Chinese President Xi Jinping urged “restraint” over North Korea in a phone call with Donald Trump Monday, as Japan joined exercises with an American supercarrier heading to the Korean peninsula.

The US leader has repeatedly called on China, the North’s sole major ally, to do more to rein in Pyongyang, as tensions in the region soar.

“(China) hopes that the relevant parties can maintain restraint and avoid actions that would increase tensions in the Korean peninsula,” Xi said, according to the foreign ministry.

“The only way to realize denuclearization in the Korean peninsula and quickly resolve North Korea’s nuclear problem is for each relevant party to fulfill its duties.”

The conversation is the second since their summit at Trump’s luxury resort in Florida early this month.

“The international situation is rapidly changing, it is essential that China and the US maintain a close contact and exchange opinions on important matters in a timely manner,” Xi told Trump.

Trump also spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, discussing the joint drills under way between the US carrier Carl Vinson and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force.

“We completely agreed that we strongly demand restraint by North Korea, which has repeatedly taken dangerous provocative actions,” Abe told reporters after the call.

Source: AFP