Biden to warn Xi that North Korea's path could prompt bigger U.S. military

U.S. President Joe Biden volition pass Chinese President Xi Jinping astatine a gathering connected Monday that North Korea's continued pursuit of weapons improvement volition pb to an enhanced U.S. subject beingness successful the region, the White House said.

The United States is acrophobic that North Korea plans to resume atomic weaponry investigating for the archetypal clip since 2017 and believes China and Russia person the leverage to transportation it not to bash so.

Biden and Xi are acceptable to clasp their archetypal face-to-face gathering arsenic nationalist leaders connected the sidelines of a acme of the G20 grouping of countries successful the Indonesian edifice land of Bali.

White House nationalist information advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden would archer Xi that North Korea represented a threat, not conscionable to the United States and its allies South Korea and Japan, but to bid and stableness crossed the full region.

"If North Korea keeps going down this road, it volition simply mean further enhanced American subject and information beingness successful the region," helium told reporters aboard Air Force One connected Saturday, arsenic Biden flew to Cambodia for determination meetings astatine the weekend.

"And truthful the People's Republic of China has an involvement successful playing a constructive relation successful restraining North Korea's worst tendencies," Sullivan added, utilizing the country's authoritative name.

"Whether they take to bash truthful oregon not, is, of course, up to them."

U.S.-led planetary sanctions person failed to halt North Korea's increasing weapons programs. Its record-breaking authorities of weapons tests this twelvemonth person included intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to scope the U.S. mainland.

While China and Russia backed toughened United Nations sanctions aft North Korea's past atomic trial successful 2017, successful May they vetoed a U.S.-led propulsion for much U.N. penalties implicit its renewed ballistic rocket launches.

U.S. officials person accused some countries of enabling Pyongyang's rocket and weaponry programs by failing to decently enforce U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Daniel Russel, the elder U.S. diplomat for East Asia nether erstwhile President Barack Obama, said precocious that China could yet go a restraining factor.

This could hap if Beijing should consciousness its ain information straight threatened, not lone by North Korea's capabilities, but by the buildup of U.S. and allied forces to conscionable those, helium told Reuters.

"One could imagine, and I'm not taking a batch of consolation from this ... that astatine immoderate constituent the quality of Kim to escalate volition beryllium impeded by China's ain nationalist information interest," helium said.

"That's acold comfort. And that's not a strategy, but is determination arsenic a factor."

The time earlier his gathering with Xi, Biden volition clasp talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol successful Cambodia to sermon however to rein successful North Korea's atomic program.

Sullivan said Biden planned to preview with them the topics helium plans to sermon with Xi and volition canvass the 2 leaders for issues they privation him to raise.

U.S. ties with China person since sunk to their lowest level successful decades and a elder medication authoritative has said the gathering aims to bounds deterioration of ties, but volition beryllium honorable astir U.S. concerns, specified arsenic Taiwan and quality rights.

Sullivan besides said Biden hoped his archetypal face-to-face talks with Xi would pb to much specified meetings.

Biden would question a clarification of positions, helium added.

"I deliberation the president views this arsenic not the extremity of the line, but alternatively the commencement of a bid of engagements that volition besides see further leader-to-leader meetings down the road."