Pence, who is in Singapore for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit meeting, was responding to reports that China might be easing sanctions against North Korea, which would be a blow to the U.S.-led effort to economically isolate the North over its weapons programs.

“We believe China is doing more than they’ve ever done before,” Pence said. “The president is grateful for that.”

But he added that he expected Trump and Xi to discuss the issue of “enforcement of those sanctions — and really the unique role that China can play in ensuring” the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Pence’s remarks came after the release of a congressional report that said China appeared to have eased up on the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea. The annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission asked the U.S. Treasury Department to list Chinese businesses, entities and individuals doing business with North Korea that might be subject to U.S. sanctions.

Also on Thursday, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce confirmed that trade talks with the United States had resumed following a phone call this month between Trump and Xi. Those talks had been on hiatus since August, with Trump’s top economic advisers feuding over how the United States should proceed.

Pence also said that he had a cordial encounter with President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Tuesday at the gala dinner hosted by the regional bloc, known as ASEAN.

“We exchanged greetings, but nothing more than that,” he said of Putin, whose July meeting with Trump drew fierce criticism in the United States over what many viewed as Trump’s fawning behavior. Pence and Putin also had a brief conversation on Thursday.

Pence is essentially standing in for Trump at the ASEAN meeting, and the president’s absence was conspicuous; not only is Putin in Singapore, but Xi will attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders forum this weekend in Papua New Guinea.

Trump won’t be there either, raising questions about the United States’ commitment to its allies as China seeks to expand its influence in the region.

In something of a diplomatic whirlwind, Pence also met with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and tried to dispel any suggestion that South Korea was veering away from Washington’s tough line against the North by holding recent talks with North Korean officials.

Pence said he had discussed the United Nations sanctions with Moon and that “he assured me that as those inter-Korean talks take place, there will continue to be very close coordination with the United States, and also that South Korea remains committed to fully implementing all of the U.N. resolutions and sanctions.”

He said he had told Moon that the United States sought to avoid “the mistakes of the past,” referring to North Korea’s broken promises after previous talks with the United States.

He added that South Korea “again today renewed their commitment to work very closely with the U.S.” ahead of a planned second summit meeting between Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, which is expected in the new year.

The New York Times

Gerry Mullany © 2018 The New York Times