Xi and Trump discuss Korean Peninsula, Syria over phone

The unexpected phone call between the two came after Trump turned to Twitter to vent his frustrations over North Korea.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Trump in a phone call Wednesday that Beijing is willing to work with Washington on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program, but wants to do so through peaceful means.

Saturday is the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the country's founding father and grandfather of current ruler, Kim Jong Un.

The Japanese Navy is to conduct a joint military exercise soon with a US aircraft carrier amid growing tensions over North Korea's nuclear missile programme, Japan's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

"China insists on realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula. and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the American side over the issue on the peninsula", Xi was quoted as saying by state media.

Trump has repeatedly called on China to do more to rein in its unruly neighbor, which has stepped up its missile development and nuclear program since 2016. If not, we will solve the problem without them!

While the USA possesses overwhelming firepower compared to North Korea, an American strike on North Korea could expose South Korea to devastating casualties in retaliation, experts say. There is also fear the country's nuclear program is progressing.

"China's best case scenario, what it would really like to happen, would be a liberalized regime in the North, akin to some of the reforms that took place (in China) in the 1980s, so introducing economic reform, removing the concentrated power of the Kim family", Neill said.

"I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the USA will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!"

The two leaders held in-depth discussions and reached important consensus on bilateral relations in the new era and on major global and regional issues, said Xi. In fact, the Vinson was in South Korea last month for military exercises. It was very important for the two Presidents to maintain close communication, he added.

"We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs in order to defend ourselves by powerful force of arms and keep to the road chosen by ourselves", an unidentified ministry spokesman said.

U.S. officials said it would still take the strike group more than a week to arrive near the Korean peninsula. The statement said the step was not unprecedented.

"We are really anxious about what Washington has in mind for North Korea after it hinted at the possibility of a unilateral military scenario", the ministry said in a statement.

The North's foreign ministry, in a statement carried by its KCNA news agency, said the U.S. navy strike group's approach showed America's "reckless moves for invading had reached a serious phase".

On Tuesday, a fleet of North Korean cargo ships headed home, mostly fully laden, after China ordered its trading companies to return coal, sources with direct knowledge of the trade said.