China says Japan shouldn’t slap North Korea with sanctions

BEIJING – China has advised Japan not to impose sanctions unilaterally on North Korea after Pyongyang launched a test missile that flew over Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean, the Chinese foreign ministry said Saturday.

The test-firing Tuesday has intensified fear and reignited a debate in Japan about revising its defence plan after decades of pursuing more pacifist policies. A statement from China’s foreign ministry said the minister also urged his Japanese counterpart a day earlier not to consider unilateral sanctions in response.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said “unilateral sanctions are not in line with the spirit of the (U.N.) Security Council resolutions, and there is no basis in international law for them, (therefore) Japan should not make a misjudgment.”

Wang also said China hoped that Japan would work to improve bilateral relations by “restoring mutual trust and rebuilding friendship instead of thinking about futile matters.”