China on board with Japan, United States and South Korea on North’s denuclearisation, US State Department says
United Nations meeting next week on Pyongyang situation will be led by top US diplomat Mike Pompeo
China is on board with the United States, South Korea and Japan on North Korean denuclearisation, the US State Department said on Tuesday, despite US President Donald Trump accusing China of holding back the process.
“South Korea, China and Japan all stressed the common objective of denuclearisation and the path forward on achieving that objective,” Heather Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman, said at a press briefing about US special representative Stephen Biegun’s trip to Asia last week.
Biegun travelled to the three countries to discuss “the final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim”, Nauert said, referring to Kim Jong-un. “On his trip, special representative Biegun emphasised the importance of continued coordination on denuclearisation pressure and also diplomacy.
“The trip allowed special representative Biegun to build strong rapport with his counterparts, which will pave the way for strong cooperation on our mutual and, truly, the world's objective of denuclearisation.”
She also said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would be chairman of a United Nations ministerial meeting on North Korea on September 27 during the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi would lead the Chinese delegation at the general debate session of the General Assembly, which is scheduled to begin on September 25, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. It was not immediately clear whether Wang and Pompeo would meet in New York.
On Tuesday, Trump drew a connection between what he characterised as his restraint in imposing further tariffs on Chinese imports and China’s efforts to denuclearise North Korea during a joint press conference with the visiting Polish president, Andrzej Duda.