We are going to squeeze even tighter... they can't hold out much longer. We will demonstrate to the entire world, as if they didn't all already know the truth, we are in control... we are in charge... we call the shots... we are the 'superpower'... you will do as we say do or you will suffer the consequences.
Or, from a slightly different perspective: if we can't have our way, perhaps we will just shot ourselves in the foot and limp around for a while.
Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said that Russia doubts the sanctions' ability to hit the intended target, “financial and economic measures of pressure on the DPRK leadership are almost exhausted, and further restrictions can amount to an attempt to strangle the country’s economy, impose a total blockade, and provoke a deep humanitarian crisis. In other words, this is not about blocking the channels for boosting the banned missile and nuclear activities, but about inflicting unacceptable harm on completely innocent civilian population.”
Just ahead of the Security Council meeting, the North Korean foreign ministry warned it will be forced to retaliate using “ultimate means,” should stricter sanctions follow.
“In case the US eventually does rig up the illegal and unlawful 'resolution' on harsher sanctions, the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] shall make absolutely sure that the US pays due price,” the ministry's statement read, according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
“The DPRK is ready and willing to use any form of ultimate means. The forthcoming measures to be taken by the DPRK will cause the US the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history,” the statement added.
“In case the US eventually does rig up the illegal and unlawful 'resolution' on harsher sanctions, the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] shall make absolutely sure that the US pays due price,” the ministry's statement read, according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
“The DPRK is ready and willing to use any form of ultimate means. The forthcoming measures to be taken by the DPRK will cause the US the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history,” the statement added.
"It is clear that it is impossible to solve the problems of the Korean peninsula by sanctions alone and pressure," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the economic forum in Vladivostok following talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last week.
"One shouldn’t give in to emotions and drive North Korea into a corner," Putin stated, adding that everyone now needs to show composure, avoiding “steps that lead to an escalation of tension.”
"One shouldn’t give in to emotions and drive North Korea into a corner," Putin stated, adding that everyone now needs to show composure, avoiding “steps that lead to an escalation of tension.”
“We have lived under US sanctions for decades. Under the harshest of sanctions. But we have acquired everything we wanted to. If the US hopes that our position would be shaken and changed, that is an illusion,” Kim Yong-jae, North Korea ambassador to Moscow, told the Russian media.
The diplomat added that North Korea’s nuclear and rocket programs will help his country better deter the “hostile policy of the US” and protect the Korean Peninsula from a nuclear war.
“The sanctions resolution of the UN Security Council has been forced by the US, which uses the council as a tool, and is illegal. We fully reject and strongly condemn this resolution,” Ambassador Kim said.
“Instead of acknowledging the reality and making the right choice, the US is using our most justified measures of self-defense to try and strangle our country,” he said.
The diplomat added that North Korea’s nuclear and rocket programs will help his country better deter the “hostile policy of the US” and protect the Korean Peninsula from a nuclear war.
“The sanctions resolution of the UN Security Council has been forced by the US, which uses the council as a tool, and is illegal. We fully reject and strongly condemn this resolution,” Ambassador Kim said.
“Instead of acknowledging the reality and making the right choice, the US is using our most justified measures of self-defense to try and strangle our country,” he said.
North Korea “is ready and willing to use any form of ultimate means” in response, the ministry said.
“The forthcoming measures to be taken by the DPRK will cause the US the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history,” the statement said. “The world will witness how the DPRK tames the US gangsters by taking series of action tougher than they have ever envisaged.”
Beijing and Moscow are doubtful about mounting more sanctions pressure on Pyongyang, believing it will not stop its nuclear and rocket development.
“As I told my colleagues yesterday, they [North Koreans] will eat grass, but will not stop their program as long as they do not feel safe,” Russian President Vladimir Putin explained after a meeting of BRICS leaders in China.
"There is no other way to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, save that of peaceful dialogue.”
“The forthcoming measures to be taken by the DPRK will cause the US the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history,” the statement said. “The world will witness how the DPRK tames the US gangsters by taking series of action tougher than they have ever envisaged.”
Beijing and Moscow are doubtful about mounting more sanctions pressure on Pyongyang, believing it will not stop its nuclear and rocket development.
“As I told my colleagues yesterday, they [North Koreans] will eat grass, but will not stop their program as long as they do not feel safe,” Russian President Vladimir Putin explained after a meeting of BRICS leaders in China.
"There is no other way to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, save that of peaceful dialogue.”
Pyongyang will not relinquish its military program under pressure of sanctions and military threats, because the examples of Iraq and Libya have convinced it that nuclear deterrence is the only credible way to ensure its security, President Putin told journalists on Tuesday.
“Ramping up military hysteria in such conditions is senseless; it’s a dead end,” he added. “It could lead to a global, planetary catastrophe and a huge loss of human life. There is no other way to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, save that of peaceful dialogue.”
“Ramping up military hysteria in such conditions is senseless; it’s a dead end,” he added. “It could lead to a global, planetary catastrophe and a huge loss of human life. There is no other way to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, save that of peaceful dialogue.”
