Chinese ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, has asked the Trump administration to stop threatening North Korea over its weapons program and asked it to make efforts to help resume dialog over the crisis. Tiankai also said that Washington should immediately stop putting pressure on Beijing over the issue.
To a question related the US demands to cut off oil exports to North Korea, the diplomat said that it was American leaders who needed to tone down their rhetoric and added that Beijing will implement all UNSC resolutions.
“They should refrain from issuing more threats. They should do more to find effective ways to resume dialogue and negotiation. Honestly, I think the United States should be doing ... much more than now, so that there’s real effective international cooperation on this issue,” he said.
The reaction came in the wake of US President Donald Trump and his top national security advisers saying that there were military options available for dealing with the North Korea crisis which were both ‘effective and overwhelming’.
Trump also declared that the military options were robust should they be required to respond to threats from Pyongyang.
"After seeing your capabilities and commitment here today, I am more confident than ever that our options in addressing this threat are both effective and overwhelming. America and our allies will never be intimidated... We will defend our people, our nations, and our civilization, from all who dare to threaten our way of life. This includes the regime of North Korea, which has one again shown its utter contempt for its neighbours, and the entire world community," Trump added.
Trump's remarks came after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido earlier on Friday, the latest in a stream of missile tests that have looked to defy the international community. The launch is the second to flyover Japan in less than a month, and the first since North Korea's sixth nuclear test and new UN sanctions on the country.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un announced on Saturday that his country was seeking to reach “equilibrium” of military force with the US, shortly after the UN Security Council (UNSC) censured Pyongyang’s latest missile launch over Japan.
