DHAKA: US Secretary of State John Kerry will push China to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, as he meets with officials in Beijing.

The visit follows North Korea’s claim that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb earlier this month.

Kerry told reporters that Pyongyang was ‘a major challenge to global security’, reports the BBC.

China is North Korea’s main diplomatic and economic ally, but Beijing has condemned Pyongyang’s nuclear test.

Kerry also plans to discuss US concerns about China’s activities in the disputed South China Sea, and the tightening of political space for civil society in China.

He arrived in Beijing on Tuesday evening at the end of a tour where he also visited Laos and Cambodia.

Kerry said he hoped that Wednesday’s talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and State Councillor Yang Jiechi would be ‘constructive and we will find a way forward’.

A senior US State Department official told reporters earlier this week that the ‘pre-eminent issue’ for Kerry was how China can convince North Korea to ‘reverse course’ and roll back its nuclear and missile program.

BDST: 1305 HRS, JAN 27, 2016
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