Trump says won’t let China ‘do nothing’

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that 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.

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

In his critique of Beijing, which came in two tweets, Trump linked trade strains with the Asian giant – marked by a trade deficit of US$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,” Trump wrote.

“We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!”

The tweet storm coincided with a bilateral mission led by US strategic bombers on Saturday that flew over the Korean peninsula in a pointed show of force in response to the ICBM tests.

US B-1B bombers along with fighter jets from South Korean and Japanese air forces took part in the 10-hour bilateral mission, practising intercept and formation drills

“North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability,” Pacific Air Forces commander General Terrence O’Shaughnessy said in a statement.

“If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal, and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing.” – AFP