China calls for early "flipover" of ROK warship sinking incident

China here on Friday urged the involved parties to "flip over the page" of the Cheonan warship sinking incident and restart the six-party talks on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula as soon as possible.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the comment after the United Nations (UN) Security Council released a presidential statement on the incident Friday night.

Qin said the Security Council statement has noticed both the findings of the joint investigation submitted by the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s declaration that it had nothing to do with the incident. X The statement has also encouraged the settlement of the outstanding issues on the Korean Peninsula by peaceful means and the resumption of direct dialogues and negotiations between the DPRK and the ROK, Qin said.

"We hope the involved parties continue to maintain calm and restraint, and take this opportunity to flip over the page of the Cheonan incident as soon as possible. We call for an early resumption of the six-party talks and joint efforts to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," Qin said.

On March 26, ROK Navy frigate Cheonan, with 104 crew members aboard, went down off the ROK island of Baekryeong due to an explosion. Forty-six sailors were killed.

Seoul said after completing an investigation that the warship was torpedoed by the DPRK, but Pyongyang has denied its involvement in the incident.

The ROK on June 4 formally referred the case to the UN Security Council.

Source: Xinhua