China condemnsTrump’s trade threat over N.Korea nuke crisis
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s threat to cut off trade with countries that deal with North Korea is unacceptable and unfair, China has said.
Mr Trump said on Twitter on Sunday the United States is considering halting trade with “any country doing business with North Korea”.
His remarks came after North Korea detonated what it claimed was a thermonuclear device in its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
Geng Shuang, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters at a briefing in Beijing yesterday that China regarded as “unacceptable a situation in which on the one hand we work to resolve this issue peacefully but on the other hand our own interests are subject to sanctions and jeopardised”.
Mr Geng said: “This is neither objective nor fair.”
China is the North’s closest ally and commercial partner.
Beijing’s comments come amid claims in South Korea of preparations in North Korea for a new missile launch. The projectile being prepared may be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), South Korean military sources said.
South Korea responded to the nuclear test with live-fire drills off its eastern coast yesterday that were meant to simulate an attack on the North’s main nuclear test site.
The leaders of South Korea and Japan have agreed to work together to build support for further sanctions against North Korea following its latest nuclear test.
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean president Moon Jae-in discussed the crisis by telephone yesterday, ahead of an emergency UN Security Council meeting in which members called for further sanctions against North Korea.
US ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korea’s relentless actions show that leader Kim Jong Un is “begging for war”, and the time has come for the council to adopt the strongest diplomatic measures.
Ms Haley said: “Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited.”
Kim Jong Un’s regime had claimed “perfect success” in the underground test.
US defence secretary Jim Mattis hit back, saying the US will answer any threat from the North with a “massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming”.
Mr Trump threatened to halt all trade with countries doing business with the North, a veiled warning to China, and faulted South Korea for its “talk of appeasement”.
The tough talk from America’s commander in chief and the retired general he picked to oversee the Pentagon came as the administration searched for a response to the escalating crisis.
Mr Trump, asked by a reporter during a trip to church if he would attack the North, said: “We’ll see.”
No US military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect so far.
North Korea’s accelerating push to field a nuclear weapon that can target all of the US is creating political complications for Washington as it seeks to reassure allies it will uphold its decades-long commitment to deter nuclear attack on South Korea and Japan.
That is why some questioned Mr Trump when he tweeted that Seoul is finding its “talk of appeasement” will not work.
He added the North Koreans “only understand one thing”, implying military force might be required.