China urges US, North Korea to opt for talks

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday urged countries involved in the North Korean crisis, including the US, to opt for negotiations rather than sanctions to address the issue.

Following a meeting with his Mongolian counterpart Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Wang Yi told reporters that China was opposed to actions that might aggravate tension on the Korean Peninsula, Efe news reported.

He asserted that new measures should be adopted within the framework of UN resolutions.

"Propositions and measures that are against or not included in the resolutions lack international legal support and will jeopardize the execution of UN resolutions," Wang Yi said while reiterating Beijing's opposition to Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

Meanwhile, South Korea and the US on Monday began a major joint air combat exercise, a new show of strength after the Kim Jong-un regime conducted its latest missile test on November 29.

--IANS

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