US: China to Be Given More Time to Pressure North Korea

 

WHITE HOUSE — Less than a day after U.S. Vice¹ President Mike Pence declared "the era of strategic patience is over" regarding North Korea, the White House press secretary indicated tolerance² for a bit more patience.

"I think that we're going to continue to work with China in particular to help find a way forward," spokesman Sean Spicer said at Monday's daily briefing when asked about the vice president's remark.

The press secretary characterized "the era of strategic patience" as an Obama administration policy of "basically wait and see" that is not prudent³ for the United States. But, he added, as a result of the recent talks between U.S. President Donald Trump⁴ and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the current administration is giving Beijing time to use its economic and political influence on Pyongyang.

The vice president, speaking to reporters Monday near the Korean Demilitarized Zone, said "President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change. We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons; and, also, its continual use and testing of ballistic missiles is unacceptable."

The comments came a day after North Korea tried and failed to launch a missile from its submarine base at Sinpo.

At a hastily called news conference Monday in New York, North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the United States of pushing the Korean peninsula "to the brink⁵ of a war," warning that a "thermo-nuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula."

Referring to the deployment⁶ of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its strike group to waters off the Korean peninsula, Kim said if Washington "dares opt⁷ for a military action," calling it a preemptive strike, "the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S."

Such belligerent⁸ rhetoric⁹ from North Korea's state media and officials is common.

Pyongyang has yet to conduct its anticipated sixth nuclear test, amid indications it has made all preparations for such an event. North Korea held a massive military parade Saturday, exhibiting some new long-range and submarine-based missiles.

Pence's visit to Northeast Asia comes at a time of heightened tensions over North Korea's defiant¹⁰ efforts to ultimately develop a nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and the Trump administration's determination to prevent that from happening.

"I think the U.S. has been clear that we want to resolve this issue through the peaceful de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula," said Acting¹¹ Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton. "We are definitely not seeking conflict or regime change, but we are committed to defending our people and our allies, should it be necessary."

Trump on Monday told a reporter that North Korea has "got to behave" and, in remarks recorded for airing Tuesday on a Fox News program, contended that his presidential predecessors¹² had "all been outplayed" by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

It is a questionable¹³ whether Trump is serious about the use of force against Kim or just bluffing¹⁴ to pressure him and the Chinese, according to one analyst¹⁵.

The national security adviser¹⁶, General H.R. McMaster, and Defense¹⁷ Secretary Jim Mattis "are well aware that North Korea is not Syria or Afghanistan, and that a military strike against the North is a risky¹⁸ gambit whose full import is impossible to anticipate," a former CIA analyst on Korean issues, Sue Mi Terry, told VOA.

"My take is that all of this rhetoric is simply to ramp¹⁹ up the pressure and signal to the world, particularly China and North Korea, that they are not pushovers like they think the Obama administration had been," added Terry, who served as Northeast Asia affairs director on the National Security Council at the end of the Bush and beginning of the Obama administrations.

Terry said she sees the Trump administration's approach as "an intensification²⁰ of Obama's sanctions approach," adding it is yet unclear what is replacing strategic patience.

Brian Padden and Youmi Kim in Seoul, Margaret Besheer at the U.N., and Cindy Saine at the State Department contributed to this report.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

3 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

7 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

8 belligerent   

adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者

参考例句：

• He had a belligerent aspect.他有种好斗的神色。
• Our government has forbidden exporting the petroleum to the belligerent countries.我们政府已经禁止向交战国输出石油。

9 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

10 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

14 bluffing   

n. 威吓，唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I don't think he'll shoot—I think he's just bluffing. 我认为他不会开枪—我想他不过是在吓唬人。
• He says he'll win the race, but he's only bluffing. 他说他会赢得这场比赛，事实上只是在吹牛。

15 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

16 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

18 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

19 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

20 intensification   

n.激烈化，增强明暗度；加厚

参考例句：

• The intensification of the immunological response represents the body's natural defense. 增强免疫反应代表身体的自然保卫。 来自辞典例句
• Agriculture in the developing nations is not irreversibly committed, to a particular pattern of intensification. 发展中国家的农业并没有完全为某种集约化形式所束缚。 来自辞典例句