China urges South Korea not to take sides and blames U.S. policy for Korea tensions

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged South Korea not to take sides between Beijing and Washington, saying the U.S. should abandon its “hostile” policy toward North Korea to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged South Korea not to take sides between Beijing and Washington, saying the U.S. should abandon its “hostile” policy toward North Korea to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Wang made the remarks in a meeting with South Korean National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac in Seoul on Thursday, Chinese state media reported, where he also met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

“The fundamental solution to the tensions on the Korean Peninsula lies in addressing the root causes of the problem and urging the United States to abandon its hostile policy toward North Korea,” Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, cited Wang as saying.

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China hopes South Korea will “achieve genuine strategic autonomy, refrain from bloc confrontation and taking sides, and develop relations with major powers including China and the United States in parallel and without contradiction,” Wang said.