Over the weekend, when discussing the latest provocative comments by North Korea’s state media following Mike Pompeo’s fruitless visit to Tokyo to push for further denuclearization by Pyongyang, and which Kim envoys slammed saying the country’s “resolve for denuclearization” may falter, we said that “Trump’s denuclearization plan will have to wait even as the risk that all progress achieved so far in bilateral negotiations collapses.”
Why? Because recall that China was the real puppetmaster behind the Trump-Kim summit… and suddenly Beijing is not very happy with Trump (for obvious reasons), which means that China’s response to Trump’s trade war may emerge in the realm of diplomacy as Xi does everything he can to undo any/all progress achieved in talks between Trump and Kim, potentially sending relations between the US and North Korea back to square one.
We followed this up with a tweet saying that ” China was the real puppetmaster behind the Trump-Kim summit, and now China is not very happy with Trump”
remember: China was the real puppetmaster behind the Trump-Kim summit, and now China is not very happy with Trump
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 7, 2018
Now Trump himself is starting to realize that the culprit behind North Korea’s newly belligerent attitude may be none other than China’s president Xi himself, and in a quote said “I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea. China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade-Hope Not!“
I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea. China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade-Hope Not!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2018
Of course, while there is no way to certify that China is indeed the catalyst behind N.Korea’s sudden mood change, if Trump indeed is convinced that Beijing is pulling the strings, it is only a matter of time before he escalates significantly the trade war with Beijing, lobbing even more Tariffs China’s way, as now he realizes that China’s response is not merely economic but also diplomatic, and for Trump, denuclearizing North Korea remains the his crowning foreign policy achievement.
Certainly, the hanging “hope not” at the end of Trump’s tweet makes it all too clear that China will be targeted further if North Korea remains steadfast in rebuffing Trump’s demands.
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