China renews call for North Korea, US ‘freeze for freeze’

China on Thursday reiterated its call for an agreement between North Korea and the U.S. under which the North would gain concessions if it freezes its nuclear weapons program, apparently contradicting remarks a day earlier by President Donald Trump. (Photo by Will Clayton/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

BEIJING—China on Thursday reiterated its call for an agreement between North Korea and the U.S. under which the North would gain concessions if it freezes its nuclear weapons program, apparently contradicting remarks a day earlier by President Donald Trump.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang Geng said China’s position has not changed and the “freeze-for-freeze” initiative, under which the U.S. and South Korea would suspend large-scale military exercises in return, remained a “first step.”

“We believe that the freeze-for-freeze initiative is the most viable and reasonable plan against the current backdrop, which cannot only alleviate the current tensions, but also addresses the most urgent security concerns of all sides,” Geng told reporters at a regular briefing.

Such an agreement would “create opportunities and conditions for the resumption of peace talks, and find breakthroughs to get out of this stalemate,” Geng said.

The U.S. has long dismissed the proposal, saying North Korea must unilaterally cease its program before negotiations can begin. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that China had agreed with the U.S. on that point during his 12-day trip through Asia that included a state visit to China, where he was hosted by President Xi Jinping.

“President Xi recognizes that a nuclear North Korea is a grave threat to China, and we agreed that we would not accept a so-called freeze for freeze agreement, like those that have consistently failed in the past,” Trump said.

China and Russia have proposed the agreement, also known as “dual suspension,” as a way to restart long-stalled negotiations.

China, North Korea’s only major ally, said Wednesday that it would send a high-level special envoy to the North’s capital, Pyongyang, amid an extended chill in relations between the neighbours.