China on Sunday told North Korea to stop conducting nuclear tests, the BBC reported on Sunday. Beijing backed the United Nations’ sanctions against Pyongyang, The Guardian reported, but added that they were not the “final goal”.
“Do not violate the UN decision or provoke the international community’s goodwill by conducting missile launches or nuclear tests,” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (pictured above) told his North Korean counterpart Ri-Yong Ho in a meeting in Manila. The Chinese official advised Pyongyang to remain calm in response to the UN sanctions.
“The purpose is to pull the peninsula nuclear matter back to the negotiating table, and to seek a final solution to realise the peninsula denuclearisation and long-term stability through negotiations.” He said the North Korea crisis was in a “very critical phase”.
The United Nations Security Council on Saturday imposed new sanctions on North Korea for repeatedly testing intercontinental ballistic missiles and violating UN resolutions. UNSC members unanimously passed the resolution, which was drafted by the United States, Reuters reported.
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