US can do better to ease NKorea tensions: China

United Ntions: China’s U.N. ambassador said Friday the U.S. should come up with “more attractive and more practical” policies and actions to reduce tensions with North Korea and avoid a return to a “vicious circle” of confrontation, condemnation and sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

Zhang Jun said that the solution lies in direct dialogue and that if the Biden administration wants to see a breakthrough with Pyongyang “they should show more sincerity and flexibility.” In rare remarks to reporters on Beijing’s views on the U.S.-North Korean nuclear dispute, the Chinese ambassador said, “What I see is the key in solving this issue is already in the hands of the United States.” Asked what else the United States should do since it has already said it is prepared to talk with North Korea, Zhang pointed to talks between then U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore and Hanoi.

“We have seen the suspension of the nuclear test, we have seen the suspension of the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles” by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea, he said. “And then what has been done by the U.S.?” Zhang said the Biden administration should be asked “in what way they can accommodate the concerns of DPRK ... to really bring tension down and then to put things under control.” (AP)