China warns Trump over North Korea: ‘Don’t stab us in the back’
China has hit back at Donald Trump over North Korea, with a top official blaming Washington and Pyongyang for raising tensions, while state media warned the US not to “stab China in the back”.
The US president said in two angry tweets at the weekend that he was “very disappointed” with China and that he would no longer allow Beijing to “do nothing” over North Korea.
Mr Trump has long believed that China holds the key to forcing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme, given that Beijing is Pyongyang’s only diplomatic backer and a key trading partner.
I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
...they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
But Liu Jieyi, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, said: "No matter how capable China is, China's efforts will not yield practical results because it depends on the two principal parties.
"They (the United States and North Korea) hold the primary responsibility to keep things moving, to start moving in the right direction, not China," he told a news conference at the end of China's month-long presidency of the Security Council.
How how much of a nuclear risk does North Korea pose in 2017?
Mr Trump’s furious comments came after North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in defiance of United Nations sanctions on Friday.
Nikki Haley, Washington’s ambassador to the UN, said on Sunday that the US was "done talking about North Korea" and that it was time for China to act.
Meanwhile, Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State said: “China and Russia bear unique and special responsibility for this growing threat to regional and global stability.”
China’s official state news agency, Xinhua, also waded into the row with a commentary which poked fun at the US President for his use of Twitter.
“Trump is something of a character, and he enjoys tweeting,” the commentary said. “But an emotional response cannot be the guiding policy to solve the Korean peninsula’s nuclear issue.”
“In order to solve the nuclear issue on the peninsula, relevant parties should use practical action and show sincerity, stop shirking responsibility, and especially should not stab China in the back.”