Trump, Chin's Xi talk N. Korea; tactics differ
U.S. wants crippling sanctions; Beijing counsels dialogue.
President Donald Trump discussed North Korea’s strongest nuclear test yet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday as the U.S. proposed crippling new sanctions and world leaders tussled over whether pressure or dialogue was the best way to rein in the rogue nation.
The White House stressed the U.S. and Chinese leaders’ joint commitment to ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. But dif- ferences were clear on how best to reach that goal. China’s state news agency
said Xi expressed China’s adamant position about “resolving the nuclear issue through talks.” But Trump projected an entirely differ- ent message in a phone call a day earlier with British Prime Minister Theresa May, declar-
ing “now is not the time to talk to North Korea.”
The conversations were part of a flurry of calls Trump has made to world leaders after North Korea’s test explosion last weekend of what it called a hydrogen bomb.
While Washington needs backing from allies, coop- eration with traditional adversaries China and Russia is more significant. Both are economic partners of North Korea and veto-wield-
ing permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and Trump needs them to put the squeeze on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
On Wednesday, the U.S. circulated a draft Security Council resolution that would ban all oil and nat- ural gas exports to North Korea, potentially devastat- ing its economy. The measure also would freeze all of the North’s and Kim’s foreign financial assets, and outlaw North Korean textiles exports. In addition, countries would be prevented from hiring and paying North Korean workers.
But Beijing and Moscow’s support for such tough action was doubtful. As Trump looked to increase the pres- sure — telling reporters who asked if he was considering military action against North Korea that “Certainly that’s not our first choice, but we will see what happens” — Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed in the opposite direction, warning against cornering Pyongyang.
The North’s nuclear test “flagrantly violates” inter- national law, Putin said, but he urged talks and not more sanctions after meeting with the president of South Korea in Russia on Wednesday. “As never before, everyone should show restraint and refrain from steps leading to escalation and tensions.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s military, diplomacy and intelligence chiefs briefed Congress on the North Korean threat and U.S. strategy. Democrats accused the administration of sending confusing signals.
“The message changes from day to day and for myself, I’m not quite sure what the policy is,” Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said, adding that he learned nothing from the closeddoors briefing by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he hadn’t already read in newspapers.
“There is an unbelievable disconnect between the people in that room and their boss,” said Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, another Democrat. “And that freaks the hell out of me.”
China adamant on talks as way to address crisis.