China said it would continue to push for a political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday (September 9), after North Korea passed a new law which outlined its use of nuclear weapons.
"China's position on the (Korean) Peninsula issue has not changed. We will act in accordance with the broad framework of maintaining peace and stability on the Peninsula," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular news conference in Beijing.
North Korea has officially enshrined the right to use preemptive nuclear strikes to protect itself in a new law that leader Kim Jong Un said makes its nuclear status "irreversible" and bars denuclearisation talks, state media reported on Friday.
The move comes as observers say North Korea appears to be preparing to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017, after historic summits with then-U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders in 2018 failed to persuade Kim to abandon his weapons development.