China calls on North Korea to suspend missile and nuclear tests

BEIJING. KAZINFORM - China has proposed that North Korea suspend its tests of missile and nuclear technology to "defuse a looming crisis", Kazinform has learnt from BBC.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that in exchange, the US and South Korea could halt annual joint military drills, which strongly infuriate the North.

The appeal comes after North Korea test-launched four missiles on Monday, breaking international sanctions.
In response, the US began rolling out a missile defense system in South Korea.

Speaking on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary meeting, Mr Wang said that the Korean peninsula resembled "two accelerating trains, coming toward each other with neither side willing to give way".
"Are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision?" he asked.

He said that the first step towards easing tensions and reopening negotiations would be a mutual halt of military operations, he said.
It should be reminded that the launch of the missiles that flew about 1,000 kilometers was seen as a response to the on-going joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington, which North Korea denounces as a war rehearsal against the North. Three out of the missiles landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.