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diplomacy

Tillerson urges 'calm' in 'overheated' U.S.-North Korea relations

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in Beijing Saturday to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of a five-nation tour of Asia President Trump has scheduled for early November. Tillerson said Trump and Xi have built a "very regular and close working relationship."

The secretary of state's visit will focus on Chinese adoption of sanctions against North Korea to squash the isolated nation's nuclear ambitions. "I think the most immediate action that we need is to calm things down," Tillerson said of U.S.-North Korea tensions. "They're a little overheated right now. And I think we need to calm them down first."

Trump's November trip to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines will likewise concern the "complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," as well as trade.