China and the US on Saturday agreed to jointly address the threats posed by North Korea’s provocative nuclear and missile programmes as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned that tensions in the region have spiked to “dangerous levels”. “We noted the efforts made in the last 20 years has not succeeded in curbing the threats posed by North Korea’s illegal nuclear weapons programmes,” Tillerson, who is on his first official visit to China, said after talks with his Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here.
During his visit to South Korea yesterday, Tillerson had cautioned North Korea that all options are on the table to deal with Pyongyang’s provocative actions. US President Donald Trump had also put out a tweet criticising Beijing’s role in dealing with North Korea.
“North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years. China has done little to help,” Trump’s tweet said. Both Tillerson and Wang avoided direct response to Trump’s tweet. “We renewed our determination to work together to convince the North Korean Government to choose a better path and different future for its people,” Tillerson said.