You're reading: China urges cautious UN resolution on North Korea

BEIJING - China said on Monday that the United Nations Security Council needed to pass a cautious resolution on North Korea's December rocket launch, saying that was the way to ensure regional tensions do not escalate further.

“We regret that North Korea went ahead with the launch amid
widespread concern by the international community,” Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

“At the same time we believe that any response by the United
Nations Security Council should be prudent, moderate, conducive
to peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and prevent the
situation from further escalating.”

U.N. diplomats said on Friday that the United States and
China had struck a tentative deal on a draft U.N. Security
Council resolution condemning North Korea for the launch.

The resolution would not impose new sanctions, but would
call for expanding existing U.N. sanctions measures against
Pyongyang, the envoys said on condition of anonymity. They added
that China’s support for the move would be a significant
diplomatic blow to Pyongyang.

The 15-nation council could adopt the compromise resolution
this week, they said.

China is the North’s only major diplomatic ally, though it
agreed to U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang following North
Korea’s 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

North Korea is already banned under Security Council
resolutions from developing nuclear and missile technology but
has been working steadily on its nuclear test site, possibly in
preparation for a third nuclear test, satellite images show.

December’s successful long-range rocket launch, the first to
put a satellite in orbit, was a coup for North Korea’s young
leader Kim Jong-un.