AFP, Washington :
China’s ambassador to Washington on Friday called on the United States to refrain from making threats over North Korea, which a day earlier launched another missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.
Ambassador Cui Tiankai told reporters at an embassy event: “Honestly, I think the United States should be doing … much more than now, so that there’s real effective international cooperation on this issue.”
“They should refrain from issuing more threats. They should do more to find effective ways to resume dialogue and negotiation,” he said.
President Donald Trump and others in the United States and beyond have urged China to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on its Communist ally to help resolve the standoff over North Korea’s weapons programmes.
China fought alongside North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, in which Chinese leader Mao Zedong lost his eldest son, and Beijing has long been Pyongyang’s chief ally and primary trade partner.
But the Chinese government has pushed back against the notion that it has any control over Pyongyang, and says it is the United States that should be doing more.
Trump tweeted earlier this month that the United States was considering halting trade with countries doing business with North Korea.
Cui on Friday cautioned against putting China-US trade on the table.
“Efforts to undermine Sino-US trade, or even slapping sanctions on China, I think would be off-target,” the Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Cui as saying on Friday at a Chinese National Day reception.
“If someone were to pressure China or impose sanctions on China over the DPRK, it would not be supported by many US citizens,” Cui said, referring to North Korea by the acronym for its official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“Workers at US airplane factories, farmers growing soybeans, companies that sell smartphones to China, manufacturers that enjoy large market shares in China, companies in the service sector that have gained trade surplus in China, US states that engage in robust trade with China would all stand against it,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, Kuwait will expel North Korea’s ambassador to the oil-rich country and four other diplomats, potentially limiting Pyongyang’s ability to earn money for its nuclear program from laborers it sends to the Gulf.
The decision comes as Kuwait in recent weeks offered contradictory statements about its relationship with North Korea. The U.S. and Asian nations have increased pressure on their allies to cut ties as Pyongyang has tested a nuclear weapon and launched ballistic missiles over Japan.
North Korea’s Embassy in Kuwait City serves as its only diplomatic outpost in the Gulf. Pyongyang has thousands of laborers working in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates .
Responding to international pressure, Kuwait will expel Ambassador So Chang Sik and four other staffers. That will leave four diplomats at the embassy. The embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
A Gulf-based official confirmed on Sunday that Kuwait would be expelling the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence reports. A letter Kuwait sent in August to the United Nations also made that pledge.
Kuwait’s Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Kuwait’s ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, traveled to Washington and met with U.S. President Donald Trump this month. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City called Kuwait “a key regional partner on (North Korea) and many other issues.” “Kuwait has taken positive steps in regards to implementing U.N. resolutions related to” Pyongyang, it said.
While a small market compared to China and Russia, the amount of money North Korean laborers in the Gulf kick back to the government helps Pyongyang evade international sanctions, authorities say. A 2015 U.N. report suggested that the more than 50,000 North Koreans working overseas earned Pyongyang between $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion a year. Other estimates put earnings in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
China’s ambassador to Washington on Friday called on the United States to refrain from making threats over North Korea, which a day earlier launched another missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.
Ambassador Cui Tiankai told reporters at an embassy event: “Honestly, I think the United States should be doing … much more than now, so that there’s real effective international cooperation on this issue.”
“They should refrain from issuing more threats. They should do more to find effective ways to resume dialogue and negotiation,” he said.
President Donald Trump and others in the United States and beyond have urged China to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on its Communist ally to help resolve the standoff over North Korea’s weapons programmes.
China fought alongside North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, in which Chinese leader Mao Zedong lost his eldest son, and Beijing has long been Pyongyang’s chief ally and primary trade partner.
But the Chinese government has pushed back against the notion that it has any control over Pyongyang, and says it is the United States that should be doing more.
Trump tweeted earlier this month that the United States was considering halting trade with countries doing business with North Korea.
Cui on Friday cautioned against putting China-US trade on the table.
“Efforts to undermine Sino-US trade, or even slapping sanctions on China, I think would be off-target,” the Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Cui as saying on Friday at a Chinese National Day reception.
“If someone were to pressure China or impose sanctions on China over the DPRK, it would not be supported by many US citizens,” Cui said, referring to North Korea by the acronym for its official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“Workers at US airplane factories, farmers growing soybeans, companies that sell smartphones to China, manufacturers that enjoy large market shares in China, companies in the service sector that have gained trade surplus in China, US states that engage in robust trade with China would all stand against it,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, Kuwait will expel North Korea’s ambassador to the oil-rich country and four other diplomats, potentially limiting Pyongyang’s ability to earn money for its nuclear program from laborers it sends to the Gulf.
The decision comes as Kuwait in recent weeks offered contradictory statements about its relationship with North Korea. The U.S. and Asian nations have increased pressure on their allies to cut ties as Pyongyang has tested a nuclear weapon and launched ballistic missiles over Japan.
North Korea’s Embassy in Kuwait City serves as its only diplomatic outpost in the Gulf. Pyongyang has thousands of laborers working in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates .
Responding to international pressure, Kuwait will expel Ambassador So Chang Sik and four other staffers. That will leave four diplomats at the embassy. The embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
A Gulf-based official confirmed on Sunday that Kuwait would be expelling the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence reports. A letter Kuwait sent in August to the United Nations also made that pledge.
Kuwait’s Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Kuwait’s ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, traveled to Washington and met with U.S. President Donald Trump this month. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City called Kuwait “a key regional partner on (North Korea) and many other issues.” “Kuwait has taken positive steps in regards to implementing U.N. resolutions related to” Pyongyang, it said.
While a small market compared to China and Russia, the amount of money North Korean laborers in the Gulf kick back to the government helps Pyongyang evade international sanctions, authorities say. A 2015 U.N. report suggested that the more than 50,000 North Koreans working overseas earned Pyongyang between $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion a year. Other estimates put earnings in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
