*BEIJING – China on Saturday called Donald Trump “irresponsible” after theUS President cancelled his top diplomat’s latest trip to North Korea andsuggested Beijing was stalling efforts to disarm Pyongyang.*
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due to return to North Korea nextweek for what he described as the next stage in ensuring the “final, fullyverified denuclearization of North Korea”.
But Trump — facing a slew of domestic problems and independent reports thatNorth Korea has done little or nothing to roll back its nuclear program —vetoed the plan on Friday.
“Because of our much tougher trading stance with China, I do not believethey are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were,”despite UN sanctions against the nuclear-armed regime, Trump said.
Beijing hit back at Trump’s “capricious” accusations in a statement postedon the foreign ministry website.
“The US statement is contrary to basic facts and is irresponsible. We areseriously concerned about this,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kangsaid in the statement.
“All parties concerned should… show more sincerity and flexibility, insteadof being capricious and put the blame on others,” he said.
The trip would have been Pompeo’s fourth to North Korea, and the secondsince a historic summit on June 12 between Trump and Kim in Singapore.
Trump said on Friday that Pompeo would still head to North Korea “in thenear future,” saying this would likely occur when the US-China tradingrelationship is “resolved.”
The world’s two largest economies are engaged in an escalating trade war,exchanging tit-for-tat tariffs on $100 billion in goods, with the mostrecent levies imposed by both sides on Thursday. – APP/AFP