China dismissed U. S. efforts to adopt a stronger stance toward North Korea.<\/b>
China on Saturday dismissed U. S. efforts to adopt a a stronger stance toward North Korea, testing the progress Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hopes to achieve in Beijing on the final, most precarious leg of his Asia tour.
Tillerson\u2019s visit came a day after he warned of using \u201call options\u201d against North Korea, reversing the tactics of previous administrations and sending a direct signal to Beijing that the U. S. has not ruled out military strikes on China\u2019s ally.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, standing next to Tillerson after their meeting, urged the U. S. to stay \u201ccool-headed\u201d as it seeks to suppress North Korean nuclear ambitions that have reached \u201ca new crossroads.\u201d
\u201cNo matter what happens, we have to stay committed to diplomatic means as a way to seek a peaceful settlement,\u201d Wang said, adding that sanctions are largely an issue between the U. S. and Pyongyang.
But Wang emphasized a desire for collaboration and Tillerson took a gentler tone than in his previous comments. He warned that tensions with North Korea had reached a \u201cdangerous level,\u201d and said the U. S. planned to work with China and others \u201cto bring North Korea to a different place where we are hopeful we can begin a dialogue.\u201d
Tillerson\u2019s trip marks the first high-level official visit to China under President Donald Trump \u2014 who repeatedly attacked the nation\u2019s trade practices during his campaign \u2014 and will set the tone for a new administration that has offered China little indication of its policies.
The Texas oilman also met with a top Chinese foreign policy official, Yang Jiechi, on Saturday at the lakeside Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in west Beijing. Tillerson will see President Xi Jinping on Sunday.
These meetings wrap up a six-day Asia tour during which Tillerson sought to reassure allies in Japan and South Korea of the United States\u2019 commitment to the region. His role in China is much different.
Tillerson will continue to lay the groundwork for a Florida resort summit between Trump and Xi in early April, and navigate Chinese leaders\u2019 concerns about U. S. policy toward Taiwan, disputes over the South China Sea and a potential trade war. The Chinese government is especially keen to maintain stability before a leadership transition this fall.
Tillerson said he discussed human rights with Wang, a topic the administration has not appeared to prioritize.
\u201cFor Tillerson, and the Chinese largely, this trip is an opportunity to sort of measure each other,\u201d said Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, a Washington think tank founded by former President Richard Nixon. \u201cThere are so many problems that can occur in this relationship. It\u2019s important for Tillerson to get out there and get a lay of the land.\u201d
North Korea\u2019s nuclear aims feature most prominently in the discussions, particularly after Trump berated China on Friday for failing to rein in its neighbor.
\u201cNorth Korea is behaving very badly,\u201d he wrote on Twitter. \u201cThey have been \u2018playing\u2019 the United States for years. China has done little to help!\u201d
The Chinese government \u2014 North Korea\u2019s biggest trading partner and main ally \u2014 has for decades refused to impose sanctions that would cripple its neighbor\u2019s economy out of fears of a refugee crisis on the border. Leaders also worry about the loss of a buffer between democratic South Korea and its allies.
China took an initial step last month to squeeze North Korea by temporarily suspending imports of North Korean coal. But further collaboration with the U. S. is complicated by the recent deployment of an American anti-missile system in South Korea that China sees as a threat to its own security.
Beijing has positioned itself instead as the mediator. It recently proposed a swap: North Korea would freeze its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for a halt of American and South Korean military exercises. The U. S. and South Korea immediately rebuffed the idea.
The U. S. and North Korea \u201care like two accelerating trains coming toward each other, and neither side is willing to give way,\u201d Wang, the foreign minister, told reporters last week. \u201cThe question is: Are both sides really prepared for a head-on collision?\u201d
Tillerson, while in Seoul earlier, rejected negotiations with North Korea. He was expected to warn Chinese officials that the U. S. is willing to bolster military defenses and put pressure on Chinese banks if the country doesn\u2019t do more to curb its reclusive neighbor\u2019s efforts. Wang said on Saturday that China had come up with proposals for all sides to study, but did not explain them.
\u201cFor the Chinese, Tillerson is still a bit of a mystery,\u201d said Paul Haenle, director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing and former China affairs director on the National Security Council during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. \u201cThey\u2019re still trying to figure out who he is, what role he\u2019ll play on China policy in the White House.\u201d
A commentary on Friday from the official Xinhua News Agency warned that George W. Bush also had threatened military options and gotten nowhere. \u201cThe approach illustrated that Washington needs to talk to [North Korea], not to terrorize it,\u201d the analysis said.
Chinese state media largely cast the visit as an opportunity for understanding. But few analysts believe the talks will produce definitive action.
\u201cChina now has a very difficult diplomatic relationship,\u201d said Shi Yinhong, director of the Center for American Studies at Renmin University in Beijing. \u201cI don\u2019t expect Tillerson\u2019s visit to make any breakthroughs.\u201d
Meyers is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing contributed to this report.<\/p>\n