{"id":20136,"date":"2017-08-16T14:27:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T14:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/16\/china-urges-us-north-korea-to-hit-the-brakes-on-threats\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:10:29","slug":"china-urges-us-north-korea-to-hit-the-brakes-on-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/16\/china-urges-us-north-korea-to-hit-the-brakes-on-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"China urges US, North Korea to ‘hit the brakes’ on threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIJING \u2014 China has urged the United States and North Korea to \u201chit the brakes\u201d on threatening words and work toward a peaceful resolution of their tense standoff created by Pyongyang\u2019s recent missile tests and threats to fire them toward Guam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute has also raised fears in South Korea, where a conservative political party on Wednesday called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sign of growing concern on the part of Pyongyang\u2019s only major ally, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that the two countries should work together to contain tensions and permit no one to \u201cstir up an incident on their doorstep,\u201d according to a statement posted on the Chinese foreign ministry\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe most important task at hand is for the U.S. and North Korea to \u2018hit the brakes\u2019 on their mutual needling of each other with words and actions, to lower the temperature of the tense situation and prevent the emergence of an \u2018August crisis,\u2018\u201d Wang was quoted as saying in the Tuesday conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ministry quoted Lavrov as saying tensions could rise again with the U.S. and South Korea set to launch large-scale military exercises on Aug. 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA resolution of the North Korea nuclear issue by military force is completely unacceptable and the peninsula\u2019s nuclear issue must be peacefully resolved by political and diplomatic methods,\u201d Lavrov was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is North Korea\u2019s main economic partner and political backer, although relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have deteriorated amid the North\u2019s continuing defiance of China\u2019s calls for restraint. In recent months, China has joined with Russia in calling for the U.S. to suspend annual military drills with South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang halting its missile and nuclear tests as a first step toward direct talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, continued a visit to China following talks the day before with his Chinese counterpart that touched on North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters after viewing a Chinese military exercise outside the northeastern city of Shenyang, Dunford said he told Gen. Fang Fenghui that the U.S. hoped diplomatic and economic pressure would convince North Korea to end its nuclear program, but that it was also preparing military options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope for a peaceful resolution but we needed to seriously have a conversation about what might happen if there was military action,\u201d Dunford said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunford earlier visited South Korea and stops next in Japan. His visit to Asia comes after President Donald Trump last week declared the U.S. military \u201clocked and loaded\u201d and said he was ready to unleash \u201cfire and fury\u201d if North Korea continued to threaten the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Korea\u2019s military on Tuesday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam and \u201cwring the windpipes of the Yankees,\u201d even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump tweeted early Wednesday that Kim had \u201cmade a very wise and well reasoned decision,\u201d amid indications North Korea had decided not to proceed with its multiple missile launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During an inspection of the North Korean army\u2019s Strategic Forces, which handles the missile program, Kim praised the military for drawing up a \u201cclose and careful plan\u201d and said he would watch the \u201cfoolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees\u201d a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said. Kim appeared in photos sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan \u2014 apparently showing the missiles\u2019 flight route.<\/p>\n\n\n\t