President Xi Jinping said the United States-China relationship had shown progress but was also affected by “negative factors, ” according to Chinese news reports.
BEIJING — President Trump spoke with President Xi Jinping of China on Monday to appeal for his help with what he called the “growing threat” posed by North Korea ’s nuclear weapons program, the White House said.
The United States and China have clashed recently over Washington’s arms sale to Taiwan, among other issues. Mr. Trump also spoke with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan about North Korea, and they highlighted “their unity with respect to increasing pressure on the regime to change its dangerous path, ” the administration said.
The discussions are taking place at a delicate time in the Asian region and just several days before world leaders are set to converge in Germany for the Group of 20 summit meeting, which starts Friday. The North’s belligerent behavior continues to dominate diplomatic talks, and analysts have warned of the possibility of another nuclear test.
Mr. Trump had for months based his strategy on the hope that China, the North’s chief ally and trading partner, could persuade Pyongyang to abandon its weapons program.
But Mr. Trump acknowledged recently that those efforts had failed. As a result, he has sharply escalated pressure on Mr. Xi to do more to punish the North.
The Trump administration last week imposed sanctions on a Chinese bank, accusing it of acting as a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity. And Washington has taken a series of additional steps recently seen as affronts to Beijing, including accusing the Chinese government of human rights violations and selling $1.
