PRESS RELEASE
Russia, China Weigh In on Korean Crisis
Aug. 30, 2017 (EIRNS)—Both Russia and China issued warnings on the situation on the Korean Peninsula. It is "now at a tipping point approaching a crisis," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, but added that "at the same time there is an opportunity to reopen peace talks.“ She called on the “relevant parties“ to de-escalate the situation.
Hua criticized both the joint U.S.-South Korea military drills and the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles in South Korea. The U.S. and South Korea "held one round after another of joint military exercises, and they exerted military pressure on the DPRK," she said, adding that "the facts have proven that pressure and sanctions cannot fundamentally solve the issue." On the THAAD system, she said it will not allay security concerns, but
"instead, it will obstruct the regional strategic balance, damage security interests of regional countries including China, and intensify tensions on the Korean Peninsula"
Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, made the same point as the Chinese: “Sanctions alone are not the way out of it. We have to be innovative and inventive." He also said that there should be no sanctions imposed outside of the UN, without specifically naming Washington. Russia and China made certain that the UN Security Council, in the Aug. 29 special meeting on the North Korean missile test, denounced the North Korean test but did not impose any new sanctions.
