Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon expressed his belief during his extensive 60 Minutes interview with Charlie Rose that exerting further pressure on China is the only way to solve the impending threat from North Korea.
“The issue is between us and China,” Bannon said. “The solution to North Korea, and I’ve said this from day one, is China. At the beginning of the summer – I think it was Memorial Day – we were discussing whether they had an atomic bomb. Now on Labor Day, we’re discussing whether they have a thermonuclear weapon, a hydrogen bomb.”
“My suggestion and my recommendation is that to solve the problem in [North] Korea, you need to solve that problem with China. [North Korea] is a client state of China.”
Bannon’s comments follow reports from South Korean officials last week that North Korea had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb with the stated intention of attacking the United States, representing another significant development in their nuclear ambitions.
When pressed on whether he believed Donald Trump’s recent sanctions against China – which include sanctions on Chinese banks and the threat of a possible trade war – could solve the issue, Bannon suggested that the administration might even need to “double down” on an assertive policy on China, while praising the quality of Trump’s military advisers:
The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
“I think it’s incumbent upon us, and particularly those on the right, to make sure that we have the president’s back in continuing that and maybe even doubling down on those efforts,” he said. “I’m just one guy. [Trump] has got the best advice in the world: Rex Tillerson, Gen. Dunford, Gen. Mattis…you could not have a higher quality national security team around the president.”
“I have tremendous respect for them, but I’m just giving an alternative. And that alternative to me is the logical alternative. The solution to North Korea runs through Beijing, and we have to engage Beijing. And by the way, they’re saying we’re doing everything we can. It’s not good enough. We have tremendous leverage to force China to do this. ”
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.
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