US, China to discuss North Korea at military talks

The US and China will discuss North Korea in their highest-level bilateral military meeting in 18 months this week, the Financial Times reported. US undersecretary of defense for policy Michele Flournoy will visit Beijing on Tuesday for two days of talks with Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the People Liberation Army’s general staff. It will be the first such meeting between US and Chinese military officials since December 2007, when China suspended military talks in protest over weapons sales to Taiwan. China joined the UN Security Council in imposing sanctions on North Korea after the country recently conducted missile tests and a nuclear test. It is unclear whether Beijing will back calls for more aggressive measures against North Korea, such as boarding ships suspected of holding cargo related to weapons of mass destruction.