Kim has US worried

‘Nobody’s ever seen such a positive response on our behalf from China.’ TRUMP’S ‘ARMADA’: CARRIER DOING DRILLS OFF OZ COAST

After a few days of saber-rattling, US President Donald Trump’s administration has reverted to the same North Korea policy as its predecessor: relying on China to control Pyongyang.

The USS Carl Vinson carrier battle group, which Trump boasted last week was the “armada, very powerful” to bring leader Kim Jong-un to heel is instead carrying out drills off the coast of Australia.

And in Washington, top officials now express hope that North Korea’s great power neighbour China will apply the necessary political and economic pressure to halt its nuclear tests.

Beijing has made this promise before and experts warn there is no particular reason why China would honour it now.

Last week, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said the Vinson was “on her way up” to the Korean peninsula. Four days later, the ship was photographed sailing the other way, into the Indian Ocean.

On Tuesday, Mattis said the US was “working so closely” with China towards the aim of denuclearising the peninsula.

Trump also expressed confidence that – after his summit this month with Chinese leader Xi Jinping – the standoff would be resolved with Beijing’s full support.

Speaking to Fox News television, Trump said China had begun enforcing its own ban on coal imports from North Korea.

“Nobody’s ever seen such a positive response on our behalf from China,” he said.

But if Pyongyang is nervous that international sanctions are about to bite, it has not shown it and senior officials have vowed to continue nuclear and ballistic missile tests. – AFP