China calls on N Korea to suspend missile and nuclear tests

         

China has proposed that North Korea suspend its tests of missile and nuclear technology to "defuse a looming crisis".

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that in exchange, the US and South Korea could halt annual joint military drills, which consistently infuriate the North.

The appeal comes after North Korea test-launched four missiles on Monday, breaking international sanctions.

In response, the US began rolling out a missile defence system in South Korea.

Speaking on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary meeting, Mr Wang said the Korean peninsula was like "two accelerating trains, coming toward each other with neither side willing to give way".

"Are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision?" he asked.

A mutual halt of military operations would be the first step towards easing tensions and reopening negotiations, he said.

Thaad 'no threat to China'

Three of the North Korean missiles came down inside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Monday, prompting Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump to say the region had entered "a new stage of threat".

The UN Security Council earlier strongly condemned the launch in a unanimous statement, calling it a grave violation of North Korea's international obligations, which risked destabilising the region.

The Council, which will meet later on Wednesday, also threatened to "take further significant measures" against North Korea, which could imply efforts to introduce a fresh round of sanctions.

Meanwhile, the US has again sought to reassure Beijing over deployment of an extensive missile defence system in South Korea.

The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system (Thaad) is designed to protect South Korea, and US troops based there, from North Korean missile attacks. The first elements of it were moved into place on Tuesday, hours after the North's latest launch.