China's latest proposal to solve the Korean Peninsula crisis aims at "getting rid of the peninsula's existing security dilemma" and eyes long-lasting stability, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday.
Hua made the comment ahead of the upcoming China visit of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Saturday and Sunday. Tillerson, who has been visiting Japan, will travel to Seoul before landing in Beijing.
The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is expected to be high on the agenda during Tillerson's talks in Beijing, observers said.
"China has consistently maintained close contact on the current peninsula situation with parties including the US," Hua said at a daily news conference in Beijing.
Hua referred to Foreign Minister Wang Yi's proposal on March 8 to suspend Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests and to suspend large-scale joint military drills by Seoul and Washington.
The parties could then follow the dual-track approach of denuclearizing the peninsula while also establishing a path to ensure peace, Wang said.
Washington, however, has given China's proposal the cold shoulder.
In Tokyo on Thursday, Tillerson said "a different approach is required" to tackle the situation.
Hua said, "It is to be hoped that all parties will seriously consider (the proposal) and provide constructive responses." She added that Beijing is open to any other proposal that is better or idea that is helpful.
Also on Thursday, Xiao Qian, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs, told CNN that Pyongyang hopes to see the US take the first step to demonstrate sincerity, and Washington is expecting the same of Pyongyang.
"So China's proposal is: Why not do these at the same time? No sequence, no 'first' and 'second'. There is a parallel. We do these at the same time," Xiao said.
Wang Junsheng, a researcher in Asia-Pacific studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that Beijing expects that the other parties involved, particularly Washington and Pyongyang, will "face the issues and get them resolved".
