President Donald Trump said Tuesday that China has tried and failed to rein in North Korea, stating that things have “not worked out” the way he had expected, but China strongly disagrees.
The Trump administration has made Beijing a essential cornerstone for its North Korea strategy, pushing China to pressure the North Korean regime to change course, but China’s efforts have not produced the desired results.
I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will! U.S.A.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2017
While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2017
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) argued Wednesday that China’s role in resolving the current crisis in Korea is indispensable. “The Chinese side has been playing an important and constructive role in resolving the nuclear issue on the peninsula from start to end. To sum up, China’s contributions are obvious, and China’s role is indispensable,” MOFA spokesman Geng Shuang explained.
“The cause and crux of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is not China,” he added, repeating a standard line of the Chinese government. China proposes a solution that calls for denuclearization in North Korea and the suspension of joint military drills involving American and South Korean troops. The foreign ministry’s response suggests that Washington and Beijing are not seeing eye-to-eye on this particular issue.
Around 90 percent of all North Korean trade is linked to China, giving Beijing a certain degree of leverage over its neighbor, but China believes that too much pressure could lead to costly instability.
China clamped down on certain North Korean exports, suspending North Korean coal shipments. China has also helped to implement sanctions against certain North Korean entities and pressed Pyongyang not to test another nuclear weapon, but Beijing has also demonstrated a certain degree of resistance, failing to put maximum pressure on the regime. The president acknowledges that Beijing tried, but he suggests that more needs to be done.
Trump’s tweet followed the death of an Otto Warmbier, an American student released from North Korea in a coma last week. Since the president took office, North Korea has launched over a dozen missiles, testing multiple new systems and threatening that an intercontinental ballistic missile test may be coming soon.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis recently called North Korea the “most urgent and dangerous” threat to international peace, security, and stability.
Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host Chinese leaders, Chinese foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi and People’s Liberation Army General Fang Fenghui at the State Department Wednesday, where discussions regarding North Korea will take “top billing,” according to Susan Thornton, acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
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