US President Donald Trump spoke with President Xi Jinping, urging his Chinese counterpart to step up efforts to restrain North Korea and calling for additional sanctions after Pyongyang tested a missile that could send a nuclear warhead to the US mainland, the South China Morning Post reports. “President Trump underscored the determination of the United States to defend ourselves and our allies from the growing threat posed by the North Korean regime,” the White House said in an announcement. Trump “emphasized the need for China to use all available levers to convince North Korea to end its provocations and return to the path of denuclearization.”
Xi told Trump that denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, maintaining an international nuclear-non-proliferation regime, and preserving peace and stability in Northeast Asia are China’s unswerving goals, according to the mainland’s state media. Pyongyang’s test of the missile, which flew higher and longer than any other fired by its military, ended a 10-week break in the North’s launches.