Since the assumption of office, US President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and high-ranking administration officials are yet to make any meaningful progress with china in dealing with North Korea’s ever advancing nuclear weapons program.
According to CNN, on Tuesday, Trump tweeted that Chinese efforts in curbing North Korea have not yielded any result, yet, he praised China for the commitment.
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
Trump's remarks on China
In a tweet Trump said while he thanks and appreciates President Xi and China’s commitments to help with North Korea, its efforts has not paid off, though, China tried, the President wrote.
The President tweeted hours before the scheduled meeting of the US and Chinese officials in Washington to deliberate on North Korea. Trump administration officials scrambled to figure out what exactly the President meant.
An administration official told reporters that they did not understand what the President was referencing.
Another official warned against misinterpreting the message, saying no meeting was held earlier that day the could have resulted in the statement, or that the comment could mean some sort of unilateral measures against Pyongyang.
Main topic for discussion
Sources said the death of an American college student Otto Warmbier, who died a few days ago after spending 17 months in North Korea’s detention would top the agenda in Wednesday’s meeting between the United States and Chinese officials.
Warmbier’s family said their son was tortured into a vegetative state by the brutal regime of Kim Jung Un. President Trump has condemned North Korea and described the regime as “brutal”. The President lamented the death of a young and enthusiastic man “in the prime of life.”
Unilateral action should China fail
Trump has repeatedly sounded his willingness to work with Beijing on North Korea, but said his administration was willing to unilaterally solve the problem alone.
The US President said he was confident that China will prevail on Pyongyang, but if they were unable to do so the United States and its allies and partners will - Trump tweeted in April.
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
The political analyst says the tweet by Trump could signal his readiness to press hard on China or send a strong message to Beijing that the US feels that they are not presenting a tough stance because of their strong trade and ties with Pyongyang. Senior administration officials said the US aim to employ trade as a bargaining chip with China.
