North Korea missile launch tests US ties with China
Rocket engine trial as secretary of state visits Beijing
BEIJING // Chinese president Xi Jinping and United States secretary of state Rex Tillerson yesterday pledged to work to strengthen ties that had been strained by disputes over North Korea and trade. Mr Xi and Mr Tillerson met in Beijing hours after nuclear- armed Chinese ally North Korea tested America’s patience by announcing a rocket engine trial. Mr Xi and US president Donald Trump had agreed in a phone call last month “to make joint efforts to advance China-US cooperation, and we believe that we can make sure the relationship will move ahead in a constructive fashion in the new era”, Mr Xi said. En route to Beijing, Mr Tillerson visited US allies Japan and South Korea, where he said Washington would drop the “failed” approach of “strategic patience” with Pyongyang – adding that US military action against the North was possible. That marked a sharp break with China, which favours diplomacy over heated rhetoric.
Relations were also strained by China’s fierce opposition to a US missile defence system being introduced in South Korea and Mr Trump’s accusation on Twitter on Friday that China was not doing enough to control its Pyongyang neighbour.
Mr Trump has also repeatedly accused China of unfair trade practices.
But Mr Tillerson appeared to be soothing ties with Beijing, telling Mr Xi that “we know that through further dialogue we will achieve a greater understanding that will lead to a strengthening of ties between China and the US and set the tone for our future relationship of cooperation”.
Yesterday, North Korean state media said the regime had tested a powerful engine described by leader Kim Jong-un as a “new birth” for its rocket industry, which many experts view as cover for the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The announcement’s timing appeared intended to sour Mr Tillerson’s China visit. On Saturday, Mr Tillerson said after talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, that geopolitical tensions on the Korean peninsula had reached a “dangerous level”. Mr Tillerson and Mr Wang pledged to work together to remove the North Korean threat of nuclear weapons, but they offered no clear way forward.
Mr Wang, however, chided the US envoy over his recent tough talk, saying “we hope all parties, including our friends from the US, can size up the situation in a cool-headed” fashion.