Tillerson says US probing to see if North Korea is interested in dialogue

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday that t he United States has multiple direct channels of communications with North Korea and it is investigating whether the regime is ready to enter talks on giving up its nuclear weapons programme. 

Tillerson's disclosure follows an escalating war of words between US President Donald Trump and North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Un.

"We are probing, so stay tuned," Tillerson told a small group of reporters during a trip to China. 

"We ask: Would you like to talk? We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation."

When asked whether China was acting as a go-between for the contacts, Tillerson said: "Our own channels."

Tillerson spoke after an afternoon of talks with China's top diplomats and President Xi Jinping centred on the nuclear crisis and preparations for Trump's visit to Beijing in November.

Before Tillerson revealed the diplomatic opening, a North Korean state body that handles external propaganda lobbed a new insult at Trump, calling the US leader an "old psychopath" on "a suicidal act of inviting a nuclear disaster that will reduce America into a sea of flames".

"Respect China's concerns" on Taiwan

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the US must respect China’s concerns on Taiwan to avoid causing disturbances in Sino-US ties. 

China considers democratic Taiwan to be a wayward province and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. 

The United States has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help it defend itself and is the island’s main source of arms.

China regularly calls Taiwan the most sensitive and important issue between it and the US, and has been upset by US moves to expand military exchanges with Taiwan and continued US arms sales to the island.

Wang explained China’s position on the Taiwan issue and “demanded the US side earnestly respect China’s concerns, appropriately handle the relevant issue and avoid bringing disturbances to China-US relations”, China’s Foreign Ministry said.

It did not elaborate.

Beijing’s relationship with Taiwan has been frosty since President Tsai Ing-wen won election on the island by a landslide last year.

China suspects that Tsai, who leads the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, wants to declare the island’s formal independence, a red line for Beijing. 

Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China.

In recent months the Chinese air force has conducted a series of drills around Taiwan, which have included bombers and advanced fighter jets, alarming Taipei. 

China has called the exercises routine and pledged to continue with them.