US calls for stronger Chinese sanctions against North Korea in new draft resolution: report

The U.S. gave China a draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for tougher sanctions against North Korea, according to a Reuters report.

The U.S. gave Beijing the draft resolution last week, and is hoping for a swift vote in the Security Council, according to Reuters. 

It’s not clear what the new sanctions would entail. A Trump administration official told Reuters that the U.S. is trying to negotiate a new sanctions resolution, but that a deal has not been struck yet.

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“We’re trying to get another one,” the official said. “They’re not there yet.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a joint news conference on Tuesday that their countries would co-host a meeting of foreign ministers in January intended to show solidarity against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

That meeting, they said, will focus on ways to step up the global pressure against North Korea, which is already sanctioned heavily for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

President Trump has vowed to pressure China to do more to rein in North Korea. China is Pyongyang’s only major ally and its largest trading partner.

In a speech outlining his national security strategy on Monday, Trump cast Beijing as a competitor and a “revisionist” force intent on reshaping the post-World War II global power structure in order to benefit its economic and political interests.