Tensions in the Asia-Pacific

North Korea's second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test on July 28, three weeks after its first test on July 4, raised tensions in the Asia-Pacific and strained relations between China and the United States.

 The U.S. President Donald Trump, while tweeting from his account that the U.S. "will no longer allow this to continue," has publicly accused China for doing nothing to help the U.S. thwart North Korea's missile development program. The U.S. also flew B-1B bombers along with South Korean and Japanese fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula on July 30, in response to North Korean tests.

President Trump's latest vexation with the Chinese government's silence on North Korean ambition to develop ICBMs capable of reaching the U.S. has not been the only problem between the two countries. The U.S. and China have been at loggerheads particularly over the control of the South China Sea, where China has been trying for some time to expand its maritime presence and sovereignty through construction of various artificial islands and military facilities over them. There are other problems as well, ranging from the constant U.S. criticism of China's human rights record to Trump's arms sale plans to Taiwan and to China's alleged cyber-attacks against the U.S.

Although President Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had the chance to discuss the growing threat of North Korea during the G20 summit in Hamburg at the beginning of July, President Trump's recent tweets confirm that they are not yet on the same page. Precisely while China, which is North Korea's main economic and diplomatic ally, insists on dialogue, various statements from the U.S. indicate towards the possibility of employing more coercive policies soon, including a...