China Rejects Idea They Need to Resolve North Korea Alone

Pushes for a Resumption of Diplomacy With North Korea

Faced with growing US calls to “solve” North Korea, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi rejected the US talk of the use of force, while expressing annoyance at the repeated suggestion that the 15-member UN Security Council seemed to expect China to solve the situation alone.

Wang went on to say that the Security Council should stop arguing over who should be responsible for taking the first step on North Korea, and should just join together to act, adding that it is “time to seriously consider resuming talks” with North Korea.

This suggestion was, of course, immediately rejected by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, despite him suggesting in previous comments today that direct talks with North Korea were possible under certain preconditions. In this event, however, he insisted that meeting with North Korea would “reward their bad behavior.”

Russia also issued comments backing China over the matter, saying that threats for the use of force are “unacceptable,” and they agreed to mutually work together to try to get diplomacy restarted with North Korea, despite the apparent US opposition to the idea.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.