North Korea’s test of its most powerful and sophisticated ballistic missile to date has sparked a heated debate inside the Trump administration over whether to impose broad new sanctions against Chinese banks suspected of laundering money for the rogue regime now that it is seen as posing a credible
North Korea ’s test of its most powerful and sophisticated ballistic missile to date has sparked a heated debate inside the Trump administration over whether to impose broad new sanctions against Chinese banks suspected of laundering money for the rogue regime now that it is seen as posing a credible nuclear threat to the U. S. mainland.
With the U. N. Security Council holding yet another emergency session on the North Korean nuclear program Wednesday afternoon, the U. S. and powers across Asia scrambled to contain the fallout of the North’s successful missile test, its first in more than two months and the first since President Trump made a 12-day tour of Asian capitals to discuss how to handle Pyongyang.
While analysts and some Republican lawmakers have long called for China-focused sanctions, sources close to the White House say Mr. Trump ’s top aides have advised him to tread with “extreme caution” toward such a move because of fears among Wall Street investment firms that it would trigger a harsh backlash from Beijing .
“We’ve got the Goldman Sachs faction that’s still pretty strong around the president, and they say if you start sanctioning Chinese banks, there will be ripple effects and it will damage the global economy,” one source told The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity.
Mr. Trump sought to strike a more optimistic note after a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country is North Korea ’s main ally and economic partner.
“Just spoke to President Xi Jinping of China concerning the latest provocative actions of North Korea,” Mr. Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. “Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!”
The president has so far followed his predecessor’s lead by urging China to do more to help contain North Korea. The White House said Wednesday that Mr. Trump called on Mr. Xi to use “all available levers” and emphasized “the determination of the United States to defend ourselves and our allies from the growing threat.”
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson told reporters that the U. S. government may target additional financial institutions with sanctions following North Korea ’s missile launch, adding without elaboration that the U. S. has a “long list of additional potential sanctions.”
Game-changer
In New York, diplomats from the world’s leading powers warned that the suspected range of the North’s latest missile — which theoretically can reach Washington and the East Coast — is a potential game-changer.
France’s ambassador to the United Nations, Francois Delattre, said before Wednesday’s emergency Security Council meeting that the scope and scale of the North’s nuclear threat have moved past being regional and potential.
“Weakness or ambiguity are simply not an option,” Mr. Delattre said.
But analysts said it’s not clear how far China is willing to go — even toward fully implementing sanctions that Beijing has agreed to participate in previous U. N. votes. Beijing is said to have two main worries: that an abrupt collapse of the Kim Jong-un regime in Pyongyang could spark a massive refugee crisis and that a political reunification of the peninsula led by South Korea would put a powerful U.
