CHINA/FOREIGN POLICY/MIKE PENCE/NORTH KOREA: “Trump administration officials urged China and other nations to band together to confront North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic-missile ambitions, with Vice President Mike Pence declaring ‘all options are on the table’ to rein in Pyongyang.
‘The continued provocations by the rogue regime in North Korea are unacceptable and the United States of America is going to continue to marshal the support of nations across the region and across the world to further isolate North Korea economically and diplomatically,’ Mr. Pence told reporters traveling with him in Estonia on Sunday [7-30-17], two days after North Korea’s second intercontinental ballistic-missile test. ‘We believe China should do more.’
Speaking at a trade briefing on Monday, China’s vice minister of commerce, Qian Keming, said the U.S. and China should separate issues over trade from those over North Korea’s missile test, adding that Beijing is willing to work with the U.S. to boost bilateral trade.
Mr. Qian didn’t directly address North Korea’s latest missile test, but said China remains committed to ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons.”
-Peter Nicholas and Felicia Schwartz, “U.S. Presses China on North Korea Threat,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 30, 2017 11:25pm