Xi dials Don in N. Korea crisis

Chinese leader calls for peaceful means to end Pyongyang nuclear problem

Beijing, April 12: Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged Donald Trump to peacefully resolve tensions over North Korea’s nuclear programme, as the US president touted the power of a naval “armada” steaming towards the Korean peninsula.

China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday the two leaders had spoken by phone, days after Mr Trump sent the aircraft carrier-led strike group to the region in a show of force ahead of a possible nuclear test.

The deployment was followed by a renewed warning that Washington was ready to take on North Korea alone if Beijing declined to help rein in its maverick neighbour's nuclear ambitions.

Pyongyang has issued a defiant response, saying it was ready to fight “any mode of war” chosen by the United States and even threatening a nuclear strike against US targets.

The sabre-rattling has unnerved China, which has made clear its frustration with Pyongyang's stubbornness but whose priority remains preventing any military flare-up that could bring chaos and instability to its doorstep.

In the call, Mr Xi stressed that China “advocates resolving the issue through peaceful means,” the foreign ministry said.

On Tuesday, the US president tweeted that “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”.

A barrage of recent North Korean missile tests has stoked US fears that Pyongyang may soon develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.

There is speculation that the country could be preparing a missile launch, or even another nuclear test, to mark the 105th birthday anniversary of its founder Kim Ilsung on Saturday.

In an interview with Fox Business Network, Mr Trump warned, “We are sending an armada. Very powerful.” “We have submarines. Very powerful. Far more powerful than the aircraft carrier.”

The flotilla includes the Nimitz-class aircraft super carrier USS Carl Vinson, a carrier air wing, two guided-missile destroyers and a guidedmissile cruiser.

“This goes to prove that the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase,” a spokesman for the North’s foreign ministry said in response.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Wednesday it was “irresponsible and even dangerous to take any actions that may escalate the tension”.

“All relevant parties should exercise restraint and keep calm, easing tensions instead of provoking each other and adding fuel to the fire,” he said.

Irresponsible and even dangerous to take any action that may escalate the tension. All relevant parties should exercise restraint and keep calm easing tensions instead of provoking each other and adding fuel to the fire — Lu Kang, China foreign ministry spokesman