China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed support for a formal end to the Korean War on Thursday, stating that China has no desire to see further conflict on the peninsula.
“So the issue, the declaration of the end of the war, is in keeping with the trend of our time and reflects the aspiration of people of all countries, including the two countries on the Korean Peninsula,” he said at a press conference in Singapore, adding that recent talks were “obviously a good, positive thing.”
Wang went on to state that both countries should push ahead with a “peace mechanism” that is “signed by all the parties concerned.” China is a signatory to the 1953 armistice document, together with the U.S. and North Korea, although it is not clear whether he was suggesting that they should sign a new one.
“We should, at the same time as realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, push forward with establishing a peace mechanism for the peninsula,” he explained. “These two have a mutual influence on each other.”
His comments highlight the cautious approach Beijing has taken over recent negotiations, with the regime previously declaring that it should have the role of a “guarantor” of any “symbolic deals.”
Both China and North Korea remain close communist allies, although Beijing continues to exert enormous influence over North Korea, as the Kim regime is heavily dependent on Chinese trade and support for its own survival. China has repeatedly defied international sanctions in its dealing with the regime, and last week opened a North Korean travel agency in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei.
China insists that it does not exert that much control over North Korea and has repeatedly backed aggression from Pyongyang over Washington’s approach to foreign policy amid ongoing peace negotiations.
“By tightly controlling the valves of the regional situation, the US is trying to manipulate the tension of the peninsula according to its strategic needs to maximize its interests,” read an editorial in the state propaganda outlet Global Times this month. “This is the real intention of Washington.”
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris indicated that the South should wait for the North to take verifiable steps towards denuclearization before saying any peace agreement, a sentiment previously expressed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“One of the things that hasn’t happened is the demonstrable moves toward denuclearization before we can entertain something like the end-of-war declaration,” he told reporters.
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.
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