Washington:
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that North Korea is looking for trouble. Trump asserted that America will solve the North Korean “problem” unilaterally even if China does not help.
“North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them!?USA,” Trump tweeted, toughening his stance on North Korea.
In another tweet, Trump also gave an insight into his talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, whom he met last week at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
“I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the US will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!” Trump wrote in an earlier tweet.
The US last week sent a naval strike group to the region in a show of force against Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
Also read: China urges US, N Korea to avoid 'head-on collision' amid rising tensions
China is North Korea’s sole major ally and economic lifeline.
The tweet indicated that the meeting might not have been as successful as is being claimed by senior White House officials.
“I think we had an unbelievably helpful and productive meeting with the Chinese, the White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer had told reporters at his daily news conference yesterday.
Trump’s tweets on North Korea came as Pyongyang said it is ready for war with the US.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the behavior of North Korea with respect to the missile launches was not tolerable.
“He (US President Donald Trump) has made it clear with respect to North Korea, that their behaviour and their actions with respect to the missile launches, that it’s not tolerable,” Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference.
Also read: UNSC to meet on N Korea missile launches
“The last thing we want to see is a nuclear North Korea that threatens the coast of the United States or, for that matter, you know, any other country and any other set of human beings. So we need stability in that region and I think he has put them clearly on notice,” Spicer said in response to a question.
“I think he has been very clear that he will not tolerate some of those actions by North Korea. But the President is not one who’s going to go out there and telegraph his response,” Spicer said.
The President keeps all options on the table and he keeps his cards close to the vest, he said
As he showed last week with respect to Syria, when the President is willing to act, it is going to be decisive and proportional to make it very clear what the position of the United States is, Spicer said.
Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies in Washington, said that there might be another provocative behaviour from North Korea.
“April 15th is Grandpa Kim Il Sung 105th birth anniversary; April 25th is Korean Peoples Army’s 85th founding anniversary. So North Korea likes to test and blast during this month, he said.
However he said Trump and Xi managed to set a constructive tone to their relationship.
This, he said, will be necessary because the issues that divide China and the US are deep-seated.
“But in no way did the meeting signal a ‘G2 approach’ to managing regional issues, much less multilateral issues,” he said.
“In no way either did Trump signal that he would work over the heads of his allies in Asia to secure favourable outcomes for the US, although there is some consternation in Seoul over the relative paucity of consultation over North Korea policy,” Gupta said.
