Denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, maintaining international nuclear-nonproliferation regime, and preserving peace and stability in Northeast Asia are China's unswerving goal, Chinese President Xi Jinping said late Wednesday.
In a phone conversation with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, Xi said China would like to keep up communication with the United States and all other related parties, and jointly push the nuclear issue towards the direction of peaceful settlement via dialogues and negotiations.
In response, Trump said the United States has serious concerns over the launch of a ballistic missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The DPRK's Korean Central Television reported that the country successfully test-fired a newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile early Wednesday morning, a move that has drawn condemnation from the international community.
"The development and advancement of the strategic weapon of DPRK are to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country from the U.S. imperialists' nuclear blackmail policy and nuclear threat, and to ensure the peaceful life of the people," Pyongyang said.
It is the first launch since Sept. 15, when the DPRK fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan into the Pacific Ocean.
Trump said Washington highly values China's important role in solving the nuclear issue, and is willing to enhance communications and coordinations with China in search for solutions to the issue.
To help soothe the Korean Peninsula situation, China has proposed a dual-track approach, seeking to advance denuclearization and establish a peace mechanism in parallel. Beijing, in its "suspension for suspension" initiative, calls on Pyongyang to pause its missile and nuclear activities, and calls on Washington to put its joint military drills with South Korea on hold.
"China demands the DPRK abide by UN Security Council resolutions and refrains from actions that heighten tension on the Korean Peninsula," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang Wednesday said at a regular news briefing.
China expects all parties to act prudently to maintain regional peace and stability, Geng said.
In response to the DPRK's missile launch, the United Nations Security Council held an urgent meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
"Maximum pressure" must be put on the DPRK so as to pave the way for a political solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, French Permanent Representative to the United Nations Francois Delattre said Wednesday before the urgent Security Council meeting.
"The threat has shifted from regional to global, from being potential to immediate. The threat concerns all of us," Delattre noted.
Greece on Wednesday condemned the missile test as "an act that undermines global security and stability."
"We categorically condemn the missile test carried out yesterday by the DPRK. It is an act that violates international legality and undermines global security and stability," the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a press statement, calling on Pyongyang to return immediately to the negotiating table on the future of its nuclear and missile programs.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said the move is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and called on the international society to remain united.
Under UN resolutions, the DPRK is barred from developing missiles and a nuclear weapons capability, but Pyongyang argues that the arsenal is needed for self-defense against the "hostile" United States.
