US ‘plays China cards’ to score points on trade and North Korea tests

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned Beijing that it must work with Washington to stop bilateral tensions flaring into “open conflict” as divisions widen over North Korea’s nuclear provocations.

Tillerson’s remarks on Tuesday came amid reports that US President Donald Trump was about to announce the launch of an investigation into what he considers China’s unfair trade practices.

Observers said the embattled US administration was again playing the China card to score diplomatic points and distract from domestic concerns.

Tensions between the world’s two biggest economies have built since North Korea’s launched its second intercontinental ballistic missile test in a month on Friday night. The test triggered an anti-China Twitter tirade from Trump, who claimed China had done nothing to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions while benefiting from “hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade”.

In Washington on Tuesday, Tillerson said bilateral ties with China had reached a “pivot point”, raising the question of how to define the US-China relationship for the next 50 years after “a long period of no conflict”.