May and Trump tell China ‘use leverage on N Korea’
PM in talks with Trump on economic pressure
PRIME MINISTER Theresa May and US president Donald Trump have urged China to use all its influence to ensure North Korea ends its “illegal acts” as the crisis over the rogue state’s latest nuclear test continued to dominate international affairs.
With international tensions heightened following North Korea’s underground nuclear test on Sunday, Mrs May and Mr Trump discussed the situation by telephone yesterday and agreed to put more economic pressure on the Kim Jong-un regime.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and the president agreed on the key role which China has to play, and that it was important they used all the leverage they had to ensure North Korea stopped conducting these illegal acts so that we could ensure the security and safety of nations in the region.
“Mrs May said Britain would work with the US and international partners to continue to exert economic pressure on North Korea through further measures including sanctions.
“The Prime Minister noted the importance of the UN Security Council continuing to present a strong and unified international voice by reaching swift agreement on new measures.
“The Prime Minister said she would also work with EU leaders on further measures the EU could take to pressure the North Korean regime.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin has meanwhile called for talks with North Korea and warned against “military hysteria”.
FOREIGN SECRETARY Boris Johnson told MPs that China needs to try and end the “grave crisis” brought about by North Korea’s nuclear tests, as Downing Street stressed Britain’s “overwhelming” preference for a peaceful diplomatic resolution.
Talks were held yesterday between Prime Minister Theresa May and US president Donald Trump in which they agreed China has a key role to play in ramping up the economic pressure on Pyongyang – and Mr Johnson backed the emerging power of China to influence the situation.
The Foreign Secretary said: “China, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korea’s overseas trade, has a unique ability to influence the regime and the House can take heart from the fact that Beijing voted in favour of the latest sanctions resolution and condemned Pyongyang’s actions in the most unsparing terms.
“I call on China to use all of its leverage to ensure a peaceful settlement of this grave crisis.”
Mr Johnson said Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test was a matter of global concern.
“At noon on Sunday, local time, North Korea tested the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated in the history of the regime’s quest for an illegal arsenal.
“The regime claimed to have exploded a hydrogen bomb capable of being delivered on an intercontinental ballistic missile.
“We should treat that claim with scepticism, but the House must be under no illusion that this latest test marks another perilous advance in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.”
Commending the “dignity and restraint” shown by South Korea and Japan despite both countries being “in the firing line of Pyongyang’s reckless ambitions”, the Foreign Secretary said there had been a “steady drumbeat of provocative and dangerous actions by Kim Jong-un’s regime”.
Criticising North Korea’s “brazen defiance” of the rest of the world, Mr Johnson said: “Just as North Korea has pursued nuclear weapons with single-minded determination, so the international community must show the same resolve in our pursuit of a diplomatic solution.”
Mr Johnson’s comments came after North Korea’s ambassador in London, Choe Il, was summoned to the Foreign Office for a dressing down from Asia minister Mark Field, while Mrs May told a meeting of the Cabinet that North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes represent a “threat to the whole of the international community”.
After Mr Johnson’s speech in the Commons, Shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry, told her opposite number and his colleagues to remain “calm and judicious” and to discount all military solutions, and that Britain should not “swear blind loyalty” to Mr Trump.
In a tweet, Mr Trump said: “I am allowing Japan and South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States.”