US-China ties on an upswing
Shared concern over N. Korea improves mood as Trump plans trip
Washington: The often difficult relations between the world’s greatest powers, China and the United States, appear to be improving again as the pair work to resolve the North Korea nuclear stand-off.
Washington, and in particular US President Donald Trump, have until very recently been critical of Beijing’s cautious approach to its belligerent and nuclear-armed neighbour.
But, with a new round of UN-backed sanctions in place, the mood has improved, and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson set off on Thursday for Beijing for talks with senior Chinese leaders.
Tillerson was scheduled to confer this weekend with President Xi Jinping, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who is the country’s ranking diplomat, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The goal of these meetings is to prepare Trump’s first visit to China as president, scheduled for November as part of a tour of Asia.
“But certainly North Korea will be on the table for discussion,” Tillerson said on Wednesday.
Washington hopes that a combination of UN and US sanctions and a strong signal from Pyongyang’s main trade partner China will convince Kim Jong-un’s regime of its isolation.
If the young autocrat then tones down his war of words with a no less provocative Trump and halts his nuclear and missile tests, he might be drawn to the table to discuss disarmament.
It will be a tough diplomatic slog. But while some US officials tout a “military option” and Trump has threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea, it seems to be the only game in town.
China’s cooperation, however, will be key. And Trump, a proponent of a muscular “America first” foreign policy, has sometimes chafed at having to consider Beijing’s diplomatic sensitivities.
Nevertheless, high-level ties have remained strong. Trump hosted Xi at his Florida golf resort early in his presidency, and Tillerson is making his second Beijing visit.
As Tillerson packed his bags, his acting assistant secretary for East Asia, Susan Thornton, told sceptical US lawmakers that China appears to be on board with the plan to squeeze Pyongyang.
“We are working closely with China to execute this strategy and are clear-eyed in viewing the progress – growing, if uneven – that China has made on this front,” she said. — AFP