Singapore, June 1: The acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan and Chinese foreign minister Wei Fenghe have on Friday discussed ways to enforce the United Nations (UN) sanctions on North Korea during a “constructive and productive” meeting held in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogues security summit.
A Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Joe Buccino was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying, “The two leaders discussed ways to build military-to-military relations that reduces the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculating between our nations.”
The spokesperson added the US defence secretary discussed ways for both nation’s militaries cooperation to enforce the UNSC resolution related to North Korea sanctions, according to ANI news reports.
The development has come as denuclearization dialogues between Pyongyang and Washington have stalled during the second summit between N Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The summit had ended abruptly without reaching any nuclear agreement due to both leader’s large difference as Trump stressed over Kim’s last year commitment of complete denuclearization, whereas Kim focused over seeking the US sanction relief.
Trump stood on his stance that sanction will be removed only once N Korea completes denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo acknowledged Beijing does “good” when it comes to enforce sanction on DPRK, but also highlighted the talks could have been more progressive to do better.
Pompeo said, “It’s not perfect. It’s not perfect anywhere … We’re always looking to do better with respect to enforcement. But they’ve been a very good partner on that issue even while there have been difficult conversations on trade taking place.”
Pompeo’s remarks and China-US defence official’s meeting comes despite Washington and Beijing at loggerhead due to trade spat.