US President Donald Trump has accused China of doing "too little" to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions, hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry said a military option was not out of the question.
"North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been "tricking" the United States for years. China has done little to help! " said Trump in a tweet.
A few days after Pyongyang presented a ballistic missile test as an exercise aimed at US bases in Japan, US diplomat Rex Tillerson, who is touring Asia, said the so-called "strategic patience" policy was over.
"We will explore a new range of diplomatic, economic and security measures. "All options are on the table," he said.
Tillerson is expected today in China, Pyongyang's main diplomatic ally and trading partner, where he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Beijing, like Washington, is concerned about its neighbor's nuclear program, but says the United States has played a role in escalating tensions.
The situation is complicated by the deployment of the US Thaad missile shield in South Korea. Seoul, like Washington, says its aspirations are purely defensive, but Beijing says Thaad's missile system and powerful radar could reduce the effectiveness of its own missile systems.
Source: newsbeast.gr