Secretary of State Rex Tillerson affirmed the importance of a constructive U. S.-China relationship, and agreed on the need to address the threat posed by North Korea.
U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke by telephone with China’s top diplomat on Tuesday and affirmed the importance of a constructive U. S.-China relationship, and the two agreed on the need to address the threat posed by North Korea, the State Department said.
Tillerson and Yang Jiechi, China’s state councilor who outranks the foreign minister, also discussed economics and trade as well as potential cooperation on counterterrorism, law enforcement, and transnational crime, the State Department said in a statement.
The call appeared to be the latest effort by the world’s two largest economies to put relations back on an even keel after a rocky start following U. S. President Donald Trump’s November election victory.
“Secretary Tillerson and State Councilor Yang affirmed the importance of a constructive bilateral relationship,” the U. S. statement said. “The two sides agreed on the need to address the threat that North Korea poses to regional stability. ”
The call follows a meeting between China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Tillerson on Friday, their first face-to-face encounter since Tillerson began his job at the start of this month.
