Chinese foreign minister: No winners if Korea war breaks out

BEIJING (AP) — There can be no winners in a war between the U.S. and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday, while pledging support for dialogue between the sides.

Wang’s comments mark the latest attempt to cool tensions by North Korea’s most important ally and key provider of food and fuel aid. Any fighting on the Korean Peninsula is likely to draw in China, which has repeatedly expressed concerns about a wave of refugees and the possible presence of U.S. and South Korean troops on its border.

China also has grown increasingly frustrated with the refusal of Kim Jong Un’s regime to heed its admonitions, and in February cut off imports of North Korean coal that provide Pyongyang with a crucial source of foreign currency.

Starting Monday, the Chinese flag carrier Air China will suspend flights from Beijing to Pyongyang, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

No reason was given for the suspension.

Air China and North Korea’s Air Koryo are the only two airlines serving that route, with the latter operating on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“Once a war really happens, the result will be nothing but multiple loss. No one can become a winner,” Wang told reporters at a news conference with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

“Therefore, we call upon all the parties, no matter verbally or in action, to stop provoking and threatening each other and not to allow the situation to become irretrievable and out of control,” Wang said.

He urged all sides to take a flexible approach to resuming dialogue.

“As long as dialogue takes place, it can be official or unofficial, through one channel or dual channels, bilateral or multilateral. China is willing to give support to all of them,” Wang said.

Wang last month urged North Korea to suspend its nuclear weapon and missile tests in exchange for South Korea and the U.S. putting their war games on hold, reviving a proposal first raised by Pyongyang. Washington swiftly dismissed the idea, but some observers have said administration officials may be becoming more amenable to renewed dialogue with the North.

Earlier Friday, North Korea’s Vice Minister Han Song Ryol told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview that his country will keep building up its nuclear arsenal in “quality and quantity” and said Pyongyang is ready to go to war if that’s what President Donald Trump wants.