Julie Bishop credits Donald Trump’s rhetoric with forcing China to act against North Korea, by Rosie Lewis.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has credited US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on North Korea for encouraging China to impose tougher sanctions against the regime, as she declared Barack Obama’s policy of “strategic patience” did not work.

As the US warns North Korea has shown “no indication” they are interested in or ready for denuclearisation talks, Ms Bishop said the Trump administration had been effective in “changing” the debate.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is using “back channels” in an attempt to engage North Korea and bring it to the negotiating table following an escalation in the war of words between Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un.

“The Chinese recalculated their risk when President Trump upped the ante in terms of the rhetoric and what he said the United States would do should they be threatened by North Korea. Instead of it just being as China has said in the past a Washington Pyongyang issue, China now sees that it must play a role,” Ms Bishop told the ABC’s Insiders program.