By The South Asia Times

SEOUL - North Korea on Wednesday defended China’s “One China” policy and accused the United States of supporting Taiwan independence and worsening tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

The criticism came in an article titled “U.S. Is Acting Rashly” by international affairs analyst Kim Myong-chol, published by North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Yonhap News Agency reported the comments as tensions continue over US military support for Taiwan.

Kim accused Washington of undermining regional stability under the pretext of opposing unilateral changes to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

“The U.S. has systematically destroyed regional stability and persistently escalated the situation,” Kim wrote.

Referring to the recent delivery of a US fighter jet to Taiwan, Kim described the move as an attempt to place a “bomb” at the doorstep of another country while claiming it was intended to provide security.

He also claimed that US arms sales to Taiwan over the past decade had included more than $39 billion worth of munitions.

North Korea said the Taiwan issue was an internal matter for China and that the Chinese people alone should determine how it is resolved.

“The Taiwan issue is an internal affair of China, so how to settle it is entirely the affair of the Chinese people, and no outside forces have the right to interfere in it,” Kim said.

He warned Washington to consider whether it was prepared for a direct confrontation with China over Taiwan and whether it could deal with the consequences.

Kim also said that instability in the Taiwan Strait would ultimately create a crisis for the United States and asserted that Taiwan’s “return to China” was inevitable.

The comments are consistent with Pyongyang’s increasingly explicit support for Beijing’s position on Taiwan. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed support for China’s “One China” principle during his June summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang.

North Korea and China have strengthened diplomatic ties following high-level exchanges over the past year.

Xi visited Pyongyang in June, his first trip to North Korea in seven years, where he and Kim Jong-un pledged to strengthen their countries’ strategic partnership and expand cooperation in areas including politics, security and other fields.

Kim Jong-un reiterated his commitment to taking bilateral relations with China to a “new strategic level” in a message to Xi earlier this month, according to North Korean state media.

The latest statement on Taiwan also comes amid heightened military tensions elsewhere in East Asia. North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Oct. 3, with South Korea saying the missile traveled more than 700 kilometers. Pyongyang later said it had tested an intermediate-range strategic missile as part of a drill overseen by Kim Jong-un.

North Korea’s latest Taiwan comments therefore add another layer to the broader strategic tensions involving Pyongyang, Beijing and Washington, as North Korea continues to deepen its relationships with both China and Russia.