China blames US for N Korean crisis
September 13, 2016, 4:21 am

World powers accuse North Korea of pursuing a nuclear and ballistic weapons program in violation of UN sanctions [Xinhua]

The two countries traded barbs over the weekend after South Korea detected what it said was the North’s fifth nuclear test last week.

Statements from Washington about Beijing’s capacity to control North Korea have usually been diplomatic.

In recent years, US Secretary of State John Kerry has maintained that no solution to the Korean peninsula crises could come about without China’s involvement.

However, Carter’s comments recently have been more aggressive, blaming China for the elevated level of tension on the Korean peninsula.

Carter said that China shared responsibility for the recent crisis with North Korea, and as such, bore responsibility for “reversing” it.

Not so, say’s the Chinese Foreign ministry.

“The cause and crux of the Korean nuclear issue rest with the US rather than China. The core of the issue is the conflict between the DPRK and the US,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said late on Monday.

“It is better for the doer to undo what he has done. The US should shoulder its due responsibilities,” Hua added.

North Korea has traditionally blamed the US for the elevated state of tension and has said that joint South Korean-US military exercises are perceived as direct national threats to Pyongyang.

Ballistic missile race?

Both China and Russia have also strongly criticized the US decision to deploy the THAAD weapons system in South Korea saying it will ignite a weapons race in the region.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, is a response to Pyongyang’s recent ballistic missile tests, South Korea and the US say.

The deployment “doesn’t help achieve the objective of denuclearization in the peninsula, doesn’t benefit maintaining peace and stability in the peninsula. It’s going toward the opposite direction of solving the problem via dialogue and negotiation,” China’s foreign ministry has said about the weapons system.

As one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world, THAAD can intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight.

Despite claims by Washington and Seoul that the missile shield would be focused solely on North Korea, Beijing says the US deployment would pose considerable threat to neighboring countries.

“Once deployed, the system would pose a direct threat to the strategic security of China and Russia,” China’s Foreign Ministry has said.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies