeting and its dialogue partners as part of the 50th
ASEAN Ministerial Meetings in Manila, Philippines August 7, 2017.
REUTERS/Aaron Favila/Pool |
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will pay the biggest price from the new
United Nations sanctions against North Korea because of its close
economic relationship with the country, but will always enforce the
resolutions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions
on North Korea on Saturday that could slash its $3 billion annual
export revenue by a third.
Speaking at a regional security forum in Manila on Monday, Wang said
the new resolution showed China and the international community’s
opposition to North Korea’s continued missile tests, the foreign
ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Owing to China’s traditional economic ties with North Korea, it will
mainly be China paying the price for implementing the resolution,” the
statement cited Wang as saying.
“But in order to protect the international non-proliferation system
and regional peace and stability, China will as before fully and
strictly properly implement the entire contents of the relevant
resolution.”
China has repeatedly said it is committed to enforcing increasingly
tough U.N. resolutions on North Korea, though it has also said what it
terms “normal” trade and ordinary North Koreans should not be affected.
The latest U.N. resolution bans North Korean exports of coal, iron,
iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood. It also prohibits countries from
increasing the numbers of North Korean laborers currently working
abroad, bans new joint ventures with North Korea and any new investment
in current joint ventures.
DOOR TO DISCUSSIONS?
Wang said that apart from the new sanctions, the resolution also made
clear that the six party talks process, a stalled dialogue mechanism
with North Korea that also includes Russia and Japan, should be
restarted.
China appreciated comments earlier this month by U.S. Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson that the United States does not seek to topple the
North Korean government and would like dialogue with Pyongyang at some
point, Wang added.
The United States does not seek regime change, the collapse of the
regime, an accelerated reunification of the peninsula or an excuse to
send the U.S. military into North Korea, Tillerson said.
Wang said Tillerson’s “Four Nos” promise was a positive signal.
China “hopes North Korea can echo this signal from the United States”, Wang added.
Speaking at the same forum on Monday, Tillerson held a door open for
dialogue with North Korea saying Washington was willing to talk to
Pyongyang if it halted a series of recent missile test launches.
North Korea said the latest sanctions infringed its sovereignty and
it was ready to give Washington a “severe lesson” with its strategic
nuclear force in response to any U.S. military action.
The successful testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles
(ICBMs) last month suggested the reclusive North was making technical
progress, Japan’s annual Defence White Paper warned.
“Since last year, when it forcibly implemented two nuclear tests and
more than 20 ballistic missile launches, the security threats have
entered a new stage,” the Japanese Defence Ministry said in the 563-page
document released on Tuesday.
“It is conceivable that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has
already considerably advanced and it is possible that North Korea has
already achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has acquired
nuclear warheads,” it said.
South Korea reiterated further resolutions against Pyongyang could follow if it did not pull back.
“North Korea should realise if it doesn’t stop its nuclear, missile
provocations it will face even stronger pressure and sanctions,” Defence
Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a regular news briefing. “We
warn North Korea not to test or misunderstand the will of the South
Korea-U.S. alliance.”