BEIJING: China would like nations involved in the Korean Peninsula situation to keep up the hard-won momentum that is easing tensions amid positive changes, President Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump in a phone call on Tuesday.

Denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and safeguarding peace and stability in the region is in accordance with the common interests of all sides, Xi said, adding that it is vital for the international community to stay united regarding the issue.

Xi called on all related parties to work together to create conditions for the resumption of talks over the Korean Peninsula situation.

China is ready to continue its joint efforts with the United States and other members of the international community to achieve progress that would finally lead to a proper resolution, Xi said.

Trump said the United States values China’s significant role in resolving the situation and is willing to enhance communication with China over the issue.

The two leaders also exchanged views on China-US relations. Maintaining strong bilateral ties is in the interests of both sides, and conforms to the common aspiration of the international community, Xi said.

The two sides need to maintain high-level interactions as well as those at various lower levels, bring the four high-level dialogues into play and hold a second round of dialogues when appropriate, Xi said.

‘A window of opportunity’

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said China took a responsible attitude toward the Korean Peninsula issue.

A “window of opportunity” arose on the peninsula and all relevant parties, including the US, should seize the opportunity to create conditions for dialogue with the DPRK, he said.

Zhang Jingquan, a professor of the School of Northeast Asian Studies at Shandong University, said China and the US have the responsibility and obligation to provide trust and security to the region through cooperation and coordination to reduce negative concerns and work toward peace and stability.

In an interview with Phoenix TV, the Hong Kong-based Mandarin and Cantonese language broadcaster, Vice-Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said that as long as all sides pursue dialogue working toward a resolution, the six-party talks will have vitality.

The related parties should not set preconditions that may be refused by some parties as premise to restart talks, Kong said, adding that the Korean Peninsula situation should be addressed step by step with the principle of equality.

It will take a long time to melt down the ice of Cold War on the Korean Peninsula, and all related parties should maintain patience in the process, he said.

Through raising the proposal of “suspension for suspension” and the concept of “walking on dual tracks”, China hopes to build a bridge for all sides to have dialogues, he said.

In the phone call, President XI also said as economic and trade cooperation brings tangible benefits to both sides, the two countries should adopt constructive measures to properly settle economic and trade issues of mutual concern by opening up the market to each other and “making the cake of cooperation bigger”.

He also called for advancing cooperation between the two militaries, in law enforcement, drug control, culture and people-to-people exchanges, along with cooperation on local levels and close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues.

The two sides need to respect each other, focus on cooperation, deal with sensitive issues in a constructive way, respect each other’s core interests and major concerns and maintain the momentum of sound and steady development of China-US relations, he said.

Trump said the US attaches great importance to its relations with China as well as to the US-China cooperation, and that it is willing to work with China to enhance bilateral exchanges at all levels, expand pragmatic cooperation and properly handle problems in trade to achieve even greater relations.

In another development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated on Tuesday China’s opposition to an international meeting of foreign ministers in Canada to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear issue, saying it would not help because it didn’t include key parties.

China Daily

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2018