China Tells Trump to Calm Down, Stop Making Things Worse With North Korea

August 10, 2017

China has issued a warning to the United States to show restraint and avoid issuing statements that could worsen its conflict with North Korea after President Donald Trump’s vow to respond to Pyongyang’s threats with “fire and fury”.

In a statement on Wednesday, China’s foreign ministry cautioned against any rhetoric that could further add fire to the tensions, noting that the situation on the Korean Peninsula remains to be a “complicated and sensitive” matter, according to Shanghaiist.

China, which has remained North Korea’s closest and most important diplomatic and economic ally, has been calling for both the United States and North Korea to exercise restraint over the latter’s weapons programs.

“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump was quoted as saying during a meeting on Tuesday in New Jersey. Pyongyang stated earlier that it was considering a missile strike near the U.S. territory of Guam.

Trump was further quoted as saying:

“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen … he has been very threatening beyond a normal state. They will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

Trump then took to Twitter to declare that America’s nuclear arsenal is now “more powerful than ever.”

Trump’s rhetoric has puzzled observers as it came mere days after the United Nations Security Council imposed its seventh set of sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and missile programs. Some observers are wondering whether Trump had even considered the implications of his message.

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Renmin University of China associate professor of international relations Cheng Xiaohe told the New York Times how Trump’s “explosive” statements have made a military conflict over the North’s nuclear program even more possible.

“We’re going to see a confrontation between the United States and North Korea that will be ferocious and strong and bloody,” he was quoted as saying.

In response to Trump’s remark, North Korea released a statement on Thursday, branding Donald Trump’s threats as “nonsense.” According to the Telegraph, a high-ranking North Korean military official also warned that by “mid-August”, North Korea will have a plan ready to launch four missiles into waters “30 to 40 km away from Guam”.

Pyongyang also ridiculed the US president as a “guy bereft of reason” and said only “absolute force can work on him”.

Feature image via Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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