China suggests plan to avoid conflict in Korean Peninsula

Beijing, Mar 08: China on Wednesday proposed that North Korea suspend its nuclear programme and the US and South Korea stop their military exercises to avoid a “head-on collision” between the two sides in the tensed Korean Peninsula.
“As a first step, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) may suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale US-Republic of Korea military exercises,” Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, told a press conference here today.
This will help the parties to break out of the security dilemma and return to the negotiating table, Wang said.
“We may follow the dual-track approach of denuclearising the peninsula on the one hand and establishing a peace mechanism on the other,” he said.
“The question is: are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision? Our priority now is to flash the red light and apply the brakes on both trains,” he said.
Crisis escalated in Korean peninsula as North Korea stepped the development of nuclear programme as well as the development of long-range missile which can reach the US.
Tensions in the Korean peninsula further rose over the murder of Kim Jong nam in Malaysian airport allegedly by North Korea.
Wang also hit out at the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) interceptor missiles in South Korea, saying it is obviously a “wrong choice”.
He proposed “double suspension” to defuse the looming crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
Wang said the deployment of THAAD in South Korea undermines China’s strategic security, and China has opposed its deployment all along,.
“It’s not the way neighbours should behave to each other, and it may very well make the ROK less secure,” he said, calling on the ROK (South Korea) to refrain from going too far along the wrong path.
Without directly naming the US, Wang said those who pursue THAAD deployment in the ROK will end up hurting themselves as well as others.
The US and South Korea argue that the THAAD is aimed at countering missile threat from North Korea. But China says most of the THAAD systems can monitor best part of its territory. PTI