The United States has turned up the heat on North Korea and its main benefactor China, calling the North Koreans a “ clear and present danger” and chastising the Chinese for coercive
behaviour in the South China Sea.
The United States has turned up the heat on North Korea and its main benefactor China, calling the North Koreans a “clear and present danger” and chastising the Chinese for coercive
behaviour in the South China Sea.
Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, James Mattis, the US defence secretary, said the Trump administration was encouraged by China’s renewed commitment to working with the US and others to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons.
We oppose countries militarising artificial islands
He also said he thought China ultimately would see North Korea as a liability rather than an asset.
China blocked tough new sanctions against North Korea that the US pushed in the UN Security Council on Friday.
However, the Security Council did vote unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to the North’s nuclear and missile programmes to a UN sanctions blacklist. In his speech, Mattis sought to balance his hopeful comments on China with sharp criticism of what he called Beijing’s disregard for international law by its “indisputable militarisation” of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
