Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in North Korea and Syria with US President Donald Trump in a telephone call on Wednesday, China’s foreign ministry said.
Trump has repeatedly called on China to do more to rein in its unruly neighbor, which has stepped up its missile development and nuclear program since 2016.
The US has sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the region after the latest missile test by North Korea last week, drawing a forceful warning from Pyongyang.
The phone call between the two came after Trump turned to Twitter to vent his frustrations over North Korea.
“I 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 Korean problem,” he tweeted.
“North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.,” he wrote in a second tweet.
According to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Xi reiterated that China wants a denuclearized Korean peninsula and called for peace and stability.
“China advocates to resolve the issue through peaceful means, and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the US on the Korean Peninsula issue,” the statement quoted Xi as saying.
The two leaders met for the first time last week at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and were having dinner when the US launched a strike against a Syrian airfield following a chemical attack.
On Syria, Xi said: “Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable. We should adhere to the direction of resolving the issue through political means. Maintaining unity within the UN Security Council is very important to resolve the Syria issue and I hope the UNSC will speak with one voice.”
New phase?
In the wake of the Trump-Xi meeting, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that China understood how dangerous North Korea’s nuclear program had become and had agreed action must be taken to stop it.
China hasn’t signaled any clear change in policy towards its neighbor and Xi’s language followed the usual script. However, Wednesday’s read-out was the first time China confirmed in detail that the two leaders had directly discussed North Korea.
Two Chinese statements released directly after the Mar-A-Lago meeting didn’t mention North Korea by name, even though the country had been expected to dominate discussions.
Alexander Neill, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore, told CNN the phone call was part of a “new phase” in how China and the US approach North Korea.
“I think at this point the common interest between the US and China outweigh (North Korea saber-rattling). China may be prepared to do some sort of tradeoff… They want to rein in Kim Jong Un.”