China on Wednesday called on North Korea to suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the US and South Korea halting military wargames, to prevent what it called a "head-on collision."
Foreign
Minister Wang Yi's proposal came after a cascade of events that has led
to a dramatic spike in tensions in the region, including a volley of
North Korean missile tests that flew provocatively close to Japan.
China
is particularly concerned over the deployment this week of America's
THAAD defence system which is being rolled out in South Korea as a
shield against the growing missile threat.
Wang
warned of a "looming crisis" stoked by North Korean nuclear and missile
tests and annual US-South Korean military exercises.
"The
two sides are like two accelerating trains coming toward each other
with neither side willing to give way," Wang said at a press conference
on the sidelines of China's annual parliament session.
"The
question is: are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision?
Our priority now is to flash the red light and apply the brakes on both
trains."
He proposed that North Korea
"suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the halt of
the large-scale US-ROK exercises," using the acronym for South Korea.
Pyongyang
blasted at least four missiles across the sea toward Japan on Monday,
and three of the rockets splashed down into waters within Japan's
Exclusive Economic Zone.
Seoul and
Washington have begun annual joint exercises that always infuriate
Pyongyang, and the US has started deploying an anti-missile system
directed at North Korea but which Beijing has taken as a threat to its
own defence interests.
Wang said China's
proposal could help bring the US and North Korea back to the
"negotiating table" for talks on ending Pyongyang's weapons programmes.
'Destabilising behaviour'
But
it mirrors past offers made by North Korea that were rejected by the
administration of US President Barack Obama, which said North Korea had
no right to demand concessions in return for abiding by UN resolutions.
Six
sets of UN sanctions since Pyongyang's first nuclear test in 2006 have
failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons. It
held its most recent nuclear test last September.
Wang continued China's hammering of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system being deployed in South Korea.
He
said the "very controversial THAAD system is the biggest issue" facing
China-South Korean relations, adding that it "undermines China's
strategic security."
Nuclear-armed North
Korea has said its missile launches were a training drill for a strike
on US bases in Japan. They have drawn global condemnation.
The
UN Security Council on Tuesday strongly condemned the launches as a
"grave violation" of UN resolutions barring North Korea from developing
missile technology and denounced Pyongyang's "increasingly destabilising
behaviour."
The Security Council, of which both the US and China are permanent members, vowed to "take further significant measures."
An emergency council meeting has been called for Wednesday by the United States and Japan.
Following
the launches, US President Donald Trump reiterated Washington's
"iron-clad commitment" to the security of Japan and South Korea and
threatened "very dire consequences" for its actions.
With
the tensions rising, the US State Department said Wednesday that
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would visit Japan, South Korea and
China from March 15-19, his first visit to the region.
His
talks would include "strategic coordination to address the advancing
nuclear and missile threat from North Korea, the State Department said.
THAAD is designed to intercept and destroy short and medium-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.
The
South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group has come under pressure in China
for providing a site for the system, amid concerns of a broader backlash
in China against Seoul.
Chinese
officials have shut down 39 of the 99 Lotte Mart retail outlets over
fire-safety concerns, a Lotte spokesman said, and Chinese travel
agencies have told AFP they were ordered to stop arranging trips to
South Korea by Chinese tourists.
North Korea also is facing off against Malaysia.
Both
have imposed tit-for-tat bans on each other's citizens from leaving
their countries in a row over the assassination in Malaysia of Kim
Jong-Nam, brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
South Korea says the killing was orchestrated by Pyongyang.
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