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US and China engaged in 'fundamental disagreement'

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US and China engaged in 'fundamental disagreement'The US is in “fundamental disagreement” with China over trade and foreign policy, Washington’s top diplomat said, as relations between the two superpowers continue to deteriorate. Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, arrived in Beijing on Monday to brief China on his visit to Pyongyang and his latest talks with Kim Jong-un, the North Korea leader. But recent diplomatic spats, in which the US have ramped up its trade war and accused China of meddling in the midterm election, appeared to dominate, manifesting in a frosty public exchange between Mr Pompeo and Wang Yi, Chia’s foreign minister. “We have grave concerns about the actions that China has taken,” Mr Pompeo told a press conference while standing next to his counterpart. Mr Wang reciprocated the terse tone, saying the US had made “a direct attack on our mutual trust, and has cast a shadow on US-China relations”. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang Credit: Reuters He added: “We demand the US stop the unwarranted accusations and wrongdoings against China immediately.” The public airing of discord shows how an escalating trade spat between the countries could thwart joint efforts on other issues such as North Korea.  Last Thursday Mike Pence, the US vice president, gave a scathing speech about China, accusing Beijing of unfair market practices, meddling in American elections and orchestrating a widespread campaign to undermine the US and bolster Chinese influence worldwide. Beijing has denied those claims. In private Mr Wang on Monday urged the United States to stop selling arms to Taiwan and to cut off official visits and military ties with the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement. Mr Pompeo is concluding a visit to Asia which included stops in North Korea, South Korea and Japan, where he met with the top leaders of all three countries. In a sign of continuing friction with the US he met with Mr Wang instead of Xi Jinping, China's president. At a glance | CVID On Monday Mr Pompeo said Kim was ready to allow international inspectors into the North’s nuclear and missile testing sites. Pyongyang was previously reluctant. Those sites include a missile engine test facility and the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site and a visit will commence once both sides agree on logistics. He also said the US and North Korea were “pretty close” to agreeing on details of a second summit. Mr Trump and Kim held an historic first summit in Singapore in June. This is Mr Pompeo’s fourth trip to Pyongyang this year following a stalemate as North Korea resisted Washington’s demands to irreversibly dismantle its nuclear arsenal.  North Korean state media said on Monday Kim “expressed satisfaction” regarding his talks with Mr Pompeo. The state newspaper also featured eight photos of the meeting on its front page, including shots of the pair as well as some with Kim’s sister Kim Yo-jong.  Senior US officials said the United States still expected cooperation with Beijing on efforts to denuclearise North Korea, whose chief ally is China. If ties between China and the US continue to deteriorate, there could be “profound changes” in the strategic environment for such regional issues as North Korea, China's state-backed Global Times tabloid warned in an editorial. “For Asia, the severity of China-US frictions is taking up much attention and is, to some extent, diluting attention paid to the Korean peninsula issue,” it said.