China has double standard for nukes on Korean Peninsula
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning gestures during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Thursday. AP-Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
China urged Seoul and Washington to honor international obligations and commitments, in relation to recent debates over redeploying U.S. nuclear weapons on South Korean soil, but at the same time remains quiet over the North's nuclear weapon ambitions.
During a press briefing, Thursday (local time), China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said, “The relevant parties need to fulfill their respective international obligations and commitments,” in response to a question about South Korea's ruling People Power Party's (PPP) recent proposal to redeploy nuclear weapons here as a deterrent to North Korea.
She added that the parties, meaning Seoul and Washington, should “take concrete actions to uphold peace and stability on the Peninsula and in this region.”
The international obligations and commitments that she was referring to were the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the 1992 Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula between the two Koreas.
South Korea became a nuclear-free state after the U.S. Forces Korea pulled its tactical nuclear weapons out of the country in the wake of the 1992 declaration. The first article of the declaration reads: “South and North Korea shall not test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons.”
However, calls are growing among PPP lawmakers that Seoul should begin talks with Washington about redeploying the tactical nuclear weapons here to counter Pyongyang's recent threats.
Mao's comments are interpreted as China's de-facto opposition to there being U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea. China's response is no surprise, given its 2017 economic retaliation to Seoul's decision to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery here.
However, Mao did not mention North Korea's possible seventh nuclear weapons test or its efforts to increase its nuclear capabilities, saying only, “China is committed to upholding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
On Oct. 5, the U.N. Security Council held a session to discuss how to handle North Korea's ballistic missile launch over Japan a day earlier, but ended without reaching any agreement on next steps due to objections from China and Russia.
China's deputy U.N. representative, Geng Shuang, depicted the matter as a confrontation between the U.S. and North Korea and urged for a more conciliatory approach by Washington.