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US envoy for North Korea visits China as Washington warns against lifting sanctions
- Stephen Biegun urges international unity with North Korea refusing to discuss denuclearisation
- China and Russia have proposed lifting some UN sanctions on the North
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The US special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, will visit Beijing on Thursday and Friday, the US State Department said on Tuesday, after China and Russia proposed lifting some UN sanctions on North Korea.
Biegun will meet Chinese officials “to discuss the need to maintain international unity on North Korea”, the state department said in a statement.
Biegun will travel to China after holding talks with officials in South Korea and Japan this week.
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Tension has been rising in recent weeks as North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests and waged a war of words with US President Donald Trump, stoking fears the two countries could return to the collision course they had been on before turning to diplomacy last year.
China and Russia proposed on Monday that the UN Security Council lift a ban on North Korea exporting statues, seafood and textiles, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters.
Russia said the draft, whose measures also included the lifting of a ban on North Koreans working abroad, was aimed at encouraging talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
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