Now analysts say these satellite

pictures of its nuclear test site indicate that test number

six is now imminent. Since January,

North Korea's been test-firing long-range missiles.

One great unknown is how close it now is to being able to stick a nuke

on a rocket. The other is how to stop

the erratic, recalcitrant ruler of the world's most belligerent

country from careering lemming-like towards

nuclear holocaust. Trump's claim that he can,

with or without Chinese help, was less a threat to North Korea

and more an ultimatum to China. China has great influence over North

Korea and China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they

will not. If they do that will be good for China and if they don't, it

won't be good for anyone. If China is not going to solve North Korea,

we will. That is all I am telling you.

Last month, when his Secretary of State met President Xi

in Beijing, Rex Tillerson declared that the era of strategic

patience was over. Trump is now escalating his coercion

of China before his Xi Jinping summit on Thursday.

Asked by the FT if he meant he'd go it alone,

Trump said, totally. We are going to see President Trump

beach... Just yesterday though,

his Ambassador to the UN made clear that unilateralism

wasn't the game plan. What should we do about North Korea?

No longer take excuses from China they are concerned. They need to

show us how concerned they are and put pressure on North Korea. The

only country that can stop North Korea is China.

China keeps the Pyongyang regime running.

Beijing worries that too much pressure could lead

to conflict or regime collapse - both potentially catastrophic.

China still favours dialogue and cautiously

using its leverage. Nothing, so far, has worked.

Attempting regime change could be disastrous.

America plans to deploy a missile defence system

to protect South Korea, but that has irked Beijing a lot.

Meanwhile, combined military exercises involving US,

South Korean and Japanese troops have irked the paranoid

Pyongyang regime even more. A North Korean minister condemned

the war games and promised that Pyongyang would "mercilessly smash

and annihilate" its enemies and reduce the American

imperialists to ruins. As the Donald J Trump

regime seeks to define its policy towards that

of the young Kim Jong-un, none of the options is good.

Trump's projection of hard power has made China nervous

and with the stakes so high, he cannot afford to alienate

President Xi, Marshal Kim's only friend in the world.

Jonathan Miller reporting. Well Donald Trump has been

appearing before the media at the White House this afternoon.

Our Washington correspondent Kylie Morris joins me now.

It is a big week for diplomacy here but to say it is important to see

the comments on North Korea in the context of his meeting with the

president of China at the end of the week. President Trump is doing

diplomacy in the way he does business, he is the deal-maker,

starting with a belligerent statement and when it gets down to

it, softens his posture, which has been his approach so far. Unlike a

real estate deal this time he will be talking to the leader of a

strategic and economic superpower who is used to setting terms

himself. The final meeting in a big diplomacy week. King Abdullah of

Jordan is here this week. And today he welcomed the Egyptian President

al-Sisi, he used to be not welcome in this town, but suddenly Donald

Trump's oldest and dearest ally. President al-Sisi has been close to

me from the first time I met him. I met during the campaign and at that

point there were two of us and we met and hopefully we will a lot

more. It was a very long, it was supposed to be a brief meeting, and

we were with each other for a long period of time.

Finally making it to the White House after the coup he

led in 2013. The State Department last one criticises government for

failing to investigate abuses by security forces and contributing

they said to an environment of impunity. Today it is about security

and the fight against so-called Islamic State.

Thanks.

I am joined by Malcolm charmers. Is he being reckless or is this the

bold move that would break the cycle of non-diplomacy, diplomacy over

North Korea? The question of what

China will do has been central to North American policy for as long as

I remember and as long as I remember, American administrations

have found the costs of the war game is affordable.

Is he putting the pressure on China, sort this out or

I will? China has different

objectives from the US in relation to North Korea, China does not want

regime collapse. Therefore it is not prepared... It wants to put some

pressure on. It does not like what North Korea is doing. China has

sponsored more friendly North Korean leaders but in recent years, their

life expectancy has been short and China is running out of options,

like the Americans. We are joined

from Colorado by Christopher Hill.

The Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies

at the University of Denver The key question is, whether Donald

Trump is coming up with a bold move that will break the deadlock or

whether he is doing something reckless, wed EU stand on this

question? It is difficult to tell

whether he is going through the briefing book or saying what is on

his mind. He is making the point, look, we would like to work with

China. That statement was in there, but, if not, we will go it alone.

The key question is really what does he mean, go it alone? If he is

talking military options, we have the inconvenient fact 20 million

South Koreans live within artillery range of some 14,000 North Korean

artillery pieces. It is very true that all the war gaming suggests

there would be a lot of civilian casualties and if you went back

route you would have to work closely with the Republic of Korea and we

would not be going it alone. The more fruitful approach would be to

work with China and see if they could do more on sanctions and make

it clear that as long as there is a North Korean threat there will be US

missiles in South Korea, that the Chinese are upset about, but that is

tough, they will have to Axa that, as long as there is a North Korean

threat. The fundamental problem with China is they do not have consensus

on what to do in this situation. A lot of Chinese officials have

historical tie to North Korea and others don't and there is no

consensus. Is it also true China

would rather see a nuclear North Korea than a collapsed North Korea?

I think the Chinese have concerns about a collapsed North Korea and

worry if the US will put troops in the northern part of what we be a

unified peninsular. With the US put listening posts on the Chinese

border? A problem they have had with the missile system is the radar and

capability of looking into China, seeing various things going on in

China. They have concerns about what a unified Korea under a US ally

would mean. It behoves the Trump administration to reach some

understanding of what it would mean and not been because ultimately a

unified Korean peninsular is a better outcome than a nuclear North

Korea. You have Trump's rhetoric and the

Chinese upset about the change of balance and the North Koreans

throwing their toys out of the pram. It is very dangerous because the

longer the Americans delay, the worse the military options get and

North Korea is on a part in the next five to ten years of having probably

long-range missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads on the

cantonment of the United States itself and no American President can

look at that prospect with any sense of anything but trepidation.

Christopher Hill, is North Korea the issue that would keep you up more

than anything in the Middle East, or indeed Russia?

Yes, any time we talk nuclear weapons, that is really what

is problematic. Lord knows, we have concerns about terrorism from the

Middle East. Compared to what a North Korean missile strike against

the mainland of the US could mean, it is truly the issue. And I

completely agree with the proposition that it is getting

tougher and tougher and the closer they get to a deliverable nuclear

weapon, the more difficult it is to dissuade them from this. I am of the

view that this really should be number one.

Briefly and finally, is Trump the right man to deal with the

situation in the way he is dealing with it?

Well, I have problems with making fake threats and not having

any idea what that means or how that would play out. I think the Chinese

look at Donald Trump and they kind of like the idea of a stronger

leader, but they are very worried about a leader who does not normally

crack his briefing book and does not appear to have a lot of substantive

background to draw on. That is

pretty damning! Thank you very much.