Condoleezza Rice: 'When you're not credible about Syria, you’re not credible about North Korea'

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Condoleezza Rice on North Korea: It's a dangerous situation

On 'Hannity,' the former secretary of state reflects on foreign policy challenges

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the Trump administration on Fox News' "Hannity" Monday for its work with the Chinese government on confronting North Korea's regime over its burgeoning nuclear weapons program.

While discussing last month's Mar-a-Lago summit between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Rice said the administration "impressed upon the Chinese that they really do have to do something about the North Koreans, and they did it through the old fashioned way which was negotiation and discussion."

Rice, now a professor at Stanford University, also told host Sean Hannity that Trump's decision to strike a Syrian military airfield during the summit helped reestablish American credibility on global issues.

"Credibility is not divisible," Rice said. "When you are not credible about Syria, you’re not credible about North Korea. When you are credible about Syria, by having made that strike ... it got the Chinese's attention.

"When you say the United States means what it says and it will do what it says it’s going to do, it matters."

Rice described the situation on the Korean Peninsula as "very bad" and "dangerous" and said Trump had to keep working to "get the Chinese to change their calculation."

"You have to now say to the Chinese, 'All right, time to really get tough,'" Rice told Hannity. "Because it’s not a choice between a nuclear North Korea and the collapse of the regime. It is a choice between 'You do something about the regime or we will.'"