Abe told reporters after a telephone call with Trump that he appreciated the U.S. leader's stance of showing that all options are on the table when it comes to dealing with North Korea .

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping held separate calls on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump over rising tensions with North Korea.

Artillery pieces are seen being fired during a military drill at an unknown location, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 25, 2016.

Xi told Trump that he hopes all sides exercise restraint over the issue of North Korea and that China opposes anything that runs counter to U.N. Security Council resolutions, state media said on Monday.

Xi said during a telephone call with Trump that all sides should avoid doing anything to worsen tensions, state television reported.

Tensions have risen sharply over North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile programs. The United States has ordered the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group to sail to waters off the Korean peninsula, prompting Pyongyang to say it was ready to sink the carrier.

Two Japanese destroyers have joined the U.S. carrier group in a show of solidarity.

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