US, China to address North Korea nuclear issue

BEIJING: The United States and China pledged yesterday to work together in addressing the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear programme, as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned regional tensions had reached a “dangerous level”.

The language from Tillerson and his Chinese counterpart after talks in Beijing was notably conciliatory after a run-up in which US President Donald Trump accused China of doing nothing to control its neighbour while Beijing blamed Washington for fuelling hostilities.

“We share a common view and a sense that tensions in the peninsula are high, and that things have reached a dangerous level,” Tillerson said after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. “We will work together to see if we can’t bring Pyongyang to a place where they want to make a different course, make a course correction, and move away from the development of nuclear weapons.” AFP