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China urges restraint over Korean nuclear issue

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-02 21:53

BEIJING -- China called on all relevant parties to exercise restraint on the Korean nuclear issue and not to take actions that could lead to escalation of the situation.

In response to a journalist's question on the report that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) planned to launch an inter-continental missile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that China "has been steadfastly working for the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, opposing nuclear proliferation and maintaining peace and stability in northeast Asia."

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"Our stance is clear and consistent," he said at a press conference Tuesday.

Qin said after the DPRK conducted a nuclear test on May 25, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the event and expounded China's principle and stance.

"Under the current situation, we hope all parties concerned do more things conducive to the maintenance of peace and stability in Northeast Asia," he said, adding that China "has kept close communications and contacts with all parties."

Qin said as China and the DPRK are close neighbors, "it is natural that we show special concern to the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Qin said.

He pointed out that the development of China-DPRK relations, "as we have with other countries, is based on the basis of the Five-Principles of Peaceful Co-existence."

In the 1950s, leaders of China and India jointly initiated the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, which have since been recognized far and wide as norms governing international relations. The five principles are mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

"China hopes to see a stable and harmonious neighborhood featuring common development, and it hopes to see the realization of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsular and Northeast Asia," said Qin.

Such a situation "is not only in the interests of China, but also that of all relevant parties, including the DPRK," he said.