In a week of heightened tensions in the region, Foreign Minister Wang Yi cautioned the US in unusually frank language against the deployment of a controversial missile defense system in South Korea. The system is vehemently opposed by China.

But he also had strong words for North Korea, saying Pyonyang should suspend its nuclear weapons program.

“The two sides are like two accelerating trains coming towards each other,” Wang told reporters in Beijing. “The question is, are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision?”