[AP/Yonhap News Photo]
Incoming US President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state strongly criticized China for making "empty promises" to put pressure on North Korea, and vowed to consider "actions" to get Beijing to fully enforce sanctions on Pyongyang.
The remark, made by Rex Tillerson during his Senate confirmation hearing, is in line with Trump's repeated criticism of China for not helping the US with the North, and suggests the incoming administration intends to ramp up pressure on Beijing.
"We cannot continue to accept empty promises like the ones China has made to pressure North Korea to reform, only to shy away from enforcement. Looking the other way when trust is broken only encourages more bad behavior. And it must end," Tillerson planned to say in a statement.
It was the first time Tillerson has publicly mentioned North Korea since his nomination last month. Tillerson said that "adversaries like Iran and North Korea pose grave threats to the world" but that China "has not been a reliable partner in using its full influence to curb" the North.
Asked if he is willing to impose "secondary sanctions" on Chinese firms doing business with the North, Tillerson said, "If China is not going to comply with those UN sanctions, then it's appropriate for the United States to consider actions to compel them to comply."
China is North Korea's last-remaining major ally and a key provider of food and fuel supplies. But it has been reluctant to use its influence over Pyongyang for fears that pushing the regime too hard could result in instability in the North and hurt Chinese national interests.
Beijing often increased pressure on the North in the past, especially when Pyongyang defied international appeals and carried out nuclear and missile tests and other provocative acts, but it never went as far as to cause real pain to the North.
Tillerson blamed the insufficient enforcement of sanctions as a main problem in dealing with the North. "I think a lot of our troubles today are that we do not enforce. We make commitment. We say we are going to do something and then we don't enforce it. And that is again a mixed message that I think has been sent in the case of North Korea and our expectations of China," Tillerson said.
"I think we have to be clear-eyed as to how far China will go, and not get overly optimistic as to how far they'll go. That's why ultimately it's going to require a new approach with China in order for China to understand our expectations of them, going beyond certainly what they have in the past, which has fallen short," he said.
Tillerson also pointed out that 90 percent of the North's trade with China. "To the extent that there are specific violations of the sanctions, such as the purchase of coal, which is specifically mentioned in the UN sanctions most recently, if there are gaps of enforcement, they have to be enforced," he said.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
