China calls on US to ease DPRK sanctions to evade tensions
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China urges the United States to mitigate its sanctions on the DPRK as a means of dodging tensions with Pyongyang.
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The United Nations Security Council in session
Beijing is calling on Washington to ease sanctions imposed on the DPRK and lessen joint military exercises with its partners in the region, Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, told a meeting of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
"There are many things that the US can do, such as easing sanctions on the DPRK [the DPRK] in certain areas and ending joint military exercises," Zhang said. "The key is to take action, not just talk about its readiness for dialogue with no preconditions."
China and Russia had vetoed a US-proposed resolution that would impose harsher sanctions on the DPRK over a series of ballistic missile test launches conducted by Pyongyang.
The US Department of the Treasury targeted in late May two Russian banks as part of new sanctions over their alleged support for North Korea and its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The sanctions came just days after Pyongyang launched three new ballistic missiles, including one intercontinental ballistic missile.
Resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula requires abandoning the old approach of imposing sanctions and exerting pressure, Zhang underlined.
The UN Security Council's sanctions imposed on the DPRK are harsh and target far more than nuclear missiles as they have had a substantial negative impact on the livelihoods of the people in the DPRK, he added.
Further sanctions would only add to the suffering of the people of the DPRK as the country is dealing with a serious Covid-19 outbreak.
The draft resolution proposed by China and Russia in the UN Security Council aimed at alleviating the humanitarian and livelihood-related difficulties in the DPRK and injecting momentum into the political settlement on the peninsula.
China and Russia, Zhao said, hoped that all UN Security Council member states would positively consider and support the draft resolution.
