China To ‘Firmly Oppose’ North Korea’s H-Bomb Test – OpEd
By Mitchell Blatt*
China has expressed firm opposition to North Korea’s nuclear test, but their foreign affairs spokesperson wasn’t clear about whether China would be open to sanctions or any other disciplinary actions.
The nuclear test was the lead story on the Shanghai Morning Post on January 7, 2016, under the headline, “Firmly Oppose North Korea Again Testing Nuclear.” Shanghai Morning Post is published by the Liberation Daily Newspaper Group, a government-connected company that publishes Liberation Daily, the official daily newspaper of the Shanghai Committee of Communist Party of China.
According to the text of the article, the Foreign Ministry expressed anger at North Korea’s continual stifling of international and Chinese efforts to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, but they didn’t state what–if any–reprisals North Korea would face:
A reporter asked did North Korea alert China of its test before hand? And will China consider adopting sanctions against North Korea? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying said, about the first question, that China was completely in the dark about the nuclear test before it happened. About the second question, [he said] China will continue to fulfill its international obligations, and the international community will work hard together to achieve a nuclear-free North Korean peninsula.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Hua also said China would make efforts to monitor the environment near the North Korean border to assess whether the test had made any pollution impact on China.
About the author:
*Mitchell Blatt moved to China in 2012, and since then he has traveled and written about politics and culture throughout Asia. A writer and journalist, based in China, he is the lead author of Panda Guides Hong Kong guidebook and a contributor to outlets including The Federalist, China.org.cn, The Daily Caller, and Vagabond Journey.
Source:
This article was published by Bombs and Dollars
