US Secretary of Defense James Mattis yesterday said that North Korea poses a global threat and praised China's efforts to influence Pyongyang, while also criticizing Beijing over its continued "militarization" of the South China Sea.
Mattis made no mention of President Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement.
On Saturday, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada expressed support for Washington's North Korea policy.
"Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary", UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said after the unanimous vote.
Though US military exercises in the Korean peninsula had been controversial in the worldwide community, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley urged Security Council members to enforce the new sanctions.
"We desire productive relationships, but we can not allow China to use its economic power to buy its way out of other problems, whether it's militarizing islands in the South China Sea or failing to put appropriate pressure on North Korea", he said.
Rival countries have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries, but tension has steadily increased in recent years.
"Our two countries can and do co-operate for mutual benefit".
North Korea is accelerating its push to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the United States and other nations, and the US regards this as a "clear and present danger", Mattis said in his speech at the forum.
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The repeated successful missile tests by the North demonstrated steady progress in the country's pursuit of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the mainland of the US.
Mattis said in Singapore on Friday that Washington stands with its Asia-Pacific partners and allies.
The analyst argued that the United States is trying to justify its military budget by introducing North Korea as an important threat.
In a warning to China, the defense secretary expressed his intention to maintain the "freedom of navigation" operation - maritime patrols by US military vessels and other ships - in South China Sea waterways.
"The last-ditch gambling of the Trump administration for a nuclear war will only bring earlier the day when the USA mainland will turn into ashes", said the spokesperson.
The resolution slapped even more United Nations sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) and condemns the regime's continued proliferation of its nuclear and ballistic program. "We consider it urgent", he added. "The last-ditch gambling of the Trump administration for a nuclear war will only bring earlier the day when the United States mainland will turn into ashes", said the spokesperson.
The issue arose briefly during questions from his audience, but Mattis did not address it directly.
The statement said the latest resolution was said to have been put together by the U.S. and China in the "back room".
Navy Cmdr. Gary Ross, a spokesman for Mattis, said in a statement that the secretary and the prime minister reaffirmed the "excellent and long-standing" bilateral defense relationship between the United States and Singapore, as underscored by the 1990 memorandum of understanding, the 2005 strategic framework agreement and the 2015 enhanced defense cooperation agreement. "What a crummy world if we all retreat inside our borders".
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