China raises pressure on N. Korea
Calls on Pyongyang to halt missile tests
MANILA, Philippines — A global pressure campaign on North Korea propelled by sharp new U.N. sanctions received a welcome boost Sunday from China, the North’s economic lifeline, as Beijing called on its neighbor to halt its missile and nuclear tests.
The Trump administration cautiously embraced China’s apparent newfound cooperation — which suggested that the American push to further isolate the regime of Kim Jong Un is reaping some dividends — while putting it on notice that the U.S. would be watching closely to ensure it didn’t ease up on North Korea if and when the world’s attention is diverted elsewhere. But there were no signs the U.S. would acquiesce to China’s call for a quick return to negotiations.
The diplomatic wrangling sought to build on the sweeping new North Korea sanctions passed by the U.N. Security Council a day earlier — the strongest in a generation, the U.S. said. As diplomats gathered in the Philippines for an annual regional meeting, President Donald Trump was cheering the move. He cited the “very big financial impact” of the sanctions and noted optimistically that both China and Russia had joined in the unanimous vote. On Sunday, following a late-night conversation
with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Mr. Trump tweeted: “Just completed call with President Moon of South Korea. Very happy and impressed with 15-0 United Nations vote on North Korea sanctions.”
In characteristically understated fashion, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, “It was a good outcome.”
For the U.S., it was a long-awaited sign of progress for Mr. Trump’s strategy of trying to enlist Beijing’s help to squeeze North Korea diplomatically and economically. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, meeting with North Korea’s top diplomat during the gathering in Manila, urged the North to “maintain calm” despite the U.N. vote.
“Do not violate the U.N.’s decision or provoke international society’s goodwill by conducting missile launching or nuclear tests,” Mr. Wang said, in an unusuallydirect admonition.
But Mr. Wang also called on the United States to dial backthe tension.
Mr. Tillerson did not meet with North Korea’s envoy,Ri Yong Ho.
Though Beijing repeated its call for the United States and North Korea to resume talks, the U.S. said that was still premature, and rejected yet again a Chinese call for the U.S. to freeze joint military exercises with South Korea in exchange for the North halting nuclear development. Pyongyang views the military exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.
The U.S. also warned it planned to rigorously monitor China’s compliance with the new penalties. Susan Thornton, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia, said Beijinghad historically cooperated with sanctions after flagrant North Korean violations but then slipped backover time.
“We want to make sure China is continuing to implement fully the sanctions regime,” Ms. Thornton told reportersin Manila.
Infusing the diplomatic gathering with dramatic intrigue was the presence of Mr. Ri, the odd man out at a meeting dominated by concerns about his nation’s nuclear proliferation. Indeed, the U.S. was floating a proposal to temporarily kick North Korea out of the 27member Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum, although other member nations are dividedabout that idea.
The new sanctions could cut off roughly one-third of North Korea’s estimated $3 billion in annual exports, ostensibly denying the nation of funds for its weapons programs. All countries are now banned from importing North Korean coal, iron, lead and seafood products, and from letting in more North Korean laborers whose remittances help fund Mr. Kim’s regime.
The U.S. drafted the sanctions resolution and negotiated it with China following North Korea’s unprecedented test of an ICBM in July and a followup test weeks later. Those tests sharply escalated U.S. fears that Pyongyang is a key step closer to mastering the technology needed to strike American soil with a nuclear-tipped missile.
China joined the 15-0 vote in the Security Council on thenew sanctions.
“Who has been carrying out the U.N. Security Council resolutions concerning North Korea? It is China,” Mr. Wang, the Chinese foreign minister, said Sunday. “Who bore the cost? It is also China.”