SYDNEY: Australia and New Zealand stiffened their rhetoric against North Korea Sunday after the isolated state threatened Canberra with a nuclear strike, urging it to think twice before “blindly and zealously toeing the US line.”The move comes as US Vice President Mike Pence wraps up an Asia tour, which has included visits to South Korea, Japan and Australia partly to reassure allies amid fears that Pyongyang may be readying for a sixth nuclear test. Pence vowed Wednesday that the US would counter any attack with an “overwhelming and effective” response after a senior North Korean official pledged weekly missile tests and “all-out war” if the US took any action against it. In Sydney, Pence maintained calls for Pyongyang’s sole ally China to do more to rein in its neighbor. Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also urged China to use its leverage over the hermit state, describing the North Korean regime as “reckless and dangerous.”He added that Australia and the US were “absolutely united” in their determination to achieve a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. Supercarrier Carl Vinson is due to start joint exercises with Japan’s navy on Sunday, Tokyo’s defense ministry said, with the drills expected to last several days and involve two Japanese warships.

Source: Manila Times April 23, 2017 06:33 UTC