Trump has placed a lot of hope on China to take action to resolve the problem of North Korean nuclearization and missile testing.

Since 90% of North Korea’s trade with China, this is, in some ways, a reasonable expectation, but at the same time, it is not likely to succeed for a number of reasons – China’s Influence is limited, China fears the collapse of the regime, and if China puts more pressure on Korea, it could start a war.

Since time is limited (in debate speeches), let’s start with the offense –

*War

If China steps-up its sanctions, the regime will collapse, triggering a nuclear war on the peninsula

CBS News, 7-4-17, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-government-urges-restraint-after-north-korea-missile-launch/

China doesn’t think that’s a fair understanding of the situation,” he told us. “If China steps up its sanctions, it’s totally possible that North Korea will increase its threat to China.” China has been unwilling to entirely cut off crude oil supplies to North Korea because that would likely cause the North Korean regime to collapse. China fear