U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull are joining forces in urging China to do more to pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
Turnbull said at a joint news conference with Pence in Sydney on Saturday that China has the opportunity and "responsibility'' to use its economic leverage to force Pyongyang into compliance. He said the "eyes of the world are on Beijing.''
Pence added that "all options'' remain on the table but the U.S. is "quietly confident'' that China will pressure North Korea on its weapons program.
In other news from the visit, Vice-President Mike Pence says the United States will honour a refugee resettlement deal with Australia that President Donald Trump once dubbed "dumb.''
In January, Trump and Turnbull got into a spat over the agreement that strained ties between the countries. Under the deal, the U.S. would take up to 1,250 refugees that Australia houses in detention camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
Pence is in Australia to reassure Turnbull about the state of the U.S.-Australia alliance. The visit follows Pence's stops in South Korea, Japan and Indonesia for events focused on national security, trade and economic development.