China says it won’t allow war or chaos on Korean peninsula after backing latest UN sanctions

China said on Tuesday it will not allow war or chaos on the Korean peninsula after it endorsed the latest UN sanctions against Pyongyang following its nuclear test last week. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: the resolution also reiterated the need to maintain peace and stability across the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia. Geng said “The peninsula issue must be resolved by peacefully and the military solution has no way out”. The UN sanctions are the strongest yet against Pyongyang, and also include bans on textile exports from the North, joint ventures and technology transfers, as well as efforts to stop smuggling of prohibited products. The US was pushing for tougher sanctions – including a full oil embargo, but met resistance from Russia and China, which feared that putting too much pressure on North Korea could escalate tensions. China has already imposed sanctions on Pyongyang including banning seafood imports from North Korea, and Chinese banks reportedly put a stop to transactions by North Koreans on Tuesday.