China: May is weak leader who copies Trump on N Korea
Kim’s got his nuke missile propaganda licked
THERESA May’s relationship with China suffered a setback last night after Beijing accused her of being a ‘weak’ leader.
After the Prime Minister called for the Chinese to do more to rein in North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, a state-linked newspaper taunted her over her disappointing general election performance.
The Global Times attacked Mrs May in an article headlined, ‘Beijing does not need London to teach it how to deal with North Korea’.
‘May’s Conservative Party lost many seats, turning her into a vulnerable Prime Minister,’ the newspaper wrote in an editorial column, as it also accused her of copying Donald Trump’s stance.
‘Weak people often look for opportunities to show their “strength”,’ it said. ‘Perhaps Prime Minister May doesn’t know much about the Korean peninsula. Her comments sounded just like a rehashing of Washington’s rhetoric.
‘If the British Government genuinely wants to protect its business and investment interests in the region, it should speak and act cautiously... rather than pointing fingers and making irrelevant remarks.’
But an undeterred Mrs May last night doubled down on her demands, calling for
‘Global threat including Europe’
‘actions as well as words’ as Britain, America and Japan all urged China to sign up to oil sanctions against the rogue state.
Confronted by the criticism from Beijing, Mrs May said she was not deterred, adding: ‘We need to ensure it’s not just words of condemnation, but that action is taken. China does have a leverage in the region and we should be encouraging China to exercise that leverage.’
The Prime Minister and her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe both agreed to an increase in sanctions to bring North Korea to heel. A No 10 source said these could include implementing current sanctions more quickly, as well as looking at new areas to target.
It is understood China is resisting increasing sanctions to North Korean oil, on the back of a coal export slapped on the international pariah two weeks ago.
Following the North Korean missile test over Japan on Monday, Mr Abe said: ‘The threat is felt not only by our country or Asia alone, it has become a global threat including Europe.
‘North Korea will launch an inter-continental ballistic missile and the range would include almost the entire region of Europe.’ Mrs May added: ‘We are very clear that the actions of North Korea are illegal.
‘ I think they are significant actions of provocation. I think that it is outrageous, that is why we will be working with our international partners and re-doubling our efforts to put pressure on North Korea, to stop these illegal activities.’ The Prime Minister three times refused to say whether Britain could use its cyber capabilities to take on North Korea, as she repeatedly avoided questions about the prospect of future military action.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said the UK and its Nato allies must compete on the cyber battlefield. Britain has doubled its investment on defensive and offensive cyber warfare to £1.9 billion and set up a National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ.