Donald Trump says US safe from North Korean nuclear strike – no thanks to China

‘It won’t happen’: president-elect dismisses Kim Jong-un’s claim
of an upcoming ICBM test but says Beijing ‘won’t help’ bring the
regime to heel

Justin McCurry in Osaka and agencies
Tuesday 3 January 2017 08.43 GMT

Donald Trump has said no North Korean nuclear bomb will reach the US mainland, a day after the regime in Pyongyang claimed it was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The president-elect – who has yet to articulate his incoming administration’s approach to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme – also took another swipe at China, accusing Beijing of failing to rein in the North’s nuclear ambitions.

“North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US. It won’t happen!” Trump tweeted.

It was not clear what Trump meant: whether he believed North Korea was incapable of developing a reliable ICBM, or that the US would prevent it doing so.

He went on to reignite his verbal tit-for-tat with Beijing, this time linking trade to what he called China’s unwillingness to exert pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme.

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