China urges calm ahead of South Korea-US military drills

China called for calm and restraint after North Korea threatened to scrap the planned reunions of families separated by war more than six decades ago if South Korea and the U.S. proceed with their joint military drills.“We hope that, under the current circumstances, all relevant parties will exercise calmness and make joint efforts to relax tension on the Korean Peninsula,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.“Safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia serves the interests of all relevant parties,” Hua said, urging all relevant parties to “refrain from any actions that may escalate tension on the peninsula.”South Korea and U.S. military forces will begin this year’s joint springtime military exercises on Feb. 24. The drills would overlap with a new round of reunions of Korean families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.South Korean officials, in particular, are worried that the annual exercises may negatively affect their earlier agreement with North Korea to hold the reunion event on Feb. 20-25.The drills, which have been an annual event for decades, are one of the largest training exercises the allies stage every year. North Korea has reacted angrily to past exercises, calling them a prelude to a war.