China: Biden should seek diplomacy with North Korea, not ‘extreme pressure’

China’s ambassador to the United Nations said Monday that the Biden administration should focus on diplomacy rather than “extreme pressure” with North Korea.

“All efforts should go along the direction of resuming dialogue, making more efforts, walking towards each other instead of walking against each other,” U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said, The Associated Press reported.

“Otherwise, I do not see any possibility of finding a lasting, sustaining solution simply by exercising pressure,” whether “it’s extreme pressure or light pressure,” he added.

The Biden administration recently finished its policy review toward North Korea but did not release details on its plans for moving forward besides stating there will be a “calibrated, practical approach” to denuclearize the country.

“Without tackling the security and the peace issue properly, definitely we do not have the right environment for our efforts for the denuclearization,” Zhang said of the U.S. policy review.

A top North Korean official said that President Biden’s address to Congress last week showed he was going to continue “hostile policy” toward the country.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed China in March to help with efforts to achieve denuclearization in North Korea.

China has imposed some sanctions on North Korea but is advocating for the U.N. Security Council to lift some of its sanctions against the country, according to the AP.

“At a certain stage, timely adjustment [of sanctions] will really produce good results with the creation of more favorable environment for the tackling of this issue,” Zhang said Monday.