Beijing is putting pressure on North Korea, says Trump

Washington: Donald Trump thinks Chinese President Xi Jinping is “putting pressure” on North Korea, the US President said in an interview to air on Sunday, as tensions mount over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes.

If North Korea carries out a nuclear test “I would not be happy,” Mr Trump told the CBS television network’s Face the Nation programme.

“And I can tell you also, I don’t believe that the President of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either,” Mr Trump said in excerpts of the interview released on Saturday. Asked if “not happy” signified “military action,” Mr Trump answered, “I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see.”

North Korea test-fired a missile over the weekend in apparent defiance of a concerted US push for tougher international sanctions to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

The latest launch, which South Korea said was a failure, came just hours after US secretary of state Rex Tillerson warned the UN Security Council of “catastrophic consequences” if the international community — most notably China — failed to pressure the North into abandoning its weapons programme. Mr Trump assailed the failed launch as a show of disrespect towards its ally China.