If cutting off $1 billion of North Korea’s energy and seafood export revenues fails to yield peace, the U.S. must present Beijing with an ultimatum: They can either do business with Trump or Kim Jong Un.
They can’t date both.
After more than a dozen missile launches — two in July alone — the days of ineffectual “strategic patience” under President Obama and his predecessors are over.
The latest toothy sanctions championed by the president will burn a hole into a third of North Korea’s $3 billion export economy — sending a sharp message to crazy Kim that the civilized world won’t stand idly by while he belligerently test-fires missiles.
North Korea’s nuclear program can’t go unchecked. What if he really can hit the U.S.? Not to mention cause unthinkable harm to South Korea or Japan.
China is jeopardizing nearly a half a trillion in annual export revenue with the United States if they don’t get serious about protecting the U.S. and our allies in the region. It’s us or them.
Given we are China’s biggest customer in the world, they’d be insane to protect the little fish, not the Orca, in trade partners. Yes, a potential trade embargo with China would send shock waves through global markets. But think what a nuclear bomb hitting New York City, Boston or Los Angeles can do.
This is where we are. Tough economic sanctions — first applied to North Korea, then China if needed — or risk a nuclear holocaust at the hands of a madman.
In the meantime, the president should encourage all 50 governors across the U.S. to ramp up disaster preparedness. Shockingly, many states have no operating fallout shelters. Most of us are woefully unprepared for a worst-case scenario.
The time to act is now.
