China criticizes U.S. for several decades’ menace to N. Korea

China has raised an unprecedentedly critical voice against the United States that it is supposed to show some remorse for intimidating and pressing North Korea for several decades.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in the 9th World Peace Forum in Tsinghua University on Saturday that nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula have been dragged with ups and downs all the way for the past 30 years, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday. "The default option to make is to resolve issues peacefully based on dialogue and negotiations. We should take the right path by working on denuclearization and peace-making efforts at the same time,” he said.

Minister Wang said that issues regarding the Korean Peninsula are unfolding right in front of China's doorstep, stating that the Chinese government will have a constructive role in ensuring stability on the Korean Peninsula with consistency. Regarding Washington's recent moves including U.S. special representative for North Korea Sung Kim's visit to Seoul increase possibilities of the resumption of the U.S.-North Korea dialogue front, Mr. Wang said that Beijing is supportive of all kinds of Washington's acts and statements that can bring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

In the address on Saturday, Minister Wang clarified in response to criticism from the West for issues with the Xinjiang Uygur and human rights in Hong Kong that there should be no intervention in domestic affairs occurring in China. Defining Taiwan as an undividable part of Chinese territory, he argued that China's pursuit of a nationwide peaceful unification has been maintained for so long, warning that it is a wrongful and risky act for some forces in the United States to support the independence of Taiwan. As for Japan's decision to discharge contaminated nuclear water from nuclear reactors in Fukushima, the Chinese minister stressed that the Japanese government is not supposed to discharge contaminated water in the Pacific Ocean before it listens to the international community's reasonable concerns and worries and completes full negotiations with related neighboring nations and international organizations.

The World Peace Forum, which was founded by Tsinghua University in 2012, has become the only global forum to discuss international security issues by a non-governmental organization in China.


Ki-Yong Kim kky@donga.com