Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on North Korea on Wednesday to stop nuclear and missile tests and for the United States and South Korea to stop joint military drills that the isolated North regards as preparation for war.
North Korea launched four ballistic missiles on Monday in response to the military exercises. Wang said those tests and the drills were causing tensions on the Korean Peninsula to increase like two "accelerating trains coming toward each other".
"China's suggestion is, as a first step, for North Korea to suspend nuclear activity, and for the U.S. and South Korea to also suspend large-scale military drills," Wang said at his annual news conference on the sidelines of the meeting of China's parliament in Beijing.
He said this "dual suspension" would allow all sides to return to the negotiating table.
