This story is free to read.

The Latest: US-China talks focusing on North Korean threat

In this June 20, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington. Otto Warmbier’s death after returning from North Korean imprisonment is stoking outrage in Washington and threatening to overshadow high-level U.S.-Chinese talks on June 21. President Donald Trump has been counting on China to use its economic leverage over Kim Jong Un’s totalitarian government. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) In this June 20, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington. Otto Warmbier’s death after returning from North Korean imprisonment is stoking outrage in Washington and threatening to overshadow high-level U.S.-Chinese talks on June 21. President Donald Trump has been counting on China to use its economic leverage over Kim Jong Un’s totalitarian government. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

By Associated Press June 21, 2017 2 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on high-level talks between the United States and China (all times local):

9.00 a.m.

U.S. and Chinese diplomats and defense chiefs have begun talks in Washington that are expected to focus on the nuclear and missile threat from North Korea.

Secretary of State State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis are hosting China’s foreign policy chief, Yang Jiechi (yahng jee-uh-CHEHR’), and uh-CHERR) and the head of the People’s Liberation Army’s joint staff department, Gen. Fang Fenghui (FAHNG FENG-wuee).

The death of an American college student after his imprisonment in North Korea is threatening to overshadow the talks at the State Department.