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Xi urges Trump to avoid exacerbating North Korea tensions

August 12, 2017

BEIJING/WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (INP) Chinese President Xi Jinping urged US President Donald Trump in a phone call Saturday to avoid "words and deeds" that would "exacerbate" the already-tense situation on the Korean Peninsula, state television reported. Mr. Xi also called on “relevant parties to maintain restraint" and to “”persist in the general direction of dialogue, negotiations and a political settlement,” CCTV said. Mr. Xi stressed that “China and the US have a common interest in realising the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.” Both leaders said they were looking forward to Mr. Trump making a state visit to China this year. Meanwhile President Trump continued to beat war drums on Friday against North Korea and, unexpectedly, said he would consider a military option to deal with an unrelated crisis in Venezuela. But though he declared that the armed forces were “locked and loaded,” there were no indications of imminent action in either part of the world. For all the bellicose language emerging from the president’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J., the United States military was taking no visible steps to prepare for a strike against North Korea or Venezuela. The Pentagon reported no new ships being sent toward the Korean Peninsula or forces being mobilized, nor were there moves to begin evacuating any of the tens of thousands of Americans living in South Korea. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, who traveled to New Jersey on Friday to brief Mr. Trump after returning from Asia, said the president’s tough language was part of an overall strategy intended to bring North Korea to the negotiating table. Mr. Trump should not jump to being violent right away. He should cool down and not make threats that will heat up the situation that... INP/AH