China says UN response to N. Korea rocket launch should be cautious

United Nations, Apr.14 (ANI): China's UN envoy Zhang Yesui has urged the UN Security Council to give a cautious and proportionate response to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) recent rocket launch.

"Our position on the reaction from the Security Council has been very clear and consistent. That is, the reaction from the Security Council has to be cautious and proportionate," Xinhua quoted Zhang Yesui as telling reporters after the council adopted a presidential statement on the DPRK launch.

The UN Security Council on April 13, 2009 adopted a presidential statement on the recent launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

In the statement, the 15-member council "condemns" the April 5 launch by the DPRK and calls on all member states to "comply fully with their obligations under resolution 1718," adopted by the council in October 2006.

The statement also called for the early resumption of the six-party talks, which gather China, the DPRK, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

"The reaction from the Security Council should be conducive to maintaining peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, and conducive to the six-party talks and also to the process of de-nuclearisation in the Korean Peninsula, and it should be also conducive to afeguarding the international non-proliferation regime," Yesui said.

"That's why we had been consistent in the Security Council adopting a presidential statement instead of a resolution with new sanctions," he said.

In Beijing, the government said it disapproved of the United Nations adopting any new resolution on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) rocket launch, and is opposed to any new sanction against the DPRK.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said here on Tuesday that China maintains that the reaction from the Security Council should be conducive to safeguarding peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, and conducive to the six-party talks and also to the process of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, and it should also be conducive to safeguarding the international non-proliferation regime.

She added that China disapproves of the UN Security Council's adoption of any new resolution on the rocket launch, and is opposed any new sanction against the DPRK.

Jiang said China hopes relevant parties would view the overall situation and long-term development, keep calm and show restraint, jointly safeguard peace and stability in the region and promote the process of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. (ANI)