Appealing for calm, China says US wants talks on North Korea
BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a new appeal for calm on the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday and said he believes the United States would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the standoff.
Wang told reporters that although U.S. officials have made clear that a military strike remains on the table, he believes that Washington would still prefer to de-escalate tensions through multi-sided talks.
Wang’s comments came amid a mounting war of words between Washington and Pyongyang. After U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence visited the demilitarized zone in South Korea on Monday and warned that “all options are on the table,” a senior North Korean official responded by accusing the United States of bringing the countries to the brink of thermonuclear war.
“We know the situation is tense,” Wang said. “The more tense things are, the more calm we need to be to find the opportunities and possibilities for dialogue.”