“The danger the North Korean regime poses to international peace is now clear to all, ” the US ambassador to the United Nations said.
China is betting that President Trump won’ t make good on his threats of a military strike against North Korea, with Beijing continuing to provide a lifeline to Kim Jong Un’s regime.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson singled out China and Russia as ‘ ‘economic enablers’ ’ of North Korea after Kim on Friday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the second time in a matter of weeks. While Tillerson said the U. S. wants a peaceful resolution to the tensions, the top American general called his South Korean counterpart after the launch to discuss a potential military response.
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China on Saturday condemned the latest test while calling for restraint from all parties, a muted reaction to Pyongyang’s progress on an ICBM capable of hitting the U. S. mainland. Despite Kim’s provocations, analysts said Beijing still sees the collapse of his regime as a more immediate strategic threat, and doubts Trump would pull the trigger given the risk of a war with North Korea that could kill millions.
‘ ‘The military option the Americans are threatening won’ t likely happen because the stakes will be too high,’ ’ said Liu Ming, director of the Korean Peninsula Research Center at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. ‘ ‘It’s a pretext and an excuse to pile up pressure on China. It’s more like blackmail than a realistic option.’ ’
Relations between the world’s biggest economies have soured after an initial honeymoon between Trump and President Xi Jinping. The U. S. last month sanctioned a regional Chinese bank, a shipping company and two Chinese citizens over dealings with North Korea, which could be a precursor to greater economic and financial pressure on Beijing to rein in its errant neighbor.
Trump has expressed periodic public frustration with Beijing over the pace of its efforts to curtail Kim. On Saturday he again linked China’s actions to the broader U. S.-China trade relationship.
‘ ‘I am very disappointed in China,’ ’ he said in a series of Twitter posts.
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Hours later, Xi called on China to speed up its military modernization, telling troops at an army parade that ‘ ‘the world isn’ t safe at this moment.’ ’
‘ ‘A strong army is needed now more than ever,’ ’ he said, without specifically addressing North Korea or Trump’s comments.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, weighed in with a Twitter posting on Sunday saying she was ‘ ‘done talking about’ ’ North Korea and that ‘ ‘China is aware they must act’ ’ with increased pressure from Japan and South Korea as part of an international solution.
