FACING THE TEST

UAND S efforts to sustain and possibly intensify its “maximum pressure” campaign on North Korea are entering a perilous phase as a potential breakdown in diplomacy with Pyongyang raises fears that China may loosen its enforcement of international sanctions.

With the fate of a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in limbo, US officials have suggested Washington may pursue fresh sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear programme even though key players such as China and South Korea may be reluctant to participate.

Another way for the United States and its allies to increase pressure on North Korea could be to step up efforts to intercept ships suspected of violating international trade restrictions on Pyongyang.

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said more countries are interested in joining that initiative. Such moves would be designed to reinforce to Kim that he faces more potential economic pain, especially if he takes any provocative action after Trump last Thursday abruptly cancelled their planned June 12 summit in Singapore.

Trump held out the possibility on Friday that the summit could still take place. His administration may be wary of acting precipitously on new sanctions while efforts are under way to salvage the meeting, aimed at forging a denuclearisation deal with North Korea that could defuse tensions dating to the 1950s on the Korean Peninsula.

Trump last year launched what his administration has called a “maximum pressure” campaign against North Korea combining the toughest-ever US and international economic sanctions with diplomatic actions and the Republican president’s military threats and preparations.

With the summit in doubt, a big challenge for the United States is that China, North Korea’s main trading partner and the linchpin for sanctions enforcement, is increasingly at odds with Trump over how to deal with Pyongyang. Even before scrubbing the summit, Trump urged China to maintain tight sanctions, writing on Twitter that “the word is that recently the Border has become much more porous.”

Analysts have seen China’s willingness to pressure North Korea as waning at a time when Beijing already is engaged in a trade dispute with Washington.

“China is already de-coupling,” said Lee Seong-hyon, research fellow at South Korea’s Sejong Institute think tank.

A high-level North Korean delegation just completed an 11-day economic tour of China’s industrial cities.