Is there anyone in Trump's government who is not an imbecile?
After years of endless military threats against Russia -- remember CIA deputy director Mike Morell saying on TV (Charlie Rose show) that the US should start killing Russians to give them a message, and Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley threatening "We'll beat you harder than you have ever been beaten before" -- now the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin threatens China. If China doesn't abide by Washington's new sanctions on North Korea, Mnuchin said the US "will put additional sanctions on them [China] and prevent them from assessing the US and international dollar system."
Here is the broke US government $20 trillion in public debt, having to print money with which to buy its own bonds, threatening the second largest economy in the world, an economy on purchasing power parity terms that is larger than the US economy.
Take a moment to think about Mnuchin's threat to China. How many US firms are located in China? It is not only Apple and Nike. Would sanctions on China mean that the US firms could not sell their Chinese-made products in the US or anywhere outside China? Do you think the global US corporations would stand for this?
What if China responded by nationalizing all US factories and all Western owned banks in China and Hong Kong?
Mnuchin is like the imbecile Nikki Haley. He doesn't know who he is threatening.
Consider Mnuchin's threat to exclude China from the international dollar system. Nothing could do more harm to the US and more good to China. A huge amount of economic transactions would simply exit the dollar system, reducing its scope and importance. Most importantly, it would finally dawn on the Chinese and Russian governments that being a part of the dollar system is a massive liability with no benefits. Russia and China should years ago have created their own system. Being part of Washington's system simply lets Washington make threats and impose sanctions.
After years of endless military threats against Russia -- remember CIA deputy director Mike Morell saying on TV (Charlie Rose show) that the US should start killing Russians to give them a message, and Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley threatening "We'll beat you harder than you have ever been beaten before" -- now the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin threatens China. If China doesn't abide by Washington's new sanctions on North Korea, Mnuchin said the US "will put additional sanctions on them [China] and prevent them from assessing the US and international dollar system."
Here is the broke US government $20 trillion in public debt, having to print money with which to buy its own bonds, threatening the second largest economy in the world, an economy on purchasing power parity terms that is larger than the US economy.
Take a moment to think about Mnuchin's threat to China. How many US firms are located in China? It is not only Apple and Nike. Would sanctions on China mean that the US firms could not sell their Chinese-made products in the US or anywhere outside China? Do you think the global US corporations would stand for this?
What if China responded by nationalizing all US factories and all Western owned banks in China and Hong Kong?
Mnuchin is like the imbecile Nikki Haley. He doesn't know who he is threatening.
Consider Mnuchin's threat to exclude China from the international dollar system. Nothing could do more harm to the US and more good to China. A huge amount of economic transactions would simply exit the dollar system, reducing its scope and importance. Most importantly, it would finally dawn on the Chinese and Russian governments that being a part of the dollar system is a massive liability with no benefits. Russia and China should years ago have created their own system. Being part of Washington's system simply lets Washington make threats and impose sanctions.
China has become a banking powerhouse. Four of the five largest banks in the world are Chinese.
The circumstances are similar to the boiler-plate cartoon wherein the idiot pokes at the sleeping dragon with a stick. The United States is in the same position as the idiot. The only hope is that the dragon doesn't wake up, and that's the truth !!!
and if trade sanctions don't work...
US threatens to ‘cut China off’ from dollar if it does not uphold sanctions against N. Korea
from RT
The US could impose economic sanctions on China if it does not implement the new sanctions regime against North Korea, the US Treasury Secretary has warned. Steven Mnuchin said the restrictions could involve cutting off Beijing’s access to the US financial system.“North Korea economic warfare works,” Mnuchin said Tuesday at the Delivering Alpha Conference in New York City. “We sent a message that anybody who wanted to trade with North Korea – we would consider them not trading with us.”
The Treasury Secretary echoed the words of the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, by calling the fresh round of sanctions against Pyongyang “historic.” Mnuchin added “if China doesn’t follow these sanctions, we will put additional sanctions on them and prevent them from accessing the US and international dollar system.”
Washington has, so far, been reluctant to impose economic sanctions on China over concerns of possible retaliatory measures from Beijing and the potentially catastrophic consequences for the global economy.
Washington runs a $350 billion annual trade deficit with Beijing. China also holds $1 trillion in US debt, which amounts to 28 percent of US Treasury bills, notes and bonds held by a foreign government. US lawmakers, however, seemed to be more inclined to exert pressure on Beijing and other countries striking deals with Pyongyang as they demand a “supercharged” response to North Korea’s nuclear tests, including imposing sanctions on companies from China and any other country doing business in North Korea.
“I believe the response from the United States and our allies should be supercharged,” said Ed Royce, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing Tuesday.
“We need to use every ounce of leverage... to put maximum pressure on this rogue regime,” he said, adding that “time is running out.” Royce also called on Washington to target major Chinese banks, including the Agricultural Bank of China and the China Merchants Bank for dealing with Pyongyang.
