Trump will put pressure on china to rein in n. korea

The US President on his first tour to Asia, will be visiting Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines from 3 November.

President Trump’s administration has drafted a plan to pause a programme that allows family members join refugees already settled in the US until they can undergo increased security checks, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. The measure is one of several being considered for refugees, the sources said.

The administration also may expand the use of intensive security checks by multiple federal agencies, called “security advisory opinions” (SAO) to apply to women from countries designated as high-risk by the US government. Currently there are usually only mandatory SAOs, as they are called, for men from those countries, the sources said. The administration is also considering expanding the categories of refugees required to be fingerprinted, the sources said. The proposals, if implemented, could significantly slow down refugee admissions and leave refugees who thought they were headed to the United States in perilous situations abroad, say refugee advocates and former officials. The sources said the new measures could be announced at the end of the temporary 120 day ban which expires on 24 October .

US President Donald Trump is expected to pressure China’s president when they meet next month in Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea out of a belief that Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power should give him more authority to do so.

Trump leaves 3 November on a trip that will take him to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. It will be his first tour of Asia since taking power in January and one with a major priority: Preventing the standoff with North Korea from spiraling out of control.

Xi is immersed in a Communist Party Congress expected to culminate in him consolidating his control and potentially retaining power beyond 2022, when the next congress takes place.

Trump believes that Xi should have even more leverage to work on the North Korea problem.

“The president’s view is you have even less of an excuse now,” said one official. “He’s not going to step lightly.”

Trump wants to gain some serious cooperation from China to persuade Pyongyang to either change its mind or help deprive it of so much resources that it has no choice but to alter its behavior, the official said.

Trump has heaped praise on Xi in recent weeks in hopes of gaining Chinese cooperation and has held back from major punitive trade measures.

In an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, Trump said he wants to “keep things very, very low key” with Xi until the Chinese leader emerges from the party congress.

“I believe he’s got the power to do something very significant with respect to North Korea. We’ll see what happens. Now with that be- ing said, we’re prepared for anything. We are so prepared, like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump said in the interview, to air on Sunday. with its North Korean counterpart, a senior official said on Saturday, describing the two countries friendship as important for regional stability.

China, Pyongyang’s sole major ally, has said it will strictly enforce UN Security Council sanctions banning imports of coal, textiles and seafood, while cutting off oil shipments to the North. China accounts for more than 90% of world trade with the isolated country.

Guo Yezhou, a deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party’s international department, told reporters on the sidelines of a party congress that its exchanges, communication and dialogue with the North’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea were continuing.

“China and North Korea are neighbours and the two have a traditional friendly cooperative relationship,” Guo said. Maintaining, developing and consolidating those ties not only accord with both sides’ interests, they also have “important meaning” for regional peace and stability, he added.

Exchanges between the two parties play an important role in developing overall China-North Korea relations, Guo said.

“Our party and the Workers’ Party of Korea have traditional friendly exchanges. When and at what level these exchanges happen depend on both sides need and both sides’ convenience,” he added, without elaborating.

The department is in charge of the party’s relations with foreign political parties, and has traditionally served as a conduit for Chinese diplomacy with North Korea.

The Workers’ Party of Korea on Wednesday congratulated China on its 19th Communist Party Congress despite the increasingly frayed relationships between the allies as China tightens sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.