President Donald Trump will press Chinese President Xi Jinping to take a far tougher stance against North Korea
President Donald Trump will press Chinese President Xi Jinping to take a far tougher stance against North Korea over the rogue state’s nuclear program when the two meet later this week in Florida, warning that the U. S. reserves the right to act unilaterally.
Previewing the visit, senior White House officials warned that the North Korea threat is now « urgent, » as that country works to simultaneously miniaturize its nuclear weapons and improve its ballistic missile technology. North Korea has been the subject of an interagency review since Trump took office. U. S. intelligence officials believe it will have the ability to reach the U. S. with a nuclear missile within a year at its current pace, and former President Barack Obama warned his successor of the escalating danger before he left office.
« The clock has now run out and all options are on the table for us, » a senior White House official said, providing a glimpse at Trump’s message to Xi.
Roughly 90% of the isolated nation’s trade is with China, and Trump will call on Xi to increase its compliance with United Nations sanctions against North Korea. « We hear sometimes that China’s political influence may have diminished with North Korea, » the official said. « Clearly its economic leverage has not. » The official would not rule out the application of secondary sanctions on Chinese entities that trade with North Korea in violation of UN and U. S. sanctions.
« The best outcome would be one in which China very thoroughly implements those UN sanctions and resolutions, » the official said.
