WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump warned in an interview published on Sunday that the US is prepared to act unilaterally to deal with North Korea’s nuclear program if China proves unwilling to help.
“Well, if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you,†he said in an interview.
Trump’s comments come ahead of his meeting on Thursday and Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Tensions have risen sharply as North Korea has stepped up ballistic missile tests and amid boasts by leader Kim Jong-un that his country was in the final stages of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile.
US-based analysts have warned that North Korea appears to be preparing a new nuclear test. It has staged five nuclear tests so far, two last year.
“China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won’t,†Trump told the Financial Times. “If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don’t, it won t be good for anyone.â€
In a separate interview, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the United States is looking to China to take action against North Korea.
“The only country that can stop North Korea is China and they know that,†Haley told ABC’s ‘This Week’ in an interview broadcast on Sunday. “We’re going to continue to put pressure on China to have action.†The Mar-a-Lago meeting will be the two leaders’ first face-to-face encounter.
