China has taken "unprecedented" actions to relay its concerns to its close ally North Korea over its missile tests, a U.S. State Department official said Thursday.
Furthermore, cases like North Korea have helped raise China's awareness about the importance of working with the U.S. on major issues like non-proliferation, Thomas Christensen, deputy assistant secretary of state, told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Christensen handles China and Taiwan issues at the department's East Asia and Pacific Bureau.
In his address to the commission, Christensen said he believes China realized its own interests aligned with other major stakeholders, such as the U.S., as it rises in the international community.
China's recent action on North Korea at the United Nations was one example, he said.
The 15-member U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution last month condemning North Korea's multiple missile launches. China, one of North Korea's last remaining ideological allies, voted for the resolution after days of compromise and negotiations on its wording and content.
"In the past few weeks we have seen China take unprecedented actions to express (its)concerns to North Korea over its provocative missile launches, including working with the U.S. and others to pass the very strongly worded U.N. Security Council Resolution 1695," Christensen said.
He also lauded what he called China's "significant role" in hosting the six-nation Korean nuclear disarmament talks, involving South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
The talks last September produced a joint statement that calls for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and programs in return for political and economic incentives from other parties.
"We will work further with China to find ways to urge North Korea to make the strategic choice to abandon completely, irreversibly, and verifiably its nuclear weapons program, adopt more responsible behavior, and implement the joint statement," Christensen said.
China's record in dealing with non-proliferation issues is "mixed," he said, with Beijing needing to do more to rein in proliferation activities by Chinese companies.
"China's experience in working in the U.N. Security Council on the issues of North Korean and Iranian missile and nuclear programs is doing much to raise China's awareness of the importance of working with us on these issues," he said.
Washington, Aug. 3 (Yonhap News)
China takes 'unprecedented' action on N.K. missiles, grows in awareness: official |
