China urges more ’flexibility’ from US on N Korea

China's UN ambassador on Feb. 4 called on the United States to be more flexible in its dealings with North Korea, as Beijing joined others to scrap a US-drafted Security Council joint statement condemning Pyongyang's missile launches, diplomats said.

Kim Jong Un's regime conducted an unprecedented seven weapons tests in January, including launching its most powerful missile since 2017 as it hinted it could restart long-range and nuclear testing.

Washington had proposed a statement decrying those launches, but China and Russia, along with other nations, refused to sign on to it, the diplomats told AFP.
"If they do want to see some new breakthrough, they should show more sincerity and flexibility," China's ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, said of US officials ahead of a closed-door meeting convened at Washington's request on North Korea.

"They should come up with more attractive and more practical, more flexible approaches, policies and actions and accommodating the concerns of the DPRK," Zhang told reporters, using the initials of the North's official name.
The Chinese official noted that as a result of former US president Donald Trump's policy on North Korea, Pyongyang had suspended nuclear tests and international ballistic missile launches.
However, in recent months, Zhang lamented, "we have seen a vicious circle of confrontation, condemnation, sanctions."
China and Russia have been blocking Council action on North Korea, and last year proposed a resolution that would ease sanctions on Pyongyang on humanitarian grounds, but the draft has not been put to a vote due to lack of support.
"At least we are doing something to facilitate further improvement and avoiding the escalation of the tension," Zhang said.