Prime minister says North Korea is a threat to regional stability, while Labor leader Bill Shorten says it is a rogue nation

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Malcolm Turnbull has said China is not doing enough to curb the dangerous and reckless conduct of North Korea.

The Australian prime minister said China, as North Korea’s closest ally and most significant economic partner, must use its leverage to pile pressure on the regime.

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“It threatens regional stability. It threatens world peace,” Turnbull said in Mumbai on Wednesday. “The time has come for all parties but in particular China, which has the closest relationship with North Korea, to bring pressure to bear on North Korea through the sanctions regime and other means.”

He later said China must use its influence “to ensure North Korea stops this behaviour”. “It is clearly not doing enough,” Turnbull told Sky News.

Tensions have escalated on the Korean peninsula, with talk of US military action gaining traction following its strikes against Syria last week, while there are concerns the North may soon conduct a sixth nuclear test.

US warships at the weekend were diverted to Korean waters from a planned visit to Australia after the reclusive state launched a ballistic missile. North Korea has warned it is prepared to respond to any aggression.

Australia’s top secret military intelligence base Pine Gap is expected to have a role in any American intervention or interception of North Korean missiles.

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The defence industry minister, Christopher Pyne, said North Korea represented the greatest threat to world stability. “The North Korean situation is much more unpredictable and they have greater capability to hurt Australia, the United States, South Korea, Japan obviously and many of our other allies around our region,” Pyne said in Adelaide on Wednesday.

Pyne said Pine Gap was a vital piece of infrastructure and a critical part of the Five Eyes international intelligence-sharing agreement between Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the US. “Part of that is knowing what the enemy might do before they actually do it, and Pine Gap provides us with that capability,” he said.

Labor leader Bill Shorten labelled North Korea a rogue nation. “There is not a cigarette paper of difference between Turnbull and myself on this matter,” he said in Queensland.