BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pledged in talks on Sunday the two powers would work to strengthen a relationship that has been unsettled by disputes over North Korea and trade. Xi met Tillerson in Beijing just hours after nuclear-armed North Korea tested US-China unity anew with a provocative rocket engine test, and with negotiations under way for a potential Xi summit next month with President Donald Trump in the United States. It was not immediately clear whether Xi and Tillerson discussed North Korea’s latest thumb in the eye. The North’s state news agency KCNA said Kim had overseen the rocket engine test and “emphasised that the whole world will soon witness what eventful significance the great victory won today carries”—a possible veiled warning to Pyongyang’s adversaries. North Korea is banned by the international community from pursuing nuclear and missile programs but has defiantly ploughed ahead.

Source: Manila Times March 19, 2017 05:26 UTC