China, North Korea’s largest trading partner and the regime’s primary backer, is not living up to their sanctions, “The Coming Collapse of China” author Gordon Chang told FOX Business on Tuesday.
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“I think President Trump was a little too generous to Xi Jinping because over the last three months we have seen blatant sanctions violations by China,” he told Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria.” “Their behavior has remarkably deteriorated.”
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a “comprehensive document” of progress on Tuesday aimed at denuclearization following their historic summit in Singapore.
Chang said it’s highly likely that Kim will “drag his feet on this” which would ultimately result in the United States imposing costs.
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During a surprise meeting in May, Kim and Xi held talks in the Chinese port city of Dalian where they discussed the relationship between the two countries and Kim’s willingness to denuclearize.
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“It has been the DPRK’s consistent and clear stand to achieve denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” Kim said, according to paraphrased remarks reported by Xinhua.
In Chang’s opinion, this is something Trump must confront.
“I think Beijing actually gave a message to Kim Jong Un during their meeting at the beginning of last month in Dalian basically saying, ‘look we will take care of you – you don’t need relief from the U.S. because we’ll give you that sanctions relief,” he said. “And, really, that’s bad behavior – that’s malign influence [and] we’ve got to do something about it.”
China’s foreign minister suggested on Tuesday that sanctions relief could be considered following Trump and Kim’s meeting, Reuters reported.
