Beijing presses plan for Korean Peninsula

China reiterated on Thursday its suspension-for-suspension proposal, saying it is the most feasible option for the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue under the current situation.

"Not only can it help ease the present tensions, it can also address the most urgent security concerns of all parties, provide opportunities for resuming talks and find a way out of the predicament," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily news conference in Beijing.

The proposal, which was backed by China and Russia in a joint statement issued in July, calls for Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile tests while Washington and Seoul halt their large-scale joint military exercises.

In a statement about his trip to Asia, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that China and the US agreed not to accept a "freeze-for-freeze" agreement - or the suspension-for-suspension proposal - over the issue.

Besides the proposal, China also has suggested a dual-track approach, which calls for denuclearizing the peninsula on the one hand while establishing a peace mechanism on the other.

China put forward the proposal and the approach in order to address the peninsula's nuclear issue "at the root", Geng said on Thursday.

The essence of the issue is about security, Geng reiterated.

"Only by addressing all parties' reasonable security concerns in a balanced way through talks can we find a way to solve the issue peacefully and fundamentally," he said.

The spokesman emphasized that the suspension-for-suspension proposal is "only the first step, not the end", and he called for serious treatment and active consideration of the proposal. "We also welcome all other relevant parties to raise plans that will help bring a peaceful solution of the issue," he said.

"Force is not an option ... The international community shares a general consensus about this point," Geng emphasized.

China has consistently proposed achieving the peninsula's denuclearization, maintaining peace and stability in the peninsula and solving the issue through talks, and it has consistently been carrying out the United Nations Security Council resolutions fully, accurately and strictly, Geng said.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn