China says US should do more to reduce North Korea tensions

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China’s U.N. ambassador said Friday the United States should come up with “more attractive and more practical” policies and actions to reduce tensions with North Korea and avoid a return to the “vicious circle” of confrontation, condemnation and sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

Zhang Jun said the solution lies in direct dialogue, and if the Biden administration wants to see a breakthrough “they should show more sincerity and flexibility.”

He told reporters before heading into closed consultations of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States following North Korea’s most recent test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the American territory of Guam that “what I see is the key in solving this issue is already in the hands of the United States.”

Asked what else the United States should do since it has already said it is prepared to talk with North Korea, the Chinese ambassador pointed to talks between former U.S. president Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore and Hanoi.

“We have seen the suspension of the nuclear test, we have seen the suspension of the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles” by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name, he said. “And then what has been done by the U.S.?”

Zhang said the Biden administration should be asked “in what way they can accommodate the concerns of DPRK ... to really bring tension down and then to put things under control.”

The Chinese ambassador called this “a critical moment” and said all concerned parties, including Security Council members, “should stay prudent in words and actions" and avoid further escalation of tensions.

“We have seen a vicious circle -- confrontation,...