Former CIA and NSA chief General Michael Hayden joined CNN’s Chris Cuomo Wednesday morning and praised President Trump’s effectiveness following reports that China will send an envoy to North Korea.
Hayden had this to say after Cuomo asked him if China sending an envoy to North Korea is a sign of President Trump’s effectiveness:
“I think the timing suggests that’s true. So, you’ve got a bit of a ray of light, a breath of fresh air here with the Chinese trying to amp up there pressure on the North Koreans. We need to be realistic, all right? China is most interested in stability on the North Korean part, on the whole Korean peninsula. They’re not too excited about change. I think we can rely on them to amp up the pressure a bit, to have Kim, the youngest, tone down the rhetoric. Maybe stop testing for a while. I don’t think he’s going there to point out that you need to give up these weapons.”
“A senior Chinese diplomat will visit North Korea from Friday as a special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing said, although it did not say he was planning to discuss North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programs,” reports Reuters.
Reuters reports:
China has repeatedly pushed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but in recent months has had only limited high-level exchanges with North Korea. The last time China’s special envoy for North Korea visited the country was in February last year.
In a brief dispatch, the official Xinhua news agency said Song Tao, who heads the ruling Communist Party’s external affairs department, would leave for North Korea on Friday.
He will “inform the DPRK of the 19th CPC National Congress and visit the DPRK”, Xinhua said on Wednesday, using the North’s official name and referring to China’s recently concluded Communist Party Congress at which Xi further cemented his power.
News of this comes amid President Trump’s return to Washington following a 12-day trip to Asia.
Just returned from Asia after 12 very successful days. Great to be home!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2017
Highlight’s of President Trump’s trip can be watched below.
THANK YOU ASIA! #USA🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/FziKSbrzcu
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2017
