Tillerson Suggests North Korea May Soon Be Ready for Talks
In June, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on a Chinese bank, a Chinese company
and two Chinese citizens to crack down on the financing of North Korea’s weapons program, the first set of secondary sanctions against North Korea that directly targeted Chinese intermediaries.
As for the stick, the Trump administration announced new sanctions against China
and Russia on Tuesday as part of its campaign to pressure North Korea to stop its development of nuclear weapons and missiles.
The new United States sanctions address how other nations tolerate North Korea’s behavior, particularly China,
said Elizabeth Rosenberg, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.
The two moves are part of the Trump administration’s dual-track strategy for taming the nuclear threat from North Korea — ratcheting
up economic pressure on the government through sanctions while simultaneously offering a diplomatic pathway to peace.
Tuesday’s actions appeared to be part of a larger campaign to pressure individuals, businesses
and countries with financial ties to North Korea, said Mr. Ruggiero, a former official in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the Treasury.
Steven Mnuchin said that It is unacceptable for individuals
and companies in China, Russia and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region,
