Recent reports indicate Chinese officials have decided to suspend flights to Pyongyang, North Korea's capital temporarily.
Citing weak sales as the reason, experts believe it may be more than coincidence that china has decided to close a major travel route to North Korea amid talks with the US.
Trump has called on China to handle America's North Korea problem
Recently, President Trump has called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to "handle" an ever-mounting nuclear weapons threat from Kim Jong-un's regime- claiming that if he doesn't, "America will."
North Korea has been building nuclear weapons with the intentions of targeting the US
To recap, Kim Jong-un's regime has been illegally developing its nuclear weapons armory despite repeated orders from the US and the United Nations to stop.
China, the country of 25 million's only real ally, has been in the middle of this issue since North Korea announced that its target for the first missile would be the United States. Earlier talks between the Chinese president and Trump were not very fruitful, but America has since said that Xi has proven to play a significant role in cultivating a better relationship between the countries. This has led many, including Trump, to believe that China may actually be able to talk down Kim Jong-un before he attempts to engage the West.
China has not yet taken a hard stance against North Korea
Actions were taken by China thus far, however, have not shown that the country has had much of a vested interest in the far-reaching problem America now faces with the 33-year-old Korean ruler.
In a recent statement, Chinese officials mentioned that if Kim Jong-un launches a nuclear weapons test anytime in the near future, China will significantly cut down on the amount of oil it provides the country. American officials don't feel this is necessarily a "hard line," given the severity of the situation.
US military forces are gearing up for a potential strike
In anticipation of a possible North Korean attack, US intelligence officials claim the military has situated ships outfitted with long-range heavy artillery about 300 miles outside of the alleged nuclear weapons test site, and several bombers are allegedly on standby in Guam, ready to attack the country on command.
With the suspension of Air China flights to North Korea, China may be progressing to more substantial efforts to nix Kim Jong-un's plans. Analysts claim that since trade sanctions were placed against North Korea by the United Nations, President Xi's China has been one of the only countries financially supporting the communist regime. By cutting off funding from the airline market, even temporarily, China could be signaling more serious actions to come.
