Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday spoke with US President Donald Trump and agreed on the need for more action on North Korea just hours after the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Washington is “done talking about North Korea.”
Haley said in a statement that China must decide if it is willing to back imposing stronger UN sanctions on North Korea over Friday night’s long-range missile test.
Any new UN Security Council resolution “that does not significantly increase the international pressure on North Korea is of no value,” Haley said, adding that Japan and South Korea also needed to do more.
Abe told reporters after his conversation with Trump that repeated efforts by the international community to find a peaceful solution to the North Korean issue had yet to bear fruit in the face of Pyongyang’s unilateral “escalation.”
Abe and Trump did not discuss military action against North Korea, nor what would constitute the crossing of a “red line,” Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet spokesman Koichi Hagiuda told reporters.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the talk between Abe and Trump lasted for about 50 minutes.
“The role that China can play is extremely important,” he told a news conference.
After North Korea’s announcement of its missile test on Saturday, Trump said on Twitter that he was “very disappointed” in China and that Beijing profits from US trade, but had done “nothing” for the US with regards to North Korea, something he would not allow to continue.
Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming (錢克明) said there was no link between the North Korea issue and China-US trade.
“We think the North Korea nuclear issue and China-US trade are issues that are in two completely different domains,” Qian said.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said the North Korean nuclear issue did not arise because of China and that everyone needed to work together to seek a resolution.
“All parties should have a correct understanding of this,” it said, adding that the essence of Sino-US trade was mutually beneficial.
State-run Chinese tabloid the Global Times yesterday said in an editorial that Trump’s “wrong tweet” was of no help, and that he did not understand the issues.
“Pyongyang is determined to develop its nuclear and missile program and does not care about military threats from the US and South Korea. How could Chinese sanctions change the situation?” the paper said.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is on vacation, planned to have a telephone call with Trump soon, a senior official at the Presidential Blue House said.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that attempts by the US and others to shift responsibility for the situation onto China and Russia are baseless.
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