think china has made up its mind that this headache of nuclearized peninsula and this constant frustration that the north korean leader provides, not just to the west but also to china, this whole thing that s been on for years is a an i m pe i m impediment for china s ambitions. the north korean leader is an obstacle. paul: let s talk about japan. shinzo abe has invested a lot in his relationship with president trump. there is some cause to feel that maybe he s been left behind in the korean discussions. one of the reasons i think he came to talk to the president this week is to say look, what s going on here and are we on the same page. what does the president have to do to reassure japan? japan s always had a pause for concern here, because south
think china has made up its mind that this headache of nuclearized peninsula and this constant frustration that the north korean leader provides, not just to the west but also to china, this whole thing that s been on for years is a an i m pe i m impediment for china s ambitions. the north korean leader is an obstacle. paul: let s talk about japan. shinzo abe has invested a lot in his relationship with president trump. there is some cause to feel that maybe he s been left behind in the korean discussions. one of the reasons i think he came to talk to the president this week is to say look, what s going on here and are we on the same page. what does the president have to do to reassure japan? japan s always had a pause for concern here, because south
but looking at the chinese as a way of looking down the road to the future saying we are very serious about this. okay. . it leaves you free of a nuclearized peninsula. so do you agree with the overtures that they have wanted to make with kim jong-un. do you like the parallel strategy of cutting a pretty hard line trade deal with the second most important partner here for the u.s. with south korea, what they just announced. do you like those moves? of course. i think the president he would have set himself back. look at the recent cnn poll. it is a fascinating thing. north kor it is something as i as a diplomat would never have expected to see. but it is important in this particular thing to shape
in none of our interests to see either tension and instability on the peninsula and it s not in anybody s interest to see a nuclearized peninsula. the chinese say they agree with that. the question then is, given that they have more influence and closer diplomat relations with north korea than any other country on earth, what are they doing to help guide or encourage north korea to take a more constructive approach? and that certainly will be a topic of conversation. now, i am sympathetic to the fact that they share a border with north korea. they are deeply concerned about potential instability in that country and what ramifications it might have on china.
north korean, as president lee indicated north korea is already under an extraordinary battery of sanctions. they are the most isolated country in the world. they are cut off from basic commerce and exchanges beyond their borders that every other country almost every other country takes for granted. their people are extraordinarily impoveri impoverished, the contrast between living standards in the north and south could not be greater and could not be a greater testimony to the benefits of living in a free society. and so the real consequence should they go forward with the launch is they will have missed an opportunity because what we presented to them and what we ve consistently presented to them is an opportunity for them to take a different path than the one they ve been taking which is resulting in not simply hardship for their people, but a state that is decades behind their counterparts in the region in terms of development, in terms of economic strength, in terms of