Both the U. S. and Australia have pressured China to take more responsibility in influencing North Korea to abandon its nuclear program
U. S. Vice President Mike Pence says the U. S. is quietly confident that China will do more to influence North Korea to drop its nuclear weapons program.
Pence spoke Saturday in Sydney at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Both the U. S. and Australia have pressured China to take more responsibility in influencing North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.
Pence said Pyongyang’s ballistic missile program “represents a threat to the stability and security of this region and potentially a threat to the continental United States…”
Vinson to arrive soon
The U. S. vice president, who is the first senior official of the Trump administration to visit Australia, said “continuing on the path the world has been on with North Korea over the last 25 years is just unacceptable.”
Pence said an aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, heading for waters off the Korean peninsula would be in the Sea of Japan within days.
Turnbull said China could use its economic leverage to force North Korea into compliance.
U. S. Vice President Mike Pence (left) shakes hands with Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after a media conference at Admiralty House in Sydney, Australia, April 22,2017.
