China calls for ending tensions with North Korea through diplomatic channels

Beijing: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a new appeal for calm on the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday, saying that he believes the United States would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the standoff.
Wang told a press conference here on Tuesday that although US officials have made clear that a military strike remains on the table, he believes that Washington would still prefer to de-escalate tensions through multi-sided talks.
Wang’s comments came amid a mounting war of words between Washington and Pyongyang. After Vice President Mike Pence visited the demilitarized zone in South Korea on Monday and warned that “all options are on the table”, a senior North Korean official responded by accusing the US of bringing the countries to the brink of thermonuclear war.
“We know the situation is tense,” the Chinese foreign minister said, adding: “The more tense things are, the more calm we need to be to find the opportunities and possibilities for dialogue.”
China has called for a return to multi-sided talks that ended in a stalemate in 2009, during the rule of North Korea’s previous leader, Kim Jong-il.
AB/IINA