South Korea Test Fires 800 Kilometre-Range Missile

Xi Jinping meets Trump for the first time at his Florida resort of Mar-a-Lago for two days of meetings, with a range of hard points up for discussion-including North Korea, trade deals, and the South China Sea shipping access.

While Trump would not say what he wants China to do specifically with regard to North Korea, he suggested there was a link between “terrible” trade agreements the US has made with China and Pyongyang’s provocations.

Asked if he hopes to get China to use its leverage over the North, Trump said, “We’re going to see what happens”.

As the two leaders prepare to meet face-to-face for the first time at Trump’s luxury resort in Florida this week, these are the topics likely to top the agenda.

Council members said they “deplore” all North Korean ballistic missile activity, stressing that it contributes to the country’s development of nuclear weapons delivery systems and diverts resources from the needs of its people. The Trump administration has yet to determine a policy on this.

At the heart of the shift is an unconventional president who is overturning expectations of what the United States wants, what it says and how it behaves on a global stage. Additionally, the White House is now reviewing USA trade deficits. Among measures under consideration are “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang.

Efforts to give American firms and workers an edge pushing down Beijing’s 21 to 30 percent tariffs on automobile imports have stalled, as Quartz recently pointed out, but could be completely derailed if the USA chose to implement Trump’s protectionist strategy.

The POTUS’ relationship with China, meantime, has not been clear since the election.

Tillerson will be at the meeting in Mar-a-Lago along with Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of the Department of Defense John Kelly and National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.

According to advance thoughts on the summit from Beijing, Xi could offer the United States more Chinese investments, which would create more American jobs, a key Trump campaign pledge.

And on a recent trip to Asia, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reminded the region that the US also retains the option of pre-emptive military force.

United States officials see this as part of a long-term Chinese bid to deny United States forces access to the strategic sea, a key global trade route.

On the U.S. side, however, North Korea will likely be on the top of the agenda following a provocative missile launch Wednesday – barely 48 hours before the summit was due to start. Those imports keep prices low for American consumers.

While she believes it’s hard for newcomers to break into the now well-established industries throughout both China and the US, “the woman who built Beijing” still sees opportunity for self-starters. “China relationship, and it helped to build dialogue”.

At this critical inflection point in U.S.

“Trump’s tweet or talk about the One-China Policy, designating China as currency manipulator, etc are all very controversial that defy all conventions regarding US-China relations”.