Russia and China refuse to punish North Korea
Against the backdrop of an unprecedented number of missile tests conducted by North Korean leaders recently, the PRC has turned to representatives of its North Korean counterparts. Xi Jinping told Kim Jong-un that Beijing is ready to work with Pyongyang for global peace and sustainability.
Al Jazeera The appeal was reportedly issued days after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in one of its most dangerous tests, promising to calculate the likelihood of a US nuclear threat through its own crime.
North Korea has conducted a record number of missile launches over the past few weeks, leading to speculation that Pyongyang will likely start negotiations in 2017.
In his message to Kim Jong-un, the Chinese President noted that Beijing is ready to cooperate for the sake of “peace, stability, development and prosperity of the region and the whole world,” as “unprecedented changes are taking place in the world, times and history.”
Days before the North Korean ICBM launch, Xi Jinping met at the G20 summit in Bali with US President Joe Biden, who is using his influence in North Korea to curb its nuclear ambitions.
The missile, launched on November 18, has become Pyongyang’s new intercontinental ballistic missile with a dangerous detection range of the US mainland. The UN Security Council convened a public meeting on the launch, where 14 countries, among the US, UK, France and India, “strongly condemned” Pyongyang’s action. At the same time, as one Western diplomat told AFP, China and Russia decided not to sign this statement. The US accused Beijing and Moscow of protecting Pyongyang from a “further computer.” In May, China and Russia vetoed a US initiative to toughen up a resolution on the Council of Europe in response to earlier launches.
Pyongyang is already under multiple sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs. China accounts for 90% of bilateral trade with North Korea.