Trump in talks with China to halt Korea nuclear crisis
Call for UN probe into Syria chemical attacks
DONALD Trump has held talks with China’s president in a bid to ease mounting tensions over North Korea.
The US President said he had a “very good” discussion on the telephone with Xi Jinping about “the menace of North Korea”.
Chinese state media said that Mr Xi had called for a peaceful resolution of the stand-off on the Korean peninsula, which it described as the closest it had come to a military clash since North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006.
The US carrier Carl Vinson and her battle fleet were ordered at the weekend to head back towards the area.
Mr Trump boasted that he has despatched a “powerful armada” and that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is doing “the wrong thing”.
China is reported to have moved 150,000 troops to its border with the repressive state to deal with a possible influx of refugees amid fears that Mr Trump could order a military attack on Pyongyang.
The Chinese defence ministry dismissed reports about a build-up of Donald Trump has sent warships troops as “pure fabrication”. There is speculation that North Korea could stage a sixth nuclear test or new ballistic weapon launches around Saturday’s 105th anniversary of the nation’s founder Kim Il-Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong-un.
On Tuesday Mr Trump said on Twitter: “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them.”
He also told Mr Xi that China would get a better trade deal with the US “if they solve the North Korean problem”.
North Korean state media warned on Tuesday that the US could expect a nuclear attack if it showed any sign of aggression towards the country.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said yesterday that Mr Xi had stressed in his telephone call with Mr Trump that China was “committed to the target of denuclearisation on the peninsula, safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula, and advocates resolving problems through RUSSIA last night called for an “honest investigation” by the United Nations into chemical attacks in Syria.
Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov made the call after he held talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as tensions between the two countries grew.
He told a joint news conference: “It would be constructive for the UN Security Council to accept a resolution that peaceful means”. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang urged all sides to lower the tension.
Mr Lu added: “We hope that the relevant parties do not adopt irresponsible actions. Under the current circumstances, this is very dangerous.”
Sources in Tokyo said Japan, which feels highly vulnerable to attack from near neighbour North Korea, plans to conduct naval exercises with the US carrier group in a joint show of force.
However, a Japanese diplomat said the risk of US military strikes seemed low as America had not issued warnings to its citizens in South Korea. would not only investigate the incident but the accusations against Damascus. “We have different facts, we don’t want to impose them but we stand for objective, impartial, honest investigation.” He said both nations shared a common goal to defeat Islamic State. Mr Lavrov added that President Vladimir Putin had said Moscow was ready to restore an air safety North Korea remains technically at war with the US and its ally South Korea after the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
It regularly threatens both countries.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump had told a TV interviewer that he shared “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake you have ever seen” with President Xi when they met in Florida last week, as the go-ahead was given for the US airstrike on a Syrian air base in retribution for the regime’s chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town.
Mr Trump – who had initially told to destroy agreement which it had suspended after last week’s US missile strikes on Syria.
Mr Tillerson said there was “a low level of trust” between both countries. He added: “Improvement in the long-term relationship will be required if we want to make progress on issues where we have different views. ”
The talks came hours after Mr Putin hit at the US, saying: “One could say that the level of trust on a working level, especially on the military level, has not improved but has deteriorated.” the interviewer the US had sent 59 missiles to Iraq before correcting himself to say Syria – said he had wanted Mr Xi to hear about the military action in person, not after he had left the dinner.
Asked how his guest reacted, Mr Trump said: “He paused for 10 seconds and then he asked the interpreter to please say it again. I didn’t think that was a good sign.
“Then he said to me... ‘Anybody that was so brutal and uses gases to do that to young children and babies – it’s OK’. He was OK with it.”