by WorldTribune Staff, April 28, 2017

China has warned that it would impose unilateral sanctions on North Korea if the Kim Jong-Un regime conducts any more nuclear tests, according to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Tillerson made the comments on April 27, a day before he was to chair a meeting with UN Security Council foreign ministers in which he said he would stress the need for members to fully implement existing sanctions as well as possible next steps.

China, the only major ally of North Korea, has hinted it has become increasingly uncomfortable in recent months about Pyongyang’s further pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles in violation of UN resolutions.

“We oppose any behavior that goes against Security Council resolutions. I think this position is very clear,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. This is what we have told the United States. I think North Korea is also very clear about this position.

The United States is sending the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group to waters off the Korean peninsula, where it will join the USS Michigan, a nuclear submarine that docked in South Korea on April 25. South Korea’s navy has said it will hold drills with the U.S. strike group.

Admiral Harry Harris, the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, said on April 26 that the USS Carl Vinson was in the Philippine Sea, within two hours’ striking distance of North Korea if need be.

  Adm. Harry Harris, China claims it will impose sanctions if N. Korea conducts another nuke test, Kim Jong-Un nukes, Trump administration, WorldTribune.com, Xi Jinping