China`s state media vocally criticize N. Korean nuclear threat

China`s state media vocally criticize N. Korean nuclear threat. September. 17, 2015 07:01. bonhong@donga.com.

After North Korea suggested a plan to push ahead with its fourth nuclear test, China`s state-run new media criticized North Korea unusually quickly and in strong tones. Just five hours after the North said that all the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon started normal operation, China`s official Xinhua News Agency reported on its website at 10:19 a.m. on Tuesday (Korean time) it was the first time for the North to announce the Yongbyon nuclear facilities` normal operation since it destroyed the cooling tower in June 2008, vowing to shut down the facilities. Xinhua also reported that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo would urge the U.N. Security Council to take measures against Pyongyang`s latest move.

Although Xinhua was quoting a researcher at an internal research institute, the report is interpreted as the Chinese government`s expression of its will that it would not stand by and watch the North`s move. In an interview, the researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics said that the North intended to show off its scientific and technological achievements ahead of the Workers Party of Korea`s 70th founding anniversary (October 10); disregard the U.N. Security Council`s resolution banning the North`s long-range rocket launches using ballistic missile technology; and draw international attention by continual provocations.

The China Daily, an official English-language daily, also reported on Wednesday, "Experts said Pyongyang`s tactics are aimed at spurring talks with the United States, but they have also struck a blow to relations with China." The daily also quoted Zhu Feng, director of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University, as saying that if the U.N. considers new sanctions against the North, China is "very likely" to support them.

The Huanqiu Shibao, an international sister paper of the Renmin Ribao, the Communist Part of China`s organ, pointed out that although Pyongyang chose the path of nuclear possession even after the September 19, 2005 denuclearization agreement, it failed to win security and suffered from the biggest loss.

China`s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made it clear that the North`s nuclear or missile test would violate the U.N. Security Council`s resolution, saying, "As a sovereign state, North Korea has the rights for peaceful use of outer space, but these rights are restricted by U.N. resolutions."