He also said China was apparently reluctant to follow through on the sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council (UNSC) against the North. “It’s been a long, long time of waiting for China to comply with the sanctions that we pass and, frankly, with the sanctions that the United Nations passed,” he said.
The committee chair went on to say the US could give Chinese banks and companies “a choice between doing business with North Korea or the United States.” He added that the US should also “go after banks and companies in other countries that do business with North Korea the same way.”
Committee members also expressed unease over the fact that the sanctions imposed on North Korea have so far been ineffective in preventing Pyongyang from developing its nuclear and missile programs.
“We’ve been played by the Kims for years,” Republican Representative Ted Poe said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his predecessors, as reported by Reuters.
President Donald Trump also downplayed the role of the newly adopted sanctions later Tuesday. ”We think it’s just another very small step, not a big deal. I don’t know if it has any impact,” he told reporters at the start of a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Trump also said he already discussed the issue with his State Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. He ominously added that “those sanctions are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen” without specifying what he meant by that.
The UNSC unanimously approved a new resolution on sanctions against Pyongyang on September 11. Following a series of behind-the-scenes negotiations Sunday, diplomats agreed not to ban oil exports into North Korea. Instead, the ninth set of restrictive sanctions against Pyongyang authorized an annual cap of 2 million barrels of refined petroleum products to North Korea.
It also banned the North’s textile exports – the second-biggest export for the country, which totals $752 million – according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Chinese and Russian negotiators managed to persuade the US delegation not to impose a travel ban or asset freeze on North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.
On Tuesday, the North Korean ambassador to Moscow said sanctions will not make his country change its policies. Pyongyang’s nuclear program helps it to deter the “hostile policy of the US,” Kim Yong-jae added.
from RT
The US could impose economic sanctions on China if it does not implement the new sanctions regime against North Korea, the US Treasury Secretary has warned. Steven Mnuchin said the restrictions could involve cutting off Beijing’s access to the US financial system.“North Korea economic warfare works,” Mnuchin said Tuesday at the Delivering Alpha Conference in New York City. “We sent a message that anybody who wanted to trade with North Korea – we would consider them not trading with us.”
The Treasury Secretary echoed the words of the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, by calling the fresh round of sanctions against Pyongyang “historic.” Mnuchin added “if China doesn’t follow these sanctions, we will put additional sanctions on them and prevent them from accessing the US and international dollar system.”
Washington has, so far, been reluctant to impose economic sanctions on China over concerns of possible retaliatory measures from Beijing and the potentially catastrophic consequences for the global economy.
Washington runs a $350 billion annual trade deficit with Beijing. China also holds $1 trillion in US debt, which amounts to 28 percent of US Treasury bills, notes and bonds held by a foreign government. US lawmakers, however, seemed to be more inclined to exert pressure on Beijing and other countries striking deals with Pyongyang as they demand a “supercharged” response to North Korea’s nuclear tests, including imposing sanctions on companies from China and any other country doing business in North Korea.
“I believe the response from the United States and our allies should be supercharged,” said Ed Royce, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing Tuesday.
“We need to use every ounce of leverage... to put maximum pressure on this rogue regime,” he said, adding that “time is running out.” Royce also called on Washington to target major Chinese banks, including the Agricultural Bank of China and the China Merchants Bank for dealing with Pyongyang.
He also said China was apparently reluctant to follow through on the sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council (UNSC) against the North. “It’s been a long, long time of waiting for China to comply with the sanctions that we pass and, frankly, with the sanctions that the United Nations passed,” he said.
The committee chair went on to say the US could give Chinese banks and companies “a choice between doing business with North Korea or the United States.” He added that the US should also “go after banks and companies in other countries that do business with North Korea the same way.”
Committee members also expressed unease over the fact that the sanctions imposed on North Korea have so far been ineffective in preventing Pyongyang from developing its nuclear and missile programs.
“We’ve been played by the Kims for years,” Republican Representative Ted Poe said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his predecessors, as reported by Reuters.
President Donald Trump also downplayed the role of the newly adopted sanctions later Tuesday. ”We think it’s just another very small step, not a big deal. I don’t know if it has any impact,” he told reporters at the start of a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Trump also said he already discussed the issue with his State Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. He ominously added that “those sanctions are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen” without specifying what he meant by that.
The UNSC unanimously approved a new resolution on sanctions against Pyongyang on September 11. Following a series of behind-the-scenes negotiations Sunday, diplomats agreed not to ban oil exports into North Korea. Instead, the ninth set of restrictive sanctions against Pyongyang authorized an annual cap of 2 million barrels of refined petroleum products to North Korea.
It also banned the North’s textile exports – the second-biggest export for the country, which totals $752 million – according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Chinese and Russian negotiators managed to persuade the US delegation not to impose a travel ban or asset freeze on North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.
On Tuesday, the North Korean ambassador to Moscow said sanctions will not make his country change its policies. Pyongyang’s nuclear program helps it to deter the “hostile policy of the US,” Kim Yong-jae added.
