Trump and Abe discuss North Korea ‘menace’

Reflecting Trump’s softened demeanor, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday that although the US’ experience with China on North Korea has been a “bit uneven”, its engagement with China and expectations for the nation remain “unchanged”.

Toernaes was part of a European call to support worldwide groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortion services after President Donald Trump cut off US funding to groups that did so.

In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Mr Trump said the two were tackling “the problem and menace of North Korea”.

Botching the name of one of the most economically powerful nations in the world is only the latest gaffe by Trump’s White House, which is becoming know for protocol blunders overseas.

Trump said his country is willing to expand dialogue and win-win cooperation with China in all relevant fields and maintain communication and coordination on major worldwide and regional issues.

Trump told Xi “I appreciate the things that you have done” with North Korea.

“This is China holding the ground on the North Korean issue and also a show of confidence that China-US relations are so deeply entwined and mutually dependent that they won’t be easily derailed by North Korea”, said Professor Jia Qingguo, Peking University’s diplomacy department dean and a foreign affairs adviser to the government.

In a press statement on US President Donald Trump’s meeting with China’s leader, the White House named Xi as head of the “Republic of China”.

Lavrov demurred when pressed by reporters about the tone and other topics discussed by the two presidents when they met the previous day.

The stakes have become more significant after North Korea’s recent test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Abe said Japan hopes to conduct “constructive” discussions on Japan-U.S. economic relations during a second round of the high-level bilateral economic dialogue slated for later this year.

In 2016, 26 nations, including China, took part in the exercise off Hawaii. The administration wants China to fully enforce global sanctions meant to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile programs.

After Trump became the President, the United States, predictably, hardened its position against China.

China is North Korea’s main ally and the United States has become increasingly frustrated at what it sees as Beijing’s failure to ensure the existing sanctions against the regime of Kim Jong-Un are fully implemented.

Xi stressed the importance of talks with North Korea, and said China’s navy will join next year’s USA -led Pacific Rim military exercises.

“President Xi made it clear that China wants a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons, as well as a peaceful resolution to tensions”, Chinese propaganda network CCTV said in their report about the call.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s engagement efforts did not succeed in changing China’s attitude. Trump said he wanted a new arrangement that is “equitable” and “reciprocal”.

Referring to the imbalance in trade, Trump told Xi it is a “very, very big issue” that he would address. Abe was the first world leader to visit with Trump when he was president-elect, at Trump Tower in November.

Trump raised with Putin the issue of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US election, and the Russian leader denied a role, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday.

Putin, in a news conference yesterday, said he thought Trump believed his in-person denials of Russian meddling.

Since then, the US has downgraded China’s human trafficking status, blacklisted China’s Bank of Dandong as a primary money laundering concern and approved the first arms sales to Taiwan since Trump came into office.

Be proactive – Use the “Flag as Inappropriate” link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts.

The money will go toward improving access to capital and markets, providing technical assistance, training and mentoring, pushing public policy and investing in projects and programs that support women and women-led businesses.

Trump is set to return to Washington Saturday evening.