Xi Jinping urges US to avoid rhetoric with North Korea after Donald Trump says his military is 'locked and loaded'

Beijing: Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged United States president Donald Trump on Saturday to avoid rhetoric that could inflame tensions with North Korea as an escalating war of words raised global alarm. [caption id=“attachment_3783445” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of US president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping. AP[/caption] Xi made the plea in a phone call hours after Trump ramped up his warnings to Pyongyang, saying the Stalinist regime would “truly regret” taking hostile action against the United States. The White House said in a statement that the two leaders “agreed North Korea must stop provocative and escalatory behaviour” and that they are both committed to the denuclearisation of the peninsula. But the Chinese foreign ministry said Xi urged Trump to avoid “words and deeds” that would “exacerbate” the already-tense situation, exercise restraint and seek a political settlement. Trump has been engaged all week in verbal sparring with the North over its weapons and missile programmes, as United States media reported Pyongyang has successfully miniaturised a nuclear warhead. The Republican billionaire has progressively ramped up the tone throughout the week and on Friday declared that the United States military is “locked and loaded”. In a call with Guam governor Eddie Calvo on Friday, Trump said the United States military is prepared to “ensure the safety and security of the people of Guam” in response to Pyongyang’s plans to launch missiles towards the Pacific territory. Japanese media said Tokyo was deploying its Patriot missile defence system following Pyongyang’s threat to fire ballistic missiles over the country towards Guam.