China’s State Councilor meets with national security adviser, US lawmakers

World Today

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (1st R) co-chairs a diplomatic and security dialogue with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (1st L) and Secretary of Defense James Mattis (2nd L) as Fang Fenghui (2nd R), a member of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department, also participates in the dialogue in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 21, 2017. China and the United States began their first diplomatic and security dialogue on Wednesday at the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C. (Xinhua/Yin bogu)

China’s top diplomat, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, met U.S. lawmakers at the Capitol Thursday and then headed to the White House for a meeting with National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

CGTN’s Nathan King reports.

On Wednesday, Yang led the Chinese delegation at the first China-U.S. Diplomatic and Security Dialogue. The two days of meetings focused on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted before the meetings that China had failed to rein in the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs, despite trying.

The Chinese side at the dialogue stressed the need for a “dual-track” approach. It calls for the U.S. and the Republic of Korea to suspend their big annual military exercise in exchange for a suspension of the DPRK’s nuclear and missile tests.

The U.S. State Department said Thursday the United States has no plans to stop the exercises.

The new ROK president, Moon Jae-in, is due in Washington on June 29. His approach appears closer to China’s. He wants a Korean-led process and wants to de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Moon also has reservations about the U.S. THAAD missile defense system deployed in the ROK. China opposes the system.