N. Korea not responding to Chinese pressure: Trump
WASHINGTON — The U.S. pushed China Wednesday to rein in companies that deal with North Korea after President Donald Trump tweeted ahead of the high-level talks that Beijing’s efforts to sway its wayward ally weren’t working.
Trump has been counting on China to use its economic leverage with the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as American concern grows over the North’s acceleration toward having a nuclear missile that can strike the U.S. mainland.
The security talks between U.S. and Chinese diplomats and defence chiefs are occurring amid outrage in Washington over the death of Otto Warmbier days after the American student was released from imprisonment in North Korea in a coma.
U.S. lawmakers are pressing for a tough response against Pyongyang over its treatment of the 22-year-old university student, who was accused of trying to steal a propaganda banner while visiting with a tour group and was convicted of subversion.
Trump has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for trying to contain North Korea, which counts on China for 90 per cent of its trade, but the effort has delivered few results. North Korea hasn’t conducted a nuclear test explosion as feared earlier this year, but has kept up its rapid pace of missile launches.
“While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, the U.S. flew two supersonic B-1B bombers over the Korean Peninsula. South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the bombers engaged in routine exercises.
At the talks in Washington, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis hosted Chinese foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi and Gen. Fang Fenghui, chief of the People’s Liberation Army’s joint staff department.
Susan Thornton, the senior U.S. diplomat for East Asia, said North Korea would get “top billing.” She said the U.S. would be consulting with China on implementation of UN Security Council resolutions that are intended to restrict revenue and technology for the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
Last week, Tillerson told a Senate hearing China’s efforts on North Korea had been “uneven.” Thornton cited Chinese restrictions on imports of North Korean coal as “notable” progress, but said the U.S. wants more action against blacklisted North Korean companies doing business through China.
The Trump administration is considering a ban on Americans visiting North Korea.