US official: With eye on North Korea, China puts bombers on 'high alert'
Story highlights
- China's Ministry of National Defense says the report is "not true"
- US official says Chinese military aircraft also being brought up to full readiness
Washington (CNN)China
put cruise missile-capable bombers "on high alert" this week as the
United States sees evidence the Chinese military is preparing to respond
to a potential situation in North Korea, a US defense official told
CNN.
The official said the
United States has also seen an extraordinary number of Chinese military
aircraft being brought up to full readiness.
These
recent steps have been assessed as part of China's effort to "reduce
the time to react to a North Korea contingency," the official said. Such
a contingency could include the risk of an armed conflict breaking out
as tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased in the wake of North
Korean missile tests.
Chinese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang said Friday he was "aware
of the relevant reports" of a heightened alert in the Chinese air force
but said he has "no information to give."
But China's Ministry of National Defense said the US official's assertions were "not true."
"The
Chinese military at the China-North Korea border is maintaining a
normal level of combat readiness and training," the ministry said in a
statement.
Washington
and Pyongyang have ratcheted up the rhetoric, with the latter's state
media warning Thursday that the United States and South Korea could be
"completely destroyed in an instant" if North Korea launched a
pre-emptive strike.
Beijing has
long been concerned about potential instability in North Korea should
the regime in Pyongyang collapse, fearing both an influx of refugees and
the potential of reunification under a South Korean government closely
allied to the United States.
China
is also opposed to the US military's presence in South Korea,
protesting the recent decision to begin deploying elements of the
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile defense system.
Given
the close economic ties between North Korea and China, US military
officials have said Beijing is critical to solving the situation, with
President Donald Trump recently commending Chinese President Xi Jinping
for efforts to curb Pyongyang's activities.
Senior administration officials told CNN on Thursday that China is the focus of the Trump administration's North Korea strategy.
"Nobody
thinks the Chinese are going to press North Korea militarily or bring
the regime to its knees, but the strategy looks to China to find a
political solution more than anything else," one senior administration
official said.
The
officials said Trump's approach is based on a careful review of past US
efforts to deal with North Korea, noting that during the analysis of
failed negotiating efforts with the long-reigning Kim family, one thing
became abundantly clear: "China has never exerted maximum leverage on
the Kim regime."
But
one senior administration official cautioned that the China-centric
strategy was still at an early stage, and that "there are many more
stages to go."
Lu, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said Beijing was "gravely concerned" about North Korea's recent nuclear and missile activities but praised Washington's approach to the issue.
"American
officials did make some positive and constructive remarks ... such as
using whatever peaceful means possible to resolve the (Korean) Peninsula
nuclear issue," Lu said. "This represents a general direction that we
believe is correct and should be adhered to."
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