Beijing says consensus backs peaceful fix on peninsula

The global community shares a high level of agreement about the need to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula through political and diplomatic means, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday.

She made the remark after the parties concerned expressed a preference for a political solution as tensions escalate on the peninsula.

"This conforms most to the common interests of all relevant parties as well as the international community," she said at a daily news conference in Beijing.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Wednesday that the US will not give up on using diplomacy with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, saying "that is still first and foremost, that is the preferred approach".

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed the importance of an exclusively political and diplomatic solution to the problem of the Korean Peninsula, the TASS news agency reported.

Also in a news briefing on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for a political solution to the situation, urging the UN Security Council to use diplomacy whenever possible.

"We noticed related reports," Hua said. "The direction is resolute and clear, but the question is how to move forward to it."

The reason China raised the "suspension for suspension" proposal is to find a breakthrough to the current dilemma on the Korean Peninsula, while the "dual-track approach" focuses on solving the reasonable security concerns of all parties through talks in order to find a long-term solution, Hua said.

"We call for all relevant parties to actively consider the proposals and offer constructive responses," she said, noting that China is also remaining open-minded to suggestions.

The spokeswoman asked the parties directly involved to grab the opportunity, show political courage and make the correct political decision.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new resolution imposing extra sanctions in response to DPRK's latest nuclear test, which were condemned and rejected by Pyongyang.