US-China ties warm over currency, Syria

The United States and China struck what appeared to be an unusual bargain on April 12 as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not label China a currency manipulator and voiced confidence Chinese President Xi Jinping will help him deal with North Korea's mounting threat.

Another result of the diplomatic wrangling: A surprising Chinese abstention on a U.N. resolution condemning a Syrian chemical weapons attack.

China on April 13 said that military force could not resolve tension over North Korea, while an influential Chinese newspaper urged the North to halt its nuclear program in exchange for Chinese protection.

In a newspaper interview and a White House news conference, Trump hailed the rapport he developed with Xi during last week's Florida summit, which seems to have yielded an immediate easing of tensions related to the U.S.-Chinese trade imbalance and how to prevent Pyongyang from developing a nuclear missile capable of reaching the United States.

 "I think he wants to help us with North Korea," Trump said of Xi, crediting China in the news conference with taking a "big step" by turning back boats of coal that North Korea sells to its northern neighbor. North Korea conducts some 90 percent of its trade with China.

And in one of the sharpest reverses of his presidency, Trump backed off from a campaign pledge by saying he would not declare China to be a currency manipulator, an action that could have led to higher tariffs on Chinese goods. The accusation had formed a basis of Trump's argument for lost American jobs, on the grounds that an undervaluing currency was boosting Chinese exports and leading to artificially low prices, all at U.S. manufacturers' expense.

"They're not currency manipulators," Trump...