BEIJING: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Beijing on Saturday to discuss efforts to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and prepare President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to China.
Tillerson was scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping after talks with top diplomat Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, ahead of Trump’s trip in November.
The visit comes as relations between the two superpowers appear to be improving after months of tensions over how to handle North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear provocations.
Trump has repeatedly urged Xi to exert more economic pressure on Pyongyang to convince the renegade regime to give up its nuclear ambitions.
China, North Korea’s main trade partner, has responded by backing a slew of new United Nations sanctions.
For its part, Beijing has insisted that the sanctions must be coupled with efforts to organize peace talks, but Trump and Kim have traded increasingly personal insults that have raised fears that the crisis could spark a conflict.
The acting US assistant secretary for East Asia, Susan Thornton, told skeptical US lawmakers ahead of Tillerson’s trip that China appears to be on board with the plan to squeeze Pyongyang.
“We are working closely with China to execute this strategy and are clear-eyed in viewing the progress — growing, if uneven — that China has made on this front,” she said.
“We have recently seen Chinese authorities take additional actions,” she said, referring to new controls on the cross-border trade and finance that is North Korea’s economic lifeline.
On Thursday, China said it was ordering North Korean firms on its territory to close by January.
The announcement came days after China confirmed it will limit exports of refined petroleum products to North Korea from October 1 while banning imports of textiles from its neighbor.
The measures were in accordance with UN sanctions that were approved earlier in September after North Korea detonated its sixth and most powerful nuclear bomb — a test that triggered an earthquake felt across the border in China.
Trump’s November trip will be part of a tour that will also take in regional allies Japan and South Korea.
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US Secretary of State Tillerson in China to pile pressure on North Korea
US Secretary of State Tillerson in China to pile pressure on North Korea
Djokovic ready to suffer one more time in Australian Open final
- Serbian veteran must fire up his weary body one more time with history at stake
- Novak Djokovic is striving to win a record-extending 11th Melbourne crown
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic compared his five-set Australian Open semifinal takedown of Jannik Sinner to winning a Grand Slam and now the Serbian veteran must fire up his weary body one more time with history at stake on Sunday.
The 38-year-old stunned two-time champion Sinner to set up a bumper final on Rod Laver Arena against world number one Carlos Alcaraz, who is 16 years his junior.
The Spaniard was also forced through five sets to beat Alexander Zverev, spending more than five hours on court.
Both men are aiming to etch their names in tennis history.
Djokovic is striving to win a record-extending 11th Melbourne crown and with it a 25th major title to finally surpass Margaret Court’s long-standing landmark.
Should he do so, he will also become the oldest man to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at the Australian Open.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz has already won six Grand Slams and is bidding to become the youngest man to complete a career sweep of all four majors.
Fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who is in Melbourne, did it at 24.
“My preparation is as it should be, and I won against him last year here, you know, also in a grueling match,” said Djokovic, who will be making a first major finals appearance since Wimbledon in 2024.
“Let’s see. Let’s see how fresh are we both able to be.
“He also had a big match, but he has 15, 16 years on me. You know, biologically I think it’s going to be a bit easier for him to recover.”
The fourth seed last claimed a Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2023 with Sinner and Alcaraz dominating since.
Recovery will be key, with Alcaraz cramping badly against Zverev, where he battled back from a 5-3 deficit in the fifth set.
“Obviously my body could be better, to be honest, but I think that’s normal after five hours and a half,” he said after the grueling test, suggesting he may have an abductor issue.
“Hopefully it’s not going to be anything at all, but after five-hours-and-a-half match and that high level physically, I think the muscles are going to be tight.
“I just got to do whatever it takes to be as good as I can for the final.”
Djokovic leads 5-4 in their head-to-heads, but the margins have often been razor-thin.
Alcaraz won their most recent clash, at the US Open last year, but Djokovic came out on top at the Australian Open in 2025 with a gutsy four-set quarter-final victory.
Regardless of what happens, Alcaraz will remain world number one and Sinner two, with Djokovic moving up a place to three ahead of Zverev.
The 38-year-old stunned two-time champion Sinner to set up a bumper final on Rod Laver Arena against world number one Carlos Alcaraz, who is 16 years his junior.
The Spaniard was also forced through five sets to beat Alexander Zverev, spending more than five hours on court.
Both men are aiming to etch their names in tennis history.
Djokovic is striving to win a record-extending 11th Melbourne crown and with it a 25th major title to finally surpass Margaret Court’s long-standing landmark.
Should he do so, he will also become the oldest man to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at the Australian Open.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz has already won six Grand Slams and is bidding to become the youngest man to complete a career sweep of all four majors.
Fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who is in Melbourne, did it at 24.
“My preparation is as it should be, and I won against him last year here, you know, also in a grueling match,” said Djokovic, who will be making a first major finals appearance since Wimbledon in 2024.
“Let’s see. Let’s see how fresh are we both able to be.
“He also had a big match, but he has 15, 16 years on me. You know, biologically I think it’s going to be a bit easier for him to recover.”
The fourth seed last claimed a Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2023 with Sinner and Alcaraz dominating since.
Recovery will be key, with Alcaraz cramping badly against Zverev, where he battled back from a 5-3 deficit in the fifth set.
“Obviously my body could be better, to be honest, but I think that’s normal after five hours and a half,” he said after the grueling test, suggesting he may have an abductor issue.
“Hopefully it’s not going to be anything at all, but after five-hours-and-a-half match and that high level physically, I think the muscles are going to be tight.
“I just got to do whatever it takes to be as good as I can for the final.”
Djokovic leads 5-4 in their head-to-heads, but the margins have often been razor-thin.
Alcaraz won their most recent clash, at the US Open last year, but Djokovic came out on top at the Australian Open in 2025 with a gutsy four-set quarter-final victory.
Regardless of what happens, Alcaraz will remain world number one and Sinner two, with Djokovic moving up a place to three ahead of Zverev.
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