Trump missile call on China

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has warned he would not allow China to “do nothing” on North Korea, after the hermit state launched an intercontinental ballistic missile it boasted could reach the US.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un boasted of his country’s ability to strike any target in the US after the ICBM test that weapons experts said could even bring New York into range.

Under Kim’s leadership, North Korea has accelerated its drive towards a credible nuclear strike capability, in defiance of international condemnation and multiple sets of UN sanctions.

In his critique of Beijing, which came in two tweets, Trump linked trade strains with the Asian giant – marked by a trade deficit of $309 billion last year – to policy on North Korea, after South Korea indicated it was speeding the deployment of a US missile defence system that has infuriated China.

“I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk,” Mr Trump wrote. “We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!”

Mr Trump, who is at loggerheads with Beijing over how to handle Kim’s regime, has repeatedly urged China to rein in its recalcitrant neighbour.

Kim said the test “is meant to send a grave warning to the US” and demonstrated the North’s ability to launch “at any place and time,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The “leader said proudly the test also confirmed all the US mainland is within our striking range,” it said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said he held telephone talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and agreed on the need to put “the heaviest possible pressure” on North Korea.

In a standard response to the test, Beijing urged restraint by all sides