BEIJING, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- China believes that imposing financial sanctions on North Korea will delay the restart of the six-party talks.
Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said that steps should be taken instead to ease tension on the Korean Peninsula, Xinhua, the official government news agency reported.
Japan and Australia have approved additional sanctions against North Korea in response to the missile tests during the summer.
"All parties concerned should focus on how to resume the talks as soon as possible and avoid any action that may further complicate the situation," Qin said.
The talks, involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have been stalled for almost a year. North Korea has said it will not return to the table until the United States lifts sanctions, while the U.S. government says those sanctions involve counterfeiting by North Korea and are separate from the nuclear issue.
