A Chinese envoy to the United Nations said Monday that positive changes have occurred on the Korean Peninsula, which is good for a political settlement of related issues.
"The situation is now on the correct track of dialogue towards political settlement," said Chinese ambassador to the UN Ma Zhaoxu at the Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"China wishes to see both the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea (ROK) implement the outcome of their summit," he said, expressing the hope that their summit on Tuesday will yield positive results.
Commending the political will to dismantle nuclear facilities demonstrated by the DPRK, he urged all Council members and other relevant parties to consolidate this momentum.
Three things are key, he said, citing the need to uphold the goal of denuclearization, address legitimate security concerns, and dialogue.
"There is no military solution and confrontation is a dead end," he noted, proposing a dual track approach: the DPRK should suspend its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and the United States and the ROK should suspend their joint military exercises.
The ambassador said that his country has fulfilled Security Council resolutions on the DPRK and can submit a record of oil exports to that country.
"China will handle violations, if found, in accordance with its laws," he said.
The meeting was requested by the United States. Its UN ambassador Nikki Haley briefed the Council on issues related to the latest midterm report of the Panel of Experts on the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee.
The meeting came at a time of growing tension between permanent members, mainly the United States and Russia, over the implementation of sanctions on the DPRK, and, most recently, over the content and handling of the panel's midterm report.
Haley issued a press release on Sept. 13 accusing Russia of pressuring the panel to modify its report, which described violations of sanctions by some Russian actors.
