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China has repeatedly stressed on the grave threat a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea poses to Chinese interests [Xinhua]
In the event of Pyongyang launching an attack that threatens the US, China should stay neutral, but if the United States attacks first and tries to effect a regime change in North Korea, then China will stop them, the ruling Communist party-run Global Times said in an editorial on Friday.
Rhetoric between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has escalated this week.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned North Korea that it would face “fire and fury” if it threatened the United States.
North Korea said it was completing plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam.
On Friday, the Global Times wrote in an editorial that military conflict must be avoided.
“China opposes both nuclear proliferation and war in the Korean Peninsula. It will not encourage any side to stir up military conflict, and will firmly resist any side which wants to change the status quo of the areas where China’s interests are concerned,” said the paper.
“China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral. If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so,” it added.
Global Times, a newspaper owned by China’s Communist Party, is known for its strident editorials, but does not necessarily represent government policy.
Editorials of state-owned media in China, like Global Times, generally reflects the ruling Communist Party viewpoint.
Beijing insists dialogue is the only practical way forward in the Korean crisis.
Earlier last month during a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Moscow and Beijing said that North Korea should freeze its nuclear and missile programs, while the US and South Korea should abstain from holding war games in the region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who spoke to Trump repeatedly on the crisis, has urged restraint from both Pyongyang and Washington.
China has also stressed on the grave threat a US anti-missile system in South Korea poses to both Chinese and Russian interests.
China has repeatedly stated its opposition to the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system and has called for its deployment to be stopped, and the missiles already installed to be removed.
China says the system’s powerful radar can probe deep into its territory, undermining its security and upset a regional balance while doing nothing to stop North Korea in its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them.
TBP
