Foreign ministry says accusation not based on facts and is ‘irresponsible’
Beijing on Saturday protested to the United States after President Donald Trump blamed China for holding back denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
In a statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the US claim was not based on facts and was “irresponsible”.
“We are seriously concerned and have made solemn representations to the US side,” Lu said.
The statement came after Trump on Friday said he had asked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his trip to North Korea because there had not been significant progress on denuclearisation.
In further tweets, Trump said he “[did] not believe” China was helping with the process of denuclearisation “because of our much tougher trading stance”.
Lu said China’s stance on denuclearisation had been consistent, and it supported the US and North Korea to push forward the agreements reached during their landmark summit in Singapore in June.
