Han Fangming, the founding chairman of the Charhar Institute and vice chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of CPPCC, speaks to a China.org.cn reporter in Beijing, March 11, 2017. [Photo/ China.org.cn] |
A national political advisor said on Saturday in Beijing that China's stance remains clear regarding the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and is working on solutions to the Korean Peninsula issues.
Han Fangming, is the founding chairman of the Charhar Institute and vice chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
"The deployment of the THAAD is a hasty and reckless decision," the political advisor told China.org.cn. He was attending the annual session of the National Committee of the CPPCC in Beijing, which closed on Monday.
On March 6, two THAAD launch trucks arrived by air transport at Osan Air Base in South Korea for deployment. Earlier that day, North Korea had launched four missiles. The complicated situation on the Korean Peninsula has attracted attention worldwide.
At a press conference during the "two sessions," which is short for the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi compared North Korea and the U.S.-South Korea alliance to two accelerating trains that are coming towards each other and likely to hit head on.
The minister suggests as a first step moving forward that North Korea should suspend its nuclear and missile activities and the U.S. and South Korea should halt their large-scale exercises.
Han echoed these concerns, adding that China's stance on the THAAD issue has always been very clear. “We oppose the deployment," Han said. "We also joined in the United Nations sanctions against North Korean for its development of nuclear weapons; this stance is clear too."
As for whether there will be a war on the Korean Peninsula, he said,"we can't afford a future where Northeast Asia becomes a source of crisis, so we have to avoid and overcome certain existing and potential dangerous situations. In addition, there is a crisis control mechanism between China and the U.S., so we will find ways to resolve problems."
"We encourage North Korea to go back to the negotiation table, which is the best way to resolve conflicts and disputes," he pointed out, hoping to find peaceful resolutions for the Korean Peninsula issues.
Han visited South Korea several times in the past year with his research team from the Charhar Institute, a non-governmental foreign affairs think tank, in order to talk with various people in South Korea and find solutions for the two countries' relationship.
Han said he has not heard of any authorized and clear restrictions on South Korean entertainment and tourism in China. "Due to the strained relationship between the two countries, there may be backlashes in those industries, while tourists and audiences will also have their own responses. But there are no actual sanctions against South Korea. "
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