U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is headed to China for the second time since taking office in February.
Tillerson will have a full agenda when he meets Saturday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other Chinese leaders, the Washington Times reported Friday.
The standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons has entered a new, dangerous phase as its leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump exchange personal insults and threats of war with no sign of a diplomatic solution.
Even as Washington and Beijing grapple with that security crisis, Trump wants action from China for more balanced trade with America — a dispute with ramifications for the global economy, according to the Washington Times.
Tillerson will be pushing implementation of the U.N. Security Council's resolutions on North Korea. He wants China to restrict North Korea's oil supplies, as well as enforce restrictions on trade in textiles, coal and other commodities.
China accounts for about 90 percent of North Korea’s foreign trade and can play an important role in the U.S.- led campaign to disarm the volatile nation, according to CTV News.
Tillerson will likely further trade discussions and restate concerns based on the 100-day action plan that Trump and Xi Jinping agreed on in May. The U.S. government wants Beijing to make good on its promise to let market forces have a bigger role in its economy, give equal treatment to foreign and Chinese companies, and roll back state industry’s dominance.
In its latest effort to comply with sanctions, the Chinese government on Thursday ordered North Korean-owned businesses in China to close by early January.
“China has taken tremendous steps in the right direction,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday.
President Trump and his wife Melania plan to travel to Asia Nov. 3-14 with stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Much of his trip is expected to be dominated by the issues surrounding the ongoing threats from North Korea, CTV News reported Friday.
It will be Trump's first visit to Asia since becoming president. In April, he hosted Xi at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
