China TURNS on North Korea vowing to PUNISH Kim after mounting pressure from UN

“Any new actions taken by the international community against the DPRK should serve the purpose of curbing the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programmes, while at the same time be conducive to restarting dialogue and consultation.” 

China’s air force carried out exercises near the peninsula, practising to defend against a “surprise attack” – presumably from Kim’s troops – on Tuesday morning. 

The exercise came days after North Korea carried out its sixth and largest nuclear test of an advanced hydrogen bomb.

US president Donald Trump warned military action is “not a first choice” but added ominously “we’ll see what happens”. 

China’s support for sanctions comes despite it being deeply suspicious of any US backed military build up in the region and repeated anger at the deployment of a US anti-missile defence system in South Korea.

China, along with Russia, have now also advocated a “freeze for freeze” plan, where the United States and South Korea stop major military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programmes.

And after weeks of rising tension, South Korea and the United States have been discussing the deployment of aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula.

However, Beijing has becoming increasingly concerned with North Korea, who have historically been allies.

In recent months President Trump has placed pressure on China to do more to reign in its neighbour. 

China is by far North Korea’s biggest trading partner, accounting for 92 per cent of two-way trade last year.

It also provides hundreds of thousands of tonnes of oil and fuel to the impoverished regime.

However, earlier this year China suspended imports of North Korean coal, which acts as a major source of income for the hermit state. 

Amid rising tensions, South Korea has ploughed ahead with the instalment of four remaining launchers of a US anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system on a former golf course south of its capital, Seoul. 

Two launchers had already been deployed.

The decision to deploy it has drawn strong objections from China, which believes the system’s radar could be used to look deeply into its territory and will upset the regional security balance. 

China lodged another stern protest against the THAAD deployment on Thursday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang added: “We again urge South Korea and the United States to take seriously China’s and regional nations’ security interests and concerns, stop the relevant deployment progress, and remove the relevant equipment.”