US urged to take actions for peninsula peace talks

The United States should “look squarely” at the crux of the Korean Peninsula issue and take practical and tangible actions to create conditions for peace talks and political settlement, a Chinese envoy to the United Nations said on Friday.

Tension persists on the Korean Peninsula with confrontations escalating, and China finds it deeply concerning, Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, said at a Security Council meeting on nonproliferation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Korean Peninsula issue, a legacy of the Cold War that has cast a decadeslong shadow, is in essence a security issue, Geng said.

For decades, the peace mechanism on the peninsula has been missing, he said. The legitimate security concerns of the DPRK have not been resolved for a long time. Mutual trust between the DPRK and the US has been seriously insufficient, Geng said.

The Korean Peninsula issue had reached an inflection point several times in the past. However, because of the flip-flop in the US policy, its failure to respond on the principle of action for action, and its reversion to the old practice of sanctions and putting on pressure, the opportunities to solve the Korean Peninsula issue were missed time and again, Geng said.

In recent years, the US has incorporated the peninsula into its “Indo-Pacific strategy”, continued to carry out military activities on the peninsula and surrounding areas, and greatly increased its military presence, Geng said, adding it “seriously damaged the strategic security interests of the peninsula and surrounding countries”.

In April, the US and the Republic of Korea issued the “Washington Declaration”, stating that they would strengthen “extended deterrence”, and the US planned to send strategic nuclear submarines to the peninsula, Geng said.

“The US has ignored the concerns of other countries,” he said, adding the country “fully served its own geopolitical interests and insisted on making use of the peninsula issue to create tension”.

“The US approach is full of Cold War mentality, instigates confrontation and harms the strategic security interests of other countries. It runs counter to the goal of maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula and promoting the denuclearization of the peninsula.”

Under current circumstances, all parties should remain calm, exercise restraint and avoid any action that could escalate tensions and lead to miscalculation, Geng said.

It is hoped that those involved can strive for a political settlement and address each other’s legitimate concerns in a balanced way through meaningful dialogue, he said.

Constructive role

The UN Security Council should play a constructive role in the status of the Peninsula, Geng said.

Blindly blaming a certain party and pushing all the responsibilities to a certain party will only intensify contradictions and inject new uncertainties into the already tense situation on the peninsula, he said, adding that the Security Council should make active efforts to ease sanctions in due course.

While the US demands denuclearization of the peninsula under the banner of nonproliferation, it has upgraded its “nuclear umbrella” externally, cooperated with other countries on nuclear submarines, and transferred tons of weapons-grade enrichment uranium to non-nuclear-weapon countries, Geng said.

“This is a typical double standard. Relevant cooperation undermines the international nuclear nonproliferation system, stimulates an arms race, endangers regional peace and security, and has a serious negative impact on the denuclearization process on the peninsula. It should be stopped.”