North Korea threat: Donald Trump calls on Xi Jinping to ‘act faster’

US President Donald Trump has urged China President Xi Jinping to take fast and effective action to extinguish North Korea’s nuclear “menace” after he was officially welcomed in Beijing with an explosion of military splendour and staged adulation.

Speaking at the Great Hall of the People, the ceremonial heart of Communist party rule, Trump praised Jinping, his “warm and gracious” host and said he appreciated his support for recent efforts to rein in Kim Jong-un’s weapons programs.

President Xi, thank you for such an incredible welcome ceremony. It was a truly memorable and impressive display! 📸https://t.co/J9x51h1LBe pic.twitter.com/g4Z7mO5cV9

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2017

“But time is quickly running out. We must act fast, and hopefully China will act faster and more effectively on this problem than anyone,” Trump told an audience of business leaders and journalists.

“China can fix this problem easily and quickly and I am calling on China and your great president to hopefully work on it very hard.

“I know one thing about your president: if he works on it hard it will happen,” he added. “There is no doubt about it.”

In his eight-minute address, Trump also issued a rebuke to Jinping over the US-China trade relationship, which he said was “shockingly” unbalanced and costing the US $300 billion a year.

“Right now, unfortunately, it is a very one-sided and unfair [relationship]. But – but – I don’t blame China,” he went on. “After all, who can blame a country for taking advantage of another country for the benefit of its own citizens? I give China great credit.

“But in actuality I do blame past administrations for allowing this out of control trade deficit to take place and to grow. We have to fix this because it just doesn’t work … it is just not sustainable.” 

Xi and Trump unveiled more than $250bn in economic deals, a move which was hailed as “truly a miracle”, by a Chinese official, but sceptics believe were likely to have materialised even without the US president’s visit.