Trump takes conciliatory tone with Xi
HAMBURG US President Donald Trump took a conciliatory tone at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping where the leaders agreed to keep working on two pressing issues: the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and bilateral trade irritants.
Lately, Mr Trump had expressed some impatience on China's role in North Korea - particularly after Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that some experts believe could have the range to reach Alaska, and parts of the US West Coast.
But he showed none of that impatience yesterday, when the leaders met at the invitation of Mr Xi at the tail end of the G20 summit.
"It's an honour to have you as a friend," Mr Trump told Mr Xi, telling him he appreciated actions he had already taken on North Korea.
Mr Trump said: "As far as North Korea is concerned, we will have, eventually, success. It may take longer than I'd like. It may take longer than you'd like.
"But there will be success."
For his part, Mr Xi told Mr Trump that stronger China-US ties were conducive to stability and prosperity amid global conflicts, and had made "new progress" in some areas "despite some sensitive issues".
Mr Xi stressed the importance of talks with North Korea, and said China's navy will join next year's US-led Pacific Rim military exercises.
Mr Xi also reiterated China's opposition to the US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence anti-missile system in South Korea, Xinhua said.
Another issue that Mr Trump mentioned in his meeting with Mr Xi was trade imbalances.
Mr Trump called it a "very, very big issue" that he would address. - REUTERS
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