North Korea and trade will likely top the agenda when U. S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping sit down for formal talks on Thursday, a day after Trump warned Pyongyang of the grave danger of developing nuclear weapons.
China rolled out the red carpet for President Donald Trump on Thursday, treating him to an elaborate welcome ceremony on the plaza outside the Great Hall of the People before the leaders turned to their private talks.
Trump looked on approvingly as a Chinese honour guard played the national anthems of both countries, cannons boomed and soldiers marched. He clapped and smiled as children waving U. S. and Chinese flags and flowers screamed and jumped wildly.
But thorny issues await Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping behind closed doors, including potential tensions over trade and China’s willingness to put the squeeze on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.
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Before arriving, Trump delivered a stern message to Beijing, using an address to the National Assembly in South Korea to call on nations to confront the North.
“All responsible nations must join forces to isolate the brutal regime of North Korea,” Trump said. “You cannot support, you cannot supply, you cannot accept.”
He called on “every nation, including China and Russia,” to fully implement U. N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea enforcing sanctions aimed at depriving its government of revenue for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The latest measure, adopted after a September atomic test explosion, the North’s largest yet, banned imports of its textiles and prohibited new work permits for overseas North Korean labourers. It also restricted exports of some petroleum products.
Trump’s words drew a caustic response from North Korean state media, which issued a statement Wednesday saying the U. S. should “oust the lunatic old man from power” and withdraw its “hostile policy” toward Pyongyang “in order to get rid of the abyss of doom.
