Smart move by the Trump administration, Rex Tillerson and Nikki Haley.  After showing the United Nations Security Council members the proposed resolution against North Korea last Tuesday, they are calling for a vote this Monday.
China and Russia are already on record saying additional economic sanctions would be needed; but also pushing the request for diplomatic talks more prominently.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States called for a vote Monday on a U.N. resolution that would impose the toughest-ever sanctions on North Korea, a move that could lead to a showdown with the country’s biggest trading partner China and its neighbor Russia.
The Trump administration adopted a totally new approach with this resolution, circulating an American draft Tuesday and setting a vote six days later. With previous sanctions resolutions, the U.S. spent weeks and sometimes months negotiating the text with China and then presenting a resolution to the rest of the Security Council for a vote.
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More Bigly winning.  This announcement must be contextualized with timing and prior knowledge of discussions between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.   Remember, the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) just held their economic meeting.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for talks with North Korea, saying sanctions are not a solution.

Putin made the remarks Wednesday after meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Vladivostok, Russia.  North Korea says it detonated a hydrogen bomb in its sixth nuclear test on Sunday.

Putin, speaking in China on Tuesday, had condemned the nuclear test as provocative, but said that Russia views sanctions on North Korea as “useless and ineffective.” (link)

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As you might remember, in response to a thermonuclear atomic weapons test by North Korea Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is now in the process of writing additional sanctions he will guide into the hands of U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Ambassador Haley will then create a U.N. Security Council resolution containing further economic sanctions toward North Korea using treasury department guidance.
However, as a direct result of the escalation from the DPRK, we can easily predict the final draft will not just target North Korea, but will more substantively target North Korea’s economic enablers.
This is where things get super interesting because all prior U.N. action has built upon itself to these specific ‘enabler’ state sanctions.
Through two rounds of Security Council resolutions both China and Russia have supported the economic sanctions, knowing they would use various workarounds to continue their duplicity.  However, now those sanctions become a risk to the economies of China and Russia because Secretary Mnuchin is likely to use the weight of the dollar in trade contracts as the trigger for sanctions against China and Russia.
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As anticipated China responds to President Trump calling out the continuing enabling of their proxy province North Korea.  Beijing cites the possible trade leverage decision by the U.S. as “unfair”.

Panda has sad:

BEIJING (AP) — China on Monday criticized President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off U.S. trade with countries that deal with North Korea and rejected pressure to do more to halt the North’s nuclear development.
Trump issued the threat after North Korea on Sunday exploded a thermonuclear device in its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. The threat was seen as a warning to China, North Korea’s main trading partner and only major ally.
A foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, criticized Trump’s stance as unfair to Beijing.

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The geopolitical activity today reflects further evidence of China’s hand controlling Kim Jong-un as Beijing protests against President Trump calling them to task for their duplicity.   Methinks Beijing doth protest too much.
First, at an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council in New York, US ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “begging for war.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin interviewed by swamp guardian Chris Wallace.

If you’ve followed the entire strategy for a while you’ll note President Trump has no intention for direct military conflict with the DPRK. There’s simply no reason to use military intervention when the reality is: China driving N-Korea behavior to gain economic leverage.
The key to resolution is to defeat the economic objectives of Beijing. However, for purposes of providing the cornerstone for the Trump Doctrine, the military option must always remain available and visible.  The military option enables the economic leverage.
Secretary Tillerson is in Texas today and after calling numerous ASEAN allies he is communicating via phone and video links with the White House.  U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman James Dunford appeared together outside the White House today to deliver a statement after North Korea conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date.

And keep in mind, regardless of how severe the sanctions are that Treasury Secretary Mnuching might draw up, China and Russia are essentially bound to agree to them or face the dropping of the panda mask, and STILL get more economic sanctions from the U.S.
It’s like China can’t just catch a break.  The more they dig, the deeper they get,..

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday that he would put together a package of new sanctions to potentially cut off all trade with North Korea after Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
Speaking on Fox News, Mnuchin said he would ask U.S. President Donald Trump to strongly consider cutting off all trade with new sanctions.

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President Trump has hinted at deconstructing a trade deal with South Korea.  Geopolitical “experts” clutch their pearls at the possibility of President Trump targeting S-Korea at the same time that North Korea threatens the region.

WASHINGTON – President Trump confirmed Saturday that he was talking with advisers amid reports that he had instructed aides to prepare to withdraw the U.S. from its free trade agreement with South Korea.
“I am. It’s very much on my mind,” Trump told a reporter covering his day trip to Texas and Louisiana when asked if he was talking to advisers and would do something in the coming week. (more)

Media pundits join in deep sighs of concern. Oh noes, he didn’t..
CTH laughs.
People need to get their mind right with the entire principle behind ‘America-First’ and looking out for America’s best interests.  It wasn’t so long ago that South Korea was snarking back at POTUS Trump, the United States and were dismissive about paying for THAAD missile defenses etc.
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Well, that didn’t take too long.  For those who might not be familiar with the key issue in the breakdown of prior six-party talks (China, Russia, DPRK, S-Korea, Japan and U.S.), the issue was “denuclearization”.
Both China and Russia have just announced a shift in their public policy.  Together Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin agree the goal for the Korean Peninsular should be denuclearization:

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Sunday to “appropriately deal with” the latest nuclear test by North Korea, state news agency Xinhua said.
“The two leaders agreed to stick to the goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula and keep close communication and coordination to deal with the new situation,” Xinhua said in a brief dispatch.

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