Special envoy pushes for peace, stability in region

A Chinese special envoy has concluded a nine-day trip to Switzerland, Russia and the headquarters of the European Union, making a new round of diplomatic efforts to maintain stability in Northeast Asia.

The trip, which concluded on Tuesday, took Liu Xiaoming, special representative of the Chinese government on Korean Peninsula Affairs, to the Tenth Zermatt Roundtable on Security Issues in Northeast Asia held in Montreux, Switzerland, the Foreign Ministry said.

He had discussions on regional security and other issues of mutual interest with officials and scholars, including Alexandre Fasel, state secretary of Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Andrey Rudenko, Russian deputy foreign minister, and Niclas Kvarnstrom, managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, and shared China's position and views.

Those who interacted with Liu spoke positively of the role China has played, and said they hoped to strengthen exchanges with China to jointly safeguard peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

During Liu's visit to Russia, the two countries agreed to maintain close communication and coordination over the situation on the Korean Peninsula and security issues in Northeast Asia.

Liu's trip came as the United States and the Republic of Korea held their annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise, which lasted for 11 days. Reports quoted Japan and the ROK as saying the Democratic People's Republic of Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, days after the military exercise concluded.

China has on various occasions called for the restoration of talks and addressing the reasonable security concerns of all parties to the Korean Peninsula issue, especially those of the DPRK.

At a news conference earlier this month, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it is urgent for the parties to stop deterrence and pressure to prevent further escalation of tensions.

Anyone who disrupts peace in the peninsula "will pay a huge price", Wang warned.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn