Trump Threatens “Bigger Than Ever” War Games If Korea Talks Fail; Blames China
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Thu, 08/30/2018
President Donald Trump threatened that he could begin joint military exercises with South Korea and Japan that will be “far bigger than ever” if progress stalls on North Korea nuclear talks. Trump also blamed Beijing for the lack of progress on North Korea’s denuclearization, saying China has put North Korea “under tremendous pressure” in response to the trade war Trump between the two nations.
The president issued the warning in a series of tweets on Wednesday afternoon which he described as a White House statement, after complaining that China was hindering the negotiations due to trade disputes with the U.S.
The White House statement, said that the US President “feels strongly” that Pyongyang has been a subject of “tremendous pressure from China because of our major trade disputes with the Chinese Government” and went on to allege that Beijing continues to provide various types of assistance to the North, including “money, fuel, fertilizer and various other commodities.”thus effectively undermining the US policy of “maximum pressure.”
The White House statement asserted that China is providing Pyongyang with “considerable aid, including money, fuel, fertilizer and various other commodities.”
Despite the White House’s failure to reach progress in implementing the loosely worded agreement between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump, reached at the bilateral summit in June, the statement stresses that Trump believes his relationship with Kim is a “very good and warm one, and there is no reason at this time to be spending large amounts of money on joint US-South Korea war games.”
The statement notes that should the need arise “the President can instantly start the joint exercises again,” both with South Korea and Washington’s other top regional ally, Japan. As with many things Trump, the restarted wargames would be “far bigger than ever before,” the US president warned.
After effectively accusing the Chinese government of foul play on the Korean peninsula, the statement then concludes by saying the bitter trade dispute between the US and China “will be resolved in time” by Trump and “China’s great President Xi Jinping.”
The Rest…HERE
