Top Chinese, South Korean diplomats pledge closer ties

BEIJING (AP) — The top South Korean and Chinese diplomats have pledged to develop closer relations and maintain stable industrial supply chains at a time of deepening rivalry between Beijing and Washington. South Korea is struggling to strike a balance between Washington and the increasingly assertive foreign policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government. Foreign Ministers Park Jin and Wang Yi, who are meeting in eastern China, separately called for developing relations based on their nations’ successful commercial ties. Park and Wang gave no indication they discussed tension over last week’s visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.