Beijing urges revival of 6-party talks to ease Korean tensions

Despite being tagged as Pyongyang’s big brother, the Chinese government said it wants to revive the six-party talks to ease political and military tensions in the Korean peninsula after North Korea launched artillery attacks on a South Korean island on Nov. 23. Beijing is “very much concerned about the situation in the Korean peninsula" and understands the Philippine government's move to establish a contingency plan for some 60,000 Filipinos in South Korea, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao said during a reception in Makati City late Tuesday. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is looking into the Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong and the sinking of South Korean warship Cheonan allegedly by torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine on March 26 to determine if these constitute acts of war. “All countries in the affected areas should be taking the necessary action to ensure the safety of their nationals. But we urge for the global support to take a constructive approach to ease the tension in the Korean peninsula," Liu said. “We are calling on all the parties to come back for the renegotiation of the six-party talks to ease the tension in North Korea and to achieve a better understanding," Liu told reporters in an interview at the Chinese-Philippines diplomatic event at the Mandarin hotel. The six-party talks include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, North Korea, and US. Only Russia has supported Beijing’s call last Nov. 28 to convene emergency talks addressing the tensions in the Korean peninsula. The US, Japan, and South Korea said they will not go back to the negotiating table until they see “more concrete actions" that include the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear program. South Korea has been a State party to the Rome Statute since November 2002. As such, the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide possibly committed on its territory or by its nationals since Feb. 1, 2003 when the Statute entered into force in the Republic of Korea. The ICC Prosecutor Office has started a preliminary investigation into the two incidents to determine if these constitute war crimes under the jurisdiction of the court. The Office of the Prosecutor is mandated by the Rome Statute to conduct preliminary examinations for the purpose of determining if the criteria for opening an investigation are met. — VS, GMANews.TV