Editorial: Korean Peninsula dilemma needs more reason less impulse

China Plus Published: 2017-04-24 22:13:00
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Editorial: Korean Peninsula dilemma needs more reason less impulse

The situation on the Korean peninsula remains at a dangerous level, as the confrontation between the United States and North Korea continues to escalate. With tensions heightening towards a possible breaking point, China has once again stepped forward to help cool down the heat.

On April 24, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone with US President Donald Trump. This was the second phone call between the two Heads of State since their meeting at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month. During the phone call, Xi Jinping stressed China's opposition to any violation of resolutions issued by the United Nations Security Council, saying he hopes related parties will refrain from escalating the tension in the peninsula.

On April 23, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also stressed that the recent months have seen enough tough words and actions, it is time for us to call for peace and reason.

With regard to the nuclear issue, China's position on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is consistent and clear-cut: China is committed to the denuclearization of the peninsula, its peace and stability, and settlement of the issue through peaceful means. In its latest statement, China conveyed messages that deserve our attention.

First, China is not at the center of the current tensions. In essence, the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue centers on security and the relationship between the US and North Korea. The situation on the Korean Peninsula has remained ambivalent for decades: there's an armistice treaty that ended the Korean War over 60 years ago, but no peace accord has been brokered among the warring parties. This has left North and South Korea in an official state of war. Efforts through the years to ease tensions have made virtually no progress due to the distrust between the US and the North Korea, as well as the differences among the related players.

The settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue depends on the US and North Korea. But there're people who tend to shift responsibility to China. Whenever the tensions are heightened on the peninsula, they are quick to blame China for lack of commitment. Such behavior obviously confuses the real situation and will do nothing to help resolve the issue. This is exactly what Wang Yi meant by saying "China will not be distracted by different voices."

Secondly, the key to resolving the situation on the Korean peninsula is not in China's hand. It is in the hands of the parties that are directly involved.

The evolvement of the nuclear issue depends on how the US and North Korea interact with one another.

To put it in another way, the keys are in the hands of the US and North Korea.

Over the years, China has been fully engaged with efforts to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula.

China was the organizer of the Six-Party Talks. China has also proposed a dual-track idea, namely a combination of the denuclearization of the Peninsula and the replacement of the armistice agreement with a peace treaty.

Meanwhile, China has mapped out a proposal calling for a suspension of North Korea's nuclear and missile program in exchange for a suspension of the massive joint military exercises held every year by the US and South Korea.

President Xi Jinpjng has reiterated China's stance to peacefully resolve the Korean crisis at multiple occasions including his face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump at the Mar-a-lago resort, as well as on his two phone conversations with Mr. Trump afterwards.

China is committed to peace on the peninsula because it fully understands that war, or even instability, in the region is not in the interest of the parties involved.

Only when the peninsula is denuclearized and peace and stability is maintained can the best results be achieved for all parties.

The situation on the peninsula is highly sensitive at the moment.

Under these conditions, all parties need to remain rational, rather than capricious. Peace, instead of force, is what is needed. Only by peace and reason as well as concerted efforts, can we achieve a solution to break the dilemma on the Korean Peninsula.

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LU Xiankun Professor LU Xiankun is Managing Director of LEDECO Geneva and Associate Partner of IDEAS Centre Geneva. He is Emeritus Professor of China Institute for WTO Studies of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Wuhan University (WHU) of China and visiting professor or senior research fellow of some other universities and think tanks in China and Europe. He also sits in management of some international business associations and companies, including as Senior Vice President of Shenzhen UEB Technology LTD., a leading e-commerce company of China. Previously, Mr. LU was senior official of Chinese Ministry of Commerce and senior diplomat posted in Europe, including in Geneva as Counsellor and Head of Division of the Permanent Mission of China to the WTO and in Brussels as Commercial Secretary of the Permanent Mission of China to the EU. Benjamin Cavender Benjamin Cavender is a Shanghai based consultant with more than 11 years of experience helping companies understand consumer behavior and develop go to market strategies for China. He is a frequent speaker on economic and consumer trends in China and is often featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Channel News Asia. Sara Hsu Sara Hsu is an associate professor from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She is a regular commentator on Chinese economy. Xu Qinduo Xu Qinduo is CRI's former chief correspondent to Washington DC, the United States. He works as the producer, host and commentator for TODAY, a flagship talk show on current affairs. Mr. Xu contributes regularly to English-language newspapers including Shenzhen Daily and Global Times as well as Chinese-language radio and TV services. Lin Shaowen A radio person, Mr. Lin Shaowen is strongly interested in international relations and Chinese politics. As China is quite often misunderstood in the rest of the world, he feels the need to better present the true picture of the country, the policies and meanings. So he talks a lot and is often seen debating. Then friends find a critical Lin Shaowen criticizing and criticized. George N. Tzogopoulos Dr George N. Tzogopoulos is an expert in media and politics/international relations as well as Chinese affairs. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre International de Européenne (CIFE) and Visiting Lecturer at the European Institute affiliated with it and is teaching international relations at the Department of Law of the Democritus University of Thrace. George is the author of two books: US Foreign Policy in the European Media: Framing the Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism (IB TAURIS) and The Greek Crisis in the Media: Stereotyping in the International Press (Ashgate) as well as the founder of chinaandgreece.com, an institutional partner of CRI Greek. David Morris David Morris is the Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Commissioner in China, a former Australian diplomat and senior political adviser. Harvey Dzodin After a distinguished career in the US government and American media Dr. Harvey Dzodin is now a Beijing-based freelance columnist for several media outlets. While living in Beijing, he has published over 200 columns with an emphasis on arts, culture and the Belt & Road initiative. He is also a sought-after speaker and advisor in China and abroad. He currently serves as Nonresident Research Fellow of the think tank Center for China and Globalization and Senior Advisor of Tsinghua University National Image Research Center specializing in city branding. Dr. Dzodin was a political appointee of President Jimmy Carter and served as lawyer to a presidential commission. Upon the nomination of the White House and the US State Department he served at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. He was Director and Vice President of the ABC Television in New York for more than two decades.