Washington calls on Beijing to rein in North Korea

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called on China to help rein in North Korea’s provocative actions after Pyongyang launched its latest ballistic missile test early this week.

The top US diplomat made the plea on the sidelines of a first-time meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during a G20 foreign ministers summit in the German city of Bonn on Friday.

"Tillerson also highlighted the increasing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and urged China to use all available tools to moderate North Korea's destabilizing behaviour," US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

Following Tillerson’s comments, Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement quoting Wang as saying, "China and the United States have joint responsibility to maintain global stability and promote global prosperity, and both sides' joint interests are far greater than their differences."

The statement added that, “The two countries should increase mutual trust, deepen cooperation and ensure that under Trump they make even greater contributions to global peace and prosperity.”

The remarks are made while Beijing, which is North Korea's only ally and main trading partner, has so far shown itself reluctant to put too much pressure on Pyongyang over its previous series of ballistic and nuclear missile tests.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed a day later that Pyongyang had “successfully” tested a “surface-to-surface medium long-range ballistic missile.”

SS