China Says North Korea Tensions Reached ‘Tipping Point’

• China Says North Korea Tensions Reached ‘Tipping Point’
  by http://www.channelnewsasia.com/
  BEIJING: China warned that tensions on the Korean peninsula have reached “tipping point” after North Korea Tuesday (Aug 29) fired a ballistic missile over Japan, but said the United States and South Korea are partly to blame.
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  Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying urged all sides to avoid provocations and repeated Beijing’s call for the North to suspend missile tests in return for a halt to US-South Korean military exercises.
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  The situation is “now at a tipping point approaching a crisis. At the same time there is an opportunity to reopen peace talks,” Hua told a regular news briefing.
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  “We hope relevant parties can consider how we can de-escalate the situation on the peninsula and realise peace and stability on the peninsula,” she added.
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  Sirens blared out early Tuesday and text messages were fired off across the north of Japan, warning people in the missile’s flightpath to take cover.
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  Seoul and Washington last week began annual war games which China opposes and are viewed by nuclear-armed Pyongyang as a highly provocative rehearsal for invasion. The North always meets them with threats of strong military counteraction.
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