Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged US President Donald Trump to avoid rhetoric that could inflame tensions with North Korea as Trump and Un continue with a war of words.
Xi made the plea in a phone call hours after Trump escalated his warnings to North Korea, saying it would “truly regret” taking hostile action against the US.
China’s foreign ministry said Xi urged Trump to avoid “words and deeds” that would “exacerbate” the already tense situation, exercise restraint, and seek a political settlement.
North Korea said earlier, it would complete plans by mid-August to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near the US Pacific island territory of Guam, after Trump said any threats by Pyongyang would be “met with fire and fury like the world has never seen”.
Both leaders also pressed Pyongyang to halt its own threats.
A statement from the Whitehouse read: “President Trump and President Xi agreed North Korea must stop its provocative and escalatory behavior. The presidents also reiterated their mutual commitment to denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.”
The North’s official KCNA news service in an editorial blamed Trump for “driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war”, calling the US “the heinous nuclear war fanatic”.
Japan ready
Meanwhile, Japanese media said Tokyo was deploying its Patriot missile defence system.
Local media reported that the defence ministry deployed the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system in Shimane, Hiroshima, and Kochi in western Japan, which North Korea had warned could be along its missiles’ flight path.
North Korea threatened to fire ballistic missiles towards the American Pacific island of Guam.
But The White House said early Saturday that US military forces “stand ready” to safeguard the island territory.
During a call with Guam Governor Eddie Calvo, Trump “reassured” him the “United States forces stand ready to ensure the safety and security of the people of Guam, along with the rest of America,” a statement said.
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