North Korea July 6 2017 

Well, the US and South Korea upped the ante yesterday, firing their own ballistic missiles into the sea east of the Korean Penninsula, in response to North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday

In April President Trump promised “to solve this problem”

And for a while it looked as though he and Chinese President, Xi Jinping, may have had some sort of joint strategy in play

But China and the US have diverged since then

Yesterday China issued a joint statement with Russia, not the US, urging against “any statements or actions that could lead to an increase in tensions”

That was ignored by the US which proceeded to fire a ballistic missile

US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, also called out Beijing for propping up North Korea

He said “any country which hosts North Korean guest workers, provides economic or military benefits or fails to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime”

China still appears to believe the best way to deal with North Korea is to wait things out – employing the “strategic patience” approach of the Obama administration – in the hope North Korea will eventually be forced to the negotiating table by economic sanctions

But the Trump administration believes strategic patience has failed

Vice President, Mike Pence, declared it “over” during his Australian visit in April

The time may have come to face this threat head-on