China touts role in easing tensions on Korean Peninsula

A senior Chinese official on Friday touted his country's diplomatic efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, while reaffirming its pledge to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. State Councilor Yang Jiechi, a senior foreign policy adviser to Chinese President Xi Jinping, also hailed the June summit talks between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Xi as having "consolidated our good-neighborly friendship and cooperation."    Yang made the remarks in his eight-page article on China's major diplomatic agenda and global affairs, titled "Innovations in China's Diplomatic Theory and Practice Under New Conditions."    "On the Korean nuclear issue, while firmly committed to the goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, we have actively reached out to relevant countries to move the situation on the peninsula towards relaxation," Yang said.