Australian PM urges China to stop ‘reckless’ North Korea
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Friday it is in China’s best interests to curb the nuclear ambitions of North Korea, with which it shares a border.
By doing so, China will bring peace to the region and gain the trust of its neighbors after tensions over its territorial disputes in the South China Sea, he said at a security conference in Singapore .
China will “best succeed by respecting the sovereignty of others and in so doing, build a reservoir of trust and cooperation with its neighbors, ” Turnbull said. “And it has no better or more urgent opportunity to build that trust than to use its great leverage and the responsibility with which it comes to curb the unlawful, reckless and dangerous conduct of North Korea.” China is North Korea’s closest ally.
Beijing has pitted itself against its smaller neighbors in claiming disputed islands, coral reefs and lagoons in the South China Sea.
If the tensions persist, countries will decide to distance themselves from China and “look to counterweight Beijing’s power by bolstering alliances and partnerships between themselves, and especially with the United States, ” he said.
