Korean Peninsula ball still in the US court

Democratic People's Republic of Korea launches a long range rocket launched into the air in this file still image taken from KRT video footage, released by Yonhap on February 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

US president-elect Donald Trump has adopted a belligerent tone whenever he talks about China－his equivalent of Pinocchio's nose, perhaps－and his latest bid to tar China with the brush of responsibility for seemingly any and every issue that catches his attention was no exception.

"China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!" he tweeted on Monday.

Such accusations are deliberately manipulative, and bode ill for ties between the world's top two economies, each being the other's biggest trading partner.

Trade between China and the United States, nearly $560 billion last year, has thrived on mutual benefits as the two economies are complementary to each other. It is not a favor given by one to the other.

And, contrary to what Trump claimed, China has always played an active and responsible role in trying to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

It has worked with the US and other countries to impose UN mandated sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and send a strong and united response to Pyongyang's provocative moves.

Most recently, China, together with the US, voted in favor of a UN resolution in December to tighten sanctions on the DPRK after its fifth nuclear test in September.

Trump also conveniently neglected to mention that the hostile stance of the US and its Asian allies toward the DPRK has only increased the DPRK's fears about its survival. And their aggressive moves, such as the planned deployment of the US' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in the Republic of Korea and large-scale joint military exercises, have only fueled Pyongyang's desire to accelerate its nuclear weapons program.

Rather than accusing China of not doing enough to help the US with its strategic aims on the Korean Peninsula and reinforcing the DPRK's survival fears, Trump would do better to heed his own words and leverage his image as a maverick to engage in talks with Pyongyang.

The DPRK regards a nuclear deterrent as crucial to ensure its survival, the only way to change that belief and secure stability on the peninsula is for the incoming Trump administration to alter the US' approach and help find a peaceful and permanent solution through the Six-Party Talks.