BEIJING — China has urged the United States and North Korea to ‘‘hit the brakes’’ on threatening words and work toward a peaceful resolution of their tense standoff created by Pyongyang’s recent missile tests and threats to fire them toward Guam.

The dispute has also raised fears in South Korea, where a conservative political party on Wednesday called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.

In a sign of growing concern on the part of Pyongyang’s only major ally, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that the two countries should work together to contain tensions and permit no one to ‘‘stir up an incident on their doorstep,’’ according to a statement posted on the Chinese foreign ministry’s website.

‘‘The most important task at hand is for the US and North Korea to ‘hit the brakes’ on their mutual needling of each other with words and actions, to lower the temperature of the tense situation, and prevent the emergence of an ‘August crisis,’’’ Wang was quoted as saying in the Tuesday conversation.

The ministry quoted Lavrov as saying tensions could rise again with the United States and South Korea set to launch large-scale military exercises on Aug. 21.

‘‘The peninsula’s nuclear issue must be peacefully resolved by political and diplomatic methods,’’ Lavrov was quoted as saying.

China is North Korea’s main economic partner and political backer, although relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have deteriorated amid the North’s continuing defiance of China’s calls for restraint. In recent months, China has joined with Russia in calling for the United States to suspend annual military drills with South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang halting its missile and nuclear tests as a first step toward direct talks.

On Wednesday, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, continued a visit to China following talks the day before with his Chinese counterpart that touched on North Korea.

Speaking to reporters after viewing a Chinese military exercise outside the northeastern city of Shenyang, Dunford said he told General Fang Fenghui that the United States hoped diplomatic and economic pressure would persuade North Korea to end its nuclear program but that it was also preparing military options.

Dunford earlier visited South Korea and stops next in Japan. His visit to Asia comes after President Trump last week said he was ready to unleash ‘‘fire and fury’’ if North Korea continued to threaten the United States.

North Korea’s military on Tuesday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near the US territory of Guam and ‘‘wring the windpipes of the Yankees,’’ even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward talks.

Trump tweeted early Wednesday that Kim had ‘‘made a very wise and well reasoned decision,’’ amid indications North Korea had decided not to proceed with its multiple missile launch.

North Korea’s advancing missile capabilities have raised concern in South Korea, where some believe a fully functional ICBM in Pyongyang would undermine the alliance between Washington and Seoul.

This has led to growing calls among South Korean conservatives for the United States to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea after withdrawing them in the 1990s. The opposition Liberty Korea Party on Wednesday adopted the demand as its party line.