China answers Trump’s tweets
Beijing frustrated by notion it can stop North Korea
BEIJING — China hit back Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted he was “very disappointed” in China following North Korea’s latest missile test, saying the problem did not arise in China and that all sides need to work for a solution.
China has become increasingly frustrated with American and Japanese criticism that it should do more to rein in Pyongyang. China is North Korea’s closest ally, but Beijing, too, is angry with its continued nuclear and missile tests.
North Korea said Saturday it had conducted another successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that proved its ability to strike the U.S. mainland, drawing a sharp warning from Trump and a rebuke from China.
Video of the latest missile test appears to show it breaking up before landing, indicating Pyongyang might not yet have mastered re-entry technology needed for an operational nuclear-tipped missile, a think tank reported Monday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke with Trump on Monday and agreed on the need for more action on North Korea just hours after the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Washington is “done talking about North Korea.”
A White House statement after the phone call said the two leaders “agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other countries near and far.”
Trump tweeted Saturday after the missile test that he was “very disappointed” in China and that Beijing profits from U.S. trade but had done “nothing” for the United States with regard to North Korea, something he would not allow to continue.
China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement sent to Reuters responding to Trump’s earlier tweets, said the North Korean nuclear issue did not arise because of China and that everyone needed to work together to seek a resolution.
Russia said Monday the United States and other countries were trying “to shift responsibility for the situation to Russia and China” following the most recent missile test.
“We view as groundless attempts undertaken by the U.S. and a number of other countries to shift responsibility to Russia and China, almost blaming Moscow and Beijing for indulging the missile and nuclear ambitions of the DPRK (North Korea),” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
China’s U.N. ambassador said on Monday it is primarily up to the United States and North Korea, not Beijing, to reduce tensions and work toward resuming talks to end Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon and missile programs.