US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to challenge China to do more to rein in its nuclear-armed neighbor and ally North Korea during his visit to Beijing this weekend, his first since taking office.
Tillerson arrived in the Chinese capital Saturday after issuing the administration’s bluntest warning yet to North Korea, saying that no option was off the table — including military action.
He was speaking Friday in South Korea on the second stop of his first Asian visit, which also included Japan. The tour comes amid flaring tensions on the Korean peninsula following recent North Korea missile launches and fears it’s preparing for another nuclear test.
In Beijing, he will meet with his Chinese counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi and is due to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping on Sunday. He’s expected to raise the prospect of financial penalties on companies and banks that do business in North Korea.
“The Trump administration is banking that threats of US military action in South Korea and tougher sanctions on Chinese entities will intimidate Beijing into changing its policies,” said Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
US President Donald Trump on Friday denounced North Korea and singled out China, tweeting, “North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years. China has done little to help!”
Beijing is North Korea’s only real ally and its main economic benefactor, accounting for 70% of the country’s trade.
Beijing irked
Beijing, however, has been irked by calls that it isn’t doing enough to lessen tensions in the region.
“Washington and Seoul are trying to shift all the burden of solving the North Korean nuclear issue onto China and include China into their strategy toward Pyongyang,” said an unbylined opinion piece in the Global Times, a state-run tabloid.
“But that way, China and North Korea will become enemies, further complicating the conflict. The North Korean nuclear issue is caused by Washington-Pyongyang confrontation, to which China has no obligation to shoulder all the responsibilities.”
A senior Chinese official told CNN Thursday that Beijing plans to present its own plan to Tillerson during his visit, but Tillerson has dismissed the proposal that the US should drop joint military exercises with South Korea as a show of good faith to Pyongyang.
He said Friday that Washington did “not believe that conditions are right to engage in any talks at this time.”
“Conditions must change before there are any scope for talks to resume, whether they are five party or six party,” he said.
Tillerson also called on China to give up its opposition to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, or act to “address the threat that makes THAAD necessary.”
The missile defense system, which the US and South Korea believe is necessary to protect against the North Korean missile threat, is in the process of being deployed in South Korea
He also urged Beijing to drop any retaliatory action against South Korea, amid allegations businesses and the tourism industry is being punished for Seoul’s stance on the issue.
Summit preparations
Tillerson is also in Beijing to iron out the details of a tentative Florida summit scheduled in April between Trump and China’s President.
It would be the first meeting between the two men, in what many argue is the most important bilateral relationship in the world.
Despite fiery rhetoric on the campaign trail and prior to his inauguration, Trump and his administration have taken a relatively hands off approach to China so far. Tillerson’s visit has the potential to set the tone for the relationship.
Trump has not followed through on campaign threats to label China a currency manipulator or impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports. He also endorsed the “One China” policy, which has governed relations between the US, China and Taiwan for decades, after questioning its legitimacy shortly after his election.
Tillerson also will likely raise Beijing’s build-up in the South China Sea. At his confirmation hearing, Tillerson suggested Beijing should be denied access to the artificial islands it’s built in the disputed waters.