China, US pledge joint efforts

John Kerry (L) shakes hands with Xi Jinping in Beijing yesterday. Photo: AFP

The top Chinese and US diplomats yesterday pledged to work together to resolve the crisis on the Korean peninsula, where tensions are at fever pitch and Pyongyang has threatened nuclear war.
Over a long day of diplomacy in Beijing, Kerry, who arrived in China yesterday, warned Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping that the stakes were high as China's erratic ally North Korea threatens a missile launch that would extend a weeks-long crisis.
The region has been engulfed by threats of nuclear war by Pyongyang in response to UN sanctions imposed over its recent rocket and nuclear tests, and Kerry stressed that China has a unique sway over North Korea.
"To properly address the Korean nuclear issue serves the common interests of all parties," China's State Councillor Yang Jiechi said ahead of a formal dinner with visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"It is also the shared responsibility of all parties," added Yang, who is in charge of Beijing's foreign policy. "China will work with other relevant parties including the United States to play a constructive role," he said.
China has backed North Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953 and is its sole major ally and the provider of the vast majority of its trade and aid.
Kerry earlier pressed Beijing to use its leverage with Pyongyang to try to calm the crisis.
"China and the United States must together take steps in order to achieve the goal of a denuclearised Korean peninsula," he said.
But there was no sign in public of China endorsing a get-tough approach towards North Korea, with its top diplomat going no further than agreeing with Kerry to pursue a deeper dialogue.
North Korean television yesterday made no mention of Kerry's visit and devoted most of its reports to preparations for tomorrow's celebrations marking the birth date of state founder Kim Il-Sung.
Observers believe a launch is most likely in the build-up to the anniversary.
Intelligence officials in Seoul say the North, as a show of force, has two mid-range missiles ready for imminent launch from its east coast, and South Korea and Japan are on heightened alert for any test.