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US President Joe Biden will ask China’s Xi Jinping to ‘restrain’ North Korean nuclear ambitions, security adviser says
- Biden and Xi are due to hold their first in-person meeting as heads of state on Monday, on the sidelines of the G20 summit
- China’s leverage on Pyongyang in preventing missile tests is unclear, warns Central Party School analyst in Beijing
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Amber Wangin Beijing
North Korea’s missile provocations risk increasing the US’ military presence in the region, President Joe Biden will tell China’s Xi Jinping at their upcoming meeting, according to Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
Biden and Xi are set to hold their first in-person meeting as national leaders on Monday, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Biden has said he will also talk about red lines with the Chinese president.
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‘How to work it out’: Biden’s agenda for talks with Xi Jinping at G20 summit in Bali
‘How to work it out’: Biden’s agenda for talks with Xi Jinping at G20 summit in Bali
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Saturday, shortly before the US delegation arrived in Cambodia to join an Asean summit, Sullivan said North Korea was a threat to the US, Japan, South Korea and to “peace and stability across the entire region”.
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“If North Korea goes down this road, it will simply mean further enhanced American military and security presence in the region,” he said.
“And so, the [People’s Republic of China] has an interest in playing a constructive role in restraining North Korea’s worst tendencies; whether they choose to do so or not is of course up to them.”
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He added, however, that Biden would not make any demands of Xi but rather share his perspective.
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