Xi calls Trump to urge restraint over North Korea: Chinese leader pleads with President to avoid ‘exacerbating’ nuclear tensions after warning that US armed forces are ‘locked and loaded’
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged calm in a phone call to Trump over N. Korea
Tensions between the US and North Korea have escalated in recent days
US President recently said military is ‘locked and loaded’ to take out Kim Jong Un
Trump has publicly criticized China for not being tougher with North Korea
The US sees North Korea’s nuclear program as a threat to global stability
Trump threatened Un with ‘fire and fury’ earlier in the week
North Korea responded by saying it would lob ballistic missiles at Guam
The US is scheduled to participate in military exercises with South Korea
Recent reports indicate that a diplomatic ‘back channel’ has been opened between US and North Korea
DAILYMAIL.COM
12 August 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping made a plea for cool-headedness over escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea in a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, urging both sides to avoid words or actions that could worsen the situation.
The call came after Trump unleashed a slew of fresh threats against North Korea on Friday, declaring the U.S.
military ‘locked and loaded’ and warning North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he ‘will regret it fast’ if he takes any action against U.S. territories or allies.
In response, North Korea on Saturday released a statement warning Trump to ‘talk and act properly’ if he wanted the US to avoid its ‘doom.’
‘If the Trump administration does not want the American empire to meet its tragic doom in its tenure, they had better talk and act properly,’ North Korea said through state-run media.
‘Of late,’ the statement continues, ‘the president and other riffraff of the U.S. are trumpeting about “military option” against the DPRK, claiming that they “will not rule out a war.”‘
‘Meanwhile, they introduce huge strategic nuclear assets into the Korean peninsula, staging reckless nuclear war games and rendering the regional situation extremely tense.’
‘The U.S. has done all sorts of wrongs to the DPRK, styling itself the “only superpower” in the eyes of the world.
But now it finds itself in an ever worsening dilemma, being thrown into the grip of extreme security unrest by the DPRK. This is tragicomedy of its own making.’
North Korea’s armed forces are ‘capable of fighting any war the U.S. wants is now on the standby to launch fire into its mainland, waiting for an order of final attack,’ the statement concludes.
Trump has pushed China to pressure North Korea to halt a nuclear weapons program that is nearing the capability of targeting the United States.
China is the North’s biggest economic partner and source of aid, but says it alone can’t compel Pyongyang to end its nuclear and missile programs.
State-run China Central Television quoted Xi as telling Trump the ‘relevant parties must maintain restraint and avoid words and deeds that would exacerbate the tension on the Korean Peninsula.’
But restraint was not the word of the day on Friday as Trump sent out a cascade of unscripted statements, including what appeared to be another red line – the mere utterance of threats – that would trigger a U.S. attack against North Korea and ‘big, big trouble’ for Kim.
North Korea’s Minju Joson newspaper, meanwhile, lashed back at the U.S. in an editorial Saturday.
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