Tabnak - As the presidents of China and the US are becoming ready for their first official meeting, Donald Trump’s recent positions on North Korea and the possibility of a unilateral action against Pyongyang have once again created a potential for tensions between Washington and Beijing.
US President Donald Trump has warned that the US will take unilateral action to eliminate the nuclear threat from North Korea unless China increases pressure on the regime in Pyongyang.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the US president said he would discuss the growing threat from Kim Jong Un’s nuclear program with Xi Jinping when he hosts the Chinese president at his Florida resort this week, in their first meeting.
"China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won’t,” Trump said in the Oval Office. "If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don’t, it won’t be good for anyone.” But he made clear that he would deal with North Korea with or without China’s help.
The assertion comes just four days ahead of Trump's first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a two-day summit at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida — and amid a series of ballistic missile tests from North Korea. On March 22, the country attempted its third rocket launch since Trump's inauguration. The missile exploded seconds after launch.
On Friday, Defense Secretary James Mattis said North Korea was acting "in a very reckless manner," and during his first visit to Asia last month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that the United States' "policy of strategic patience" was over.
In a separate report, CNN notes that China didn't respond to Trump's comments to the FT Monday, but issued a statement saying that Tillerson had phoned the country's top diplomat, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, about Xi's visit.
According to the statement, Yang said the meeting was of "utmost importance in China-US relations" and was important for "promoting peace, stability and prosperity... for the whole world."
In the same vein, China’s state news agency Xinhua wrote that senior Chinese and US officials agreed on Sunday that the upcoming meeting between Xi and Trump matters greatly to the development of China-US relations. The report also quoted Yang as saying that China hopes that the two sides will meet each other halfway and continue making joint efforts to ensure the meeting a success.
It should be noted that Trump has repeatedly said he would take aggressive action against China to reduce the US trade deficit with the country. But if the talks with Xi don't produce Trump's desired result of getting Beijing to solve the North Korean nuclear problem, Trump said the US would take action.
All in all, it seems that difficult discussions is ahead when the two presidents meet each other this week, with the North Korean problem and issues related to trade at the top of the agenda of the meeting. It will be however a critical meeting as it could greatly determine the future of relations between two world great powers, at least for the next four years.
