High level United States-China talks concluded Wednesday with the U.S. pressing China “to exert much greater economic and diplomatic pressure” on North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program, Washington’s top security threat. Looming large on the eve of the first U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue was a CNN report that U.S. spy satellites had detected activity at North Korea’s nuclear testing facility, raising concerns that a sixth nuclear test may be imminent.
Adding to the pressure on the Trump Administration to act on North Korea is the death of Otto Warmbier, the U.S. citizen detained by North Korea for 17 months, who died less than a week after returning home from neurological damage sustained during his captivity. President Donald Trump has called the situation a “disgrace” and blamed Warmbier’s death on a “brutal regime.”
The night before the meeting —high-level talks intended to enhance cooperation on North Korea, as well as other critical security issues— President Trump tweeted a perplexing assessment of Beijing’s efforts to control Pyongyang:
“While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi [Jinping] & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!”
But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis were looking for more concrete results on North Korea and other key security issues when they met with Chinese counterparts, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army Fang Fenghui in Washington, DC on Wednesday.
The Diplomatic and Security Dialogue is a product of the Mar-a-Lago summit held between Trump and Xi in April. The Trump Administration wants this dialogue to improve on the Obama-era U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which it has criticized as lacking decision-making power and being too broad.
In a briefing with reporters after the meeting on Wednesday, Tillerson said, "We reiterated to China that it has a diplomatic responsibility to exert much greater economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime if they want to prevent further escalation in the region."
Tillerson said the U.S. and China “agreed that our companies should not do business with any UN designated North Korean entities in accordance with [UN Security Council] resolutions.”
This has been a contentious issue between the two countries, because the U.S. believes China has not used its economic leverage over North Korea to help bring Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks. The U.S. has warned it will act unilaterally if necessary. Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, Tillerson said the U.S. would consider “taking secondary sanctions” against China and other countries that facilitate North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
Secondary sanctions would enable the U.S. Treasury to determine if Chinese entities or individuals have aided North Korean weapons programs and if so, block their access to business with the U.S. and the U.S. financial system. China would view such a move as an intrusion on its sovereignty, and though it could not prevent such a move, it could retaliate in other ways against U.S. financial interests in China. Whether the U.S. will carry through on secondary sanctions is not clear after Wednesday’s meetings.
Tillerson also announced progress on the South China Sea dispute. China claims sovereignty over and has build military installations on a series of islands that other nations, including Vietnam and The Philippines, maintain are part of their territory. “China has committed to resolve their disputes peacefully and in accordance with recognized principles of international law including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.” Mattis added, “We’ve identified areas where we can work together,” in a positive step forward for one of the thorniest issues in the relationship.
On terrorism, Tillerson said the U.S. and China “decided to adopt greater coordination to face the global threat posed by terrorism. We will be looking to China to help the Iraqi government in specific meaningful ways to ensure the country’s long term stability and economic growth as it battles ISIS.”
Though the first exchange was light on deliverables and there was little movement from China on North Korea, Tillerson said, “the action items we agreed upon today have set a foundation for future conversations.”
Will Edwards is an Asia-Pacific and defense analyst at The Cipher Brief. Follow him on Twitter @_wedwards.
