China urges US, N. Korea to be cautious and ease tensions

This article is more than 12 months old

Aug 12, 2017 06:00 am

BEIJING: China urged the United States and North Korea yesterday to be "cautious" with their words and actions, after the two sides stepped up their bellicose rhetoric over Pyongyang's weapons programme.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called on both sides to avoid "going down the old path of alternately showing strength and continuously escalating the situation", AFP reports.

"The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is highly complicated and sensitive.

"We call on the relevant parties to be cautious with their words and actions, and contribute more towards easing tensions and enhancing mutual trust," Mr Geng said in a statement.

He did not address Mr Trump's comment that China, Pyongyang's main diplomatic ally and economic partner, could "do a lot more" to pressure Kim to end his country's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Meanwhile, the Chinese media has said that China should remain neutral if North Korea launches an attack that threatens the US, the influential Global Times reported yesterday.