White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders acknowledged on Thursday that the U.S. and China are at odds when it comes to whether the U.S. should give up conducting military exercises near the Korean Peninsula in exchange for North Korea halting its nuclear weapons program.
President Trump on Wednesday said he and President Xi Jinping agree that the U.S. should not offer to give up its military exercises, a proposal known as “freeze-for-freeze” or “dual suspension.”
“President Xi recognizes that a nuclear North Korea is a grave threat to China, and we agreed that we would not accept a so-called ‘freeze-for-freeze’ agreement like those that have consistently failed in the past,” Trump said in a wrap-up of his 12-day trip to five Asian countries.
But hours later, China’s Foreign Ministry contradicted Trump by saying that option is still on the table.
“We believe that the ‘dual suspension’ proposal is the most feasible, fair and sensible plan in the present situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing in Beijing, according to Reuters. “Not only can it relieve the present tense situation, it can also resolve all parties’ most pressing security concerns, and provide an opportunity and create conditions to resume talks, and find a breakthrough point to get out of trouble.”
When asked during Thursday’s briefing, Sanders said the White House now acknowledges that they don’t agree on the matter.
“Yeah, both sides made their position clear,” Sanders said. “They’re different, but we agree that they’re going to be different positions and therefore it’s not going to move forward.”
The U.S. has been steadfast in insisting it continue to conduct such exercises, saying they are designed to keep forces sharp in the event that North Korea attacks.
The 7th Fleet has since announced that U.S. forces have begun a major exercise with Japan on Thursday and will run for 10 days. Some 14,000 U.S. military personnel will be taking part in the Annual Exercise, which will also involve the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group. The exercise will take place off Okinawa.
