Beijing critical of Korea tensions

China deplored tension on the Korean peninsula yesterday and, in an apparent reference to North Korea, said no country should be allowed to plunge the region into chaos after the US postponed a missile test to ease talk of war.

Meanwhile, Switzerland has offered to mediate with North Korea amid the tensions.

North Korea, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, has been issuing threats of war against the US and US-backed South Korea since the UN-imposed sanctions after its third nuclear weapon test in February.

Its anger has been compounded by weeks of joint military exercises by South Korea and the US.

North Korea told diplomats late last week to consider leaving Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, because of the tension, but embassies appeared to view the appeal as more rhetoric and staff have stayed put.

South Korea said it was anticipating any manner of action that North Korea’s unpredictable leaders might make, including a possible missile launch, by Wednesday, after when North Korea said it could not guarantee diplomats’ safety.

China, North Korea’s sole financial and diplomatic backer, has shown signs of growing irritation with North Korea’s warnings of nuclear war.

Chinese president, Xi Jinping, addressing a forum on the southern island of Hainan, did not name North Korea but said no country “should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain”.

Stability in Asia, he said, “faces new challenges, as hot spot issues keep emerging and both traditional and non-traditional security threats exist”.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi relating a telephone conversation with UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, expressed similar frustration.

“We oppose provocative words and actions from any party in the region and do not allow trouble making on China’s doorstep,” Wang said, according to a ministry statement on its website.

The ministry expressed “grave concern” yesterday at rising tension and said China had asked North Korea to “ensure the safety of Chinese diplomats in North Korea, in accordance with the Vienna Convention and international laws and norms”.

China’s embassy, it said, was “understood” to be operating normally in Pyongyang.

Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, addressing the Hainan forum, said avoiding conflict on the peninsula was vital.

“There, any aggression is a threat to the interests of every country in the region,” she said.

British foreign minister William Hague said North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, had to be taken seriously.

Hague said the international response “should also be very clear, very united and calm at all times because it’s important not to feed that frenetic rhetoric that we’ve seen over the last few weeks”.

Switzerland’s foreign ministry offered to mediate, saying it was “always willing to help find a solution, if this is the wish of the parties, such as hosting meeting between them”.

Kim, the third member of his dynasty to rule North Korea, is thought to have spent several years in Switzerland being educated under a pseudonym.

In Washington, a defence official said that a long-scheduled test of the Minuteman III intercontinental missile, which had been due to take place at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, would be postponed.

“This is the logical, prudent and responsible course of action to take,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said the test had been unconnected to “anything related to North Korea” and added that another test launch could be expected next month. The US remained fully prepared to respond to any North Korean threat, the official said.