CHINA has urged its ally North Korea to proceed with a historic summit between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and US president Donald Trump amid threats from Pyongyang to scrap the meeting.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the sides should ensure the meeting runs as planned and yields “substantial outcomes”.
Kim and Trump are due to meet in Singapore on June 12, but Pyongyang has threatened to withdraw, saying it has no interest in a “one-sided” affair meant to pressure it into abandoning its nuclear weapons.
Lu said the meeting was crucial to reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and maintaining regional peace and stability.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Trump administration is “still hopeful” that a planned summit with North Korea will take place.
Sanders said threats from the North to scrap the meeting were “something that we fully expected”.
The Chinese call came as President Xi Jinping met with a delegation from North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, at which he expressed support for the North’s avowed new emphasis on economic development along with improving relations with South Korea.
The North’s warning came hours after it abruptly cancelled a high-level meeting with South Korea, in protest over US-South Korean military exercises.
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