China: War on Korean Peninsula would have no winner

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China disapproves of the escalating war of words between Washington and Pyongyang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Tuesday, warning that a war on the Korean Peninsula would have no winner.

Lu's remarks came a day after the DPRK Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong Ho said US President Donald Trump had declared war on his country, and warned that Pyongyang reserves the right to take counter-measures against the US, including shooting down US bombers.

Beijing hopes US and DPRK politicians realize that resorting to military means would never be a viable way out, Lu added.

He also urged Washington and Pyongyang to realize that their war of words "will only increase the risk of confrontation and reduce the room for policy maneuvers."

Countries across the region would suffer if a war broke out on the Korean Peninsula, the spokesman said.

Commenting on the DPRK official's remarks on Monday, Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Liu Jieyi told Reuters that the escalating rhetoric was getting too dangerous and the only solution was negotiations.

"We want things to calm down. It's getting too dangerous and it's in nobody's interest," Liu said. "We certainly hope that (the US and the DPRK) will see that there is no other way than negotiations to solve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula ... The alternative is a disaster."

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un inspects a long and medium-range ballistic rocket launch drill recently. /Reuters Photo

DPRK 'ready to shoot down US bombers'

In a statement on Monday, Ri accused Trump of declaring war against his country and said Pyongyang was ready to defend itself by shooting down US bombers.

Speaking to reporters outside his New York hotel, Ri said the international community had hoped that a "war of words" would "not turn into real actions."

"However, last weekend, Trump claimed our leadership would not be around much longer," Ri said. "He declared war on our country."

Trump had warned on Twitter that the DPRK "won't be around much longer" if it keeps up its threats.

"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to take counter-measures including the right to shoot down US strategic bombers even when they are not yet inside the airspace border of our country," said Ri. "The question of who won't be around much longer will be answered then."

US bombers flew off the coast of the DPRK on Saturday in a show of force.

US aircrafts conduct a mission over the Korean Peninsula, flying off the east coast of the DPRK, on September 23, 2017. /AFP Photo

The White House disputed Ri's interpretation of Trump's saber rattling.

"We have not declared war against North Korea (the DPRK) and frankly the suggestion of that is absurd," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang rose sharply last week as Trump branded the DPRK leader Kim Jong Un "Rocket Man" and "madman" and threatened to "totally destroy" the DPRK, while Kim blasted Trump as a "mentally deranged US dotard" who will "pay dearly" for his threats.

'No easy military solution'

US National Security Council Director H.R. McMaster said on Monday that the Trump administration had ran through "four to five" scenarios to resolve the DPRK's nuclear issue. "Some are uglier than others," he said in a speech hosted by the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (L) and US President Donald Trump (R) have been engaged in a war of words. /CGTN Photo

"What we hope to do is avoid war, but we cannot completely discount that possibility," McMaster said, while acknowledging the risks of a military solution. "We don't think there's an easy military solution to this problem."

He added that any solution would be an international effort.

During a visit to India, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said diplomatic efforts to deal with the DPRK crisis were still continuing.

"You have seen unanimous United Nations Security Council resolutions passed that have increased the pressure, economic pressure and diplomatic pressure (on Pyongyang)," he told reporters.

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