China's US envoy urges Washington to halt threats on N Korea, China trade

China’s ambassador to the US has urged Washington to stop threatening North Korea over its weapons program, saying the Americans should make efforts to help resume dialog over the crisis on the Korean Peninsula instead of putting pressure on Beijing over the issue.

“They should refrain from issuing more threats. They should do more to find effective ways to resume dialogue and negotiation,” Ambassador Cui Tiankai stated on Friday during an embassy event. “Honestly, I think the United States should be doing ... much more than now, so that there’s real effective international cooperation on this issue.”

Warning against putting China-US trade on the table during a reception celebrating Chinese National Day, Cui was further quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying, “Efforts to undermine Sino-US trade, or even slapping sanctions on China, I think would be off-target.”

“If someone were to pressure China or impose sanctions on China over the DPRK, it would not be supported by many US citizens,” the Chinese diplomat added, referring to North Korea by the acronym for its official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

He further said, “Workers at US airplane factories, farmers growing soybeans, companies that sell smart phones to China, manufacturers that enjoy large market shares in China, companies in the service sector that have gained trade surplus in China, US states that engage in robust trade with China would all stand against it.”

US President Donald Trump and other American authorities as well as officials from countries allied with Washington have called on Beijing to exert diplomatic and economic pressure on Pyongyang in an effort to resolve the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

The Chinese government, however, has firmly resisted against the notion that it has much control over Pyongyang. Beijing has backed UN sanctions against the North.

Trump tweeted earlier this month, vowing that the US was considering ceasing trade with nations doing business with North Korea.

Meanwhile, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un announced on Saturday that his country was seeking to reach “equilibrium” of military force with the US, shortly after the UN Security Council (UNSC) censured Pyongyang’s latest missile launch over Japan.

Read more:

• North Korea seeks military equilibrium with US: Kim Jong-un

“Our final goal is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the US and make the US rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK,” Kim said as cited by state news agency KCNA.

Kim further vowed to complete the country’s nuclear weapons program despite growing sanctions against Pyongyang.

This is while White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster warned that Washington was running out of patience for diplomatic solutions, noting, “For those... who have been commenting on a lack of a military option, there is a military option.”

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also repeated McMaster’s position, saying that the North continues to be “provocative” and “reckless.”

However, North Korea warned Washington on Monday against a new round of sanctions and said its retaliatory measures “will cause the US the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history.”

Pyongyang defends its military program as deterrence against a potential military action by the US, which has a strong military presence in the neighboring South.

The North wants South Korea to stop its annual drills with the US, which it views a rehearsal for war.

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