In a report from the China Daily published on Monday, Chinese analysts say the United States is to blame for the ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and call on Washington to review its policy towards North Korea. These accusations come just as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama plan to meet later this week, where they will surely address the issue of North Korea’s recent nuclear weapons test.
Wang Junsheng, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the newspaper that the U.S. shoulder most of the blame for the tensions surrounding North Korea, and that the country needs to adjust its policies, referring to America’s adamant stance that the isolated nation must abandon its nuclear weapons program, as well as its support for international sanctions. Wang adds that the U.S.’s policy towards Pyongyang has never been made clear since the end of the Cold War, and this has only increased the North’s sense of insecurity. But Wang still took the position that the February 12th detonation was wrong and requests that North Korea remain calm and adhere to resolutions put forth by the U.N. Security Council.
The Chinese newspaper also quoted Professor Shi Yinhong, from Renmin University of China, who said that as the North is an independent nation, it can decide its own affairs. The Korean Peninsula’s nuclear tensions have never been settled because the U.S. doesn’t respect the North’s security concerns, said Tsinghua University’s professor Chen Qi. He added that by not resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, it provides the U.S. the opportunity to deploy antimissile systems as a part of its military focus in East Asia. Ruan Zongze, the deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies, also chimed in, pointing out that the Northeast Asia situation is unbalanced, as both South Korea and Japan are sheltered under the U.S.’s nuclear umbrella.
[via UPI]