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Signalling North Korea, With Sanctions On China?

Soldiers gather in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea,Thursday, July 6, 2017, to celebrate the test launch of North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile two days earlier. (Jon Chol Jin/AP)
Soldiers gather in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea,Thursday, July 6, 2017, to celebrate the test launch of North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile two days earlier. (Jon Chol Jin/AP)

With guest host Anthony Brooks.

Are sanctions on China the way to send a message to North Korea? We’ll hear the case and pushback.

When North Korea test-fired a missile capable of reaching Alaska on the 4th of July, it presented President Trump with his biggest foreign policy challenge. He responded with tough talk and veiled threats of a military strike, but even limited war on the Korean peninsula would unleash unimaginable horrors. So Trump wants China to reign in a nuclear armed Kim Jong Un. Is that the best way forward? This hour On Point: Trump, North Korean nukes, and the China card. — Anthony Brooks

Guests

Barbara Demick, New York correspondent of the Los Angeles Times, formerly head of the bureaus in Beijing and Seoul. (@BarbaraDemick)

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Gordon Chang, columnist for the Daily Beast and a contributor for Forbes.com. (@GordonGChang)

From The Reading List

Los Angeles Times: The U.S. may have one card to play against North Korea: trade — “Chinese banks handle North Korean trade deals. African countries employ North Korean guest workers and buy spare parts for Soviet-era military equipment as well as sophisticated new missiles. Moldova recently announced its intentions to export wine for the more sophisticated palates of Pyongyang. But trade with North Korea might become more perilous as the Trump administration looks to expand sanctions to companies and countries it says are enabling Kim Jong Un’s continued defiance of the international nonproliferation norms.”

Daily Beast: Trump Needs to Confront Beijing: North Korean Missiles Fly on Chinese Technology — “If the Chinese do not come around fast at the Security Council, they could find themselves the target of more Trump actions. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s statement on the missile launch looks as if the administration is targeting North Korea’s enablers as much as the North itself. A renewed campaign against Beijing will signal that last week’s actions were indeed the beginning of a tougher approach toward China.”

Washington Post: Trump warns of ‘severe’ consequences for North Korea as Russia, China balk at tough U.S. talk — “President Trump on Thursday stepped up efforts to blunt North Korea, warning that the rogue nation could face ‘some pretty severe’ consequences over its latest missile test and huddling for more than an hour with the leaders of Japan and South Korea. But even as Trump sought to use his proximity to world leaders ahead of the Group of 20 summit here to rally allies, the White House faced firm opposition from Russia and China over any retaliatory measures on Pyongyang.”

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