Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed President Trump on Wednesday to avoid military confrontation with North Korea, in a phone call tha…<\/b>
Here’s our look at the Trump administration and the rest of Washington:
Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed President Trump on Wednesday to avoid military confrontation with North Korea, in a phone call that came after the U. S. deployed warships to the region.
Xi told Trump that China wants a denuclearized North Korea, but urged a \u201cpeaceful solution, \u201d according to Chinese state television. He also expressed a willingness to coordinate with the U. S.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Trump initiated the call.
The two leaders discussed North Korea face-to-face last week in Florida, and China has long pushed for talks rather than military action on its doorstep. But the latest conversation followed a series of Trump tweets on Tuesday that suggested he might bargain aspects of his trade agenda for China\u2019s help pressuring Pyongyang.
\u201cI explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U. S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korea problem!\u201d Trump said in a tweet Tuesday morning.
He then accused North Korea of \u201clooking for trouble\u201d and said America would handle the threat itself if China decides not to help. He signed the tweet \u201cU. S. A.\u201d
Trump also told Fox News that the U. S. is \u201csending an armada, very powerful\u201d to North Korea. The Pentagon redirected a Navy strike group towards the Korean Peninsula this weekend, amid fears Pyongyang is preparing for a ballistic missile launch or its sixth nuclear test.
North Korea will hold a weekend celebration for the 105th birthday of Kim II Sung, the country\u2019s first leader, and analysts say an anniversary would serve as an ideal symbolic time to show its might.
China is the rogue nation\u2019s biggest benefactor. Chinese leaders worry that a North Korean regime collapse would lead to a refugee crisis on the border and eliminate the buffer between a democratic South Korea and its allies.
But officials are showing increasing irritation with their neighbor.
The Global Times, a Communist Party-run newspaper, warned North Korea on Wednesday to halt its nuclear ambitions.
«China, too can no longer stand the continuous escalation of the North Korean nuclear issue at its doorstep, » it said. «Instead of accepting a situation that continues to worsen, putting an end to this is more in line with the wish of the Chinese public.»
The paper, which does not represent government policy but often reflects the thinking of Chinese officials, said Beijing would support limiting oil exports if Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test.
Some viewed the conversation as a signal of China’s more proactive approach, and Trump’s willingness to listen.
\u201cThe call basically rules out the possibility of a military attack by the U. S., \u201d said Dingding Chen, an international relations professor at Jinan University in Guangzhou.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the talk was part of a regular dialogue the presidents agreed to in Florida. The two leaders also discussed the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria, which Xi called \u201cunacceptable.\u201d He said he hopes the United Nations Security Council can speak on the issue \u201cwith one voice.\u201d
The U. S. fired missiles on a Syrian airbase last week in response to the attack, just as Trump and Xi sat down for dinner at the president\u2019s resort.<\/p>\n