The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
UK and China agree to keep up the pressure
May and Xi say sanctions key to halting nuclear weapons programme
China and Britain have agreed to continue to ramp up pressure on North Korea over its nuclear weapons testing, Downing Street has said.
In a telephone call, Theresa May and Chinese president Xi Jinping said the two nations have a “particular responsibility” to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
International tensions over the rogue state’s missile testing escalated further as leader Kim Jong Un warned Donald Trump he would “pay dearly” after the US President threatened the total destruction of North Korea.
Yesterday North Korea’s top diplomat said President Trump’s tweet that leader Kim Jong Un “won’t be around much longer” was a declaration of war against his country by the United States.
Foreign minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters that Mr Trump’s statement gives North Korea “every right” under the UN Charter to take counter-measures, “including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers even though they’re not yet inside the airspace border of our country”.
The Prime Minister and President Xi agreed the situation in North Korea was deeply troubling and that the missile tests were a flagrant violation of international commitments, No 10 said.
A spokesman added: “They agreed the latest sanctions were a powerful sign of the international community’s unity in opposing North Korea’s illegal tests and that strict implementation and enforcement of the sanctions was vital.”