US friends meet on North Korea but China absence looms

VANCOUVER: Allied world powers met Tuesday for crisis talks on the North Korean nuclear missile threat, but without key player China, there seemed little chance of a breakthrough.

Canada and the United States are hosting a two-day meeting in Vancouver to bolster solidarity in the face of Kim Jong-Un’s regime.But neither China — the North’s main ally and sole significant trade partner — nor Russia were invited for the ministerial-level talks, limiting the scope for effective new initiatives. “The most important relevant parties of the Korean peninsula issue haven’t taken part in the meeting so I don’t think the meeting is legal or representative,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing.

Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping jointly voiced hope that the resumption of talks between North and South Korea could pave the way for a change in Pyongyang’s attitude, the White House said Tuesday.

In telephone talks, the two leaders “acknowledged the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue and expressed hope that it might prompt a change in North Korea’s destructive behavior,” according to a White House statement.

US President Donald Trump told Chinese leader Xi Jinping he was disappointed about Washington’s deepening trade deficit with Beijing, calling the situation “not sustainable,” the White House said Tuesday.

In telephone talks, Trump “expressed disappointment that the United States’ trade deficit with China has continued to grow,” the White House said in a statement. “President Trump made clear that the situation is not sustainable.” According to figures published Friday by China, the US trade deficit with Beijing grew 10 percent in 2017 to $275.8 billion.

During his presidential campaign and since his arrival at the White House, Trump has repeatedly blamed alleged unfair Chinese trading practices for US job losses and accused Beijing of protectionism. His administration added new import tariffs to a number of Chinese goods last year. In late December, Trump called economic competitiveness a matter of national security, insisting he would fight for more equitable trade with China. Washington has opened trade probes into China’s alleged dumping of aluminum, and has also lashed out at Beijing over intellectual property issues.