China urges North Korea and US to step back from brink of war

China has urged the US and North Korea to step back from the brink of a potentially catastrophic
conflict after Pyongyang warned it would not
“keep its arms crossed” in the event of a pre-
emptive strike. Speaking in Beijing on Friday, the Chinese foreign
minister, Wang Yi, told reporters the region faced
a “precarious situation” in which “one has the
feeling that a conflict could break out at any
moment”. He made his plea before an anticipated sixth North Korean nuclear test on Saturday to mark the birth of the country’s founder, Kim Il-
sung. “We call on all parties to refrain from provoking
and threatening each other, whether in words or
actions, and not to let the situation get to an
irreversible and unmanageable stage,” Wang said, according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency. “If a war occurs, the result is a situation in which
everybody loses and there can be no winner. It is
not the one who espouses harsher rhetoric or
raises a bigger fist that will win.” North Korea’s vice-foreign minister, Han Song-
ryol, earlier warned it would not “keep its arms
crossed” in the event of a pre-emptive US strike
and would conduct a nuclear test when it saw fit. North Korea’s vice foreign minister blames US for tensions – video Han told the Associated Press in an interview in
Pyongyang that Donald Trump’s “aggressive”
tweets aimed at the regime were “causing trouble”,
adding that the mounting crisis on the peninsula
was locked in a “vicious cycle”. Experts believe Pyongyang could defy Trump by carrying out a missile launch or nuclear test to coincide with the so-called Day of the Sun on 15
April, commemorating the birth of the country’s
founder. Satellite imagery has revealed signs of
preparations for a possible nuclear test in a new
tunnel complex at the Punggye-ri military site. Scores of foreign reporters have been allowed into
Pyongyang to cover celebrations to mark the
105th anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birth, but they
have not been granted access to military-related
areas. Some North Korea specialists played down
expectations of a test, however, saying the regime was more likely to use the military parade in
Pyongyang to showcase a new long-range missile
it is developing.