Western powers can't blame China for North Korea's wayward deeds
- Source: Global Times
- [21:44 June 16 2010]
- Comments
By Yu Donghui
In recent years, when North Korea took provocative actions, Western countries have always looked to China, regarded as the only country that has influence on North Korea, in the hope that it will get tough with North Korea and change its reckless behavior.
The latest example is South Korea's investigation accusing North Korea of sinking South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in March. The US and South Korea are pushing sanction against North Korea in the UN. Obviously, they are not satisfied with China's modest response to this incident.
I recently covered on-site a seminar of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC. Thomas Christensen, a professor with Princeton University and former deputy assistant secretary of State for Chinese affairs, expressed his disappointment with China.
He said that China's "inability or unwillingness to take stronger and more effective measures to change that behavior by North Korea has served to undercut a lot of China's foreign policy strategy. There is a very high cost for China in what North Korea is doing."
This sentiment is spreading in Washington diplomatic circles. Some even argue that whether China supports the punishment of North Korea over the Cheonan incident will be a litmus test for Beijing's sincerity in cooperating with the US on global issues.
From the views of these experts, it seems that as long as China is tough enough on North Korea, the problem will be solved automatically.
Some scholars on the scene questioned this rhetoric. Why does the US blame China every time for a reckless North Korea? It's as if in dealing with a naughty child, you do not talk to him directly but ask his friendly neighbor to punish him. It does not seem to be reasonable.
Actually, US scholars admit that the US has few options in dealing with North Korea. Cooperation among China and South Korea on North Korea issues has been hobbled by impulses toward political, strategic and economic competition. The fundamental obstacle to the trilateral cooperation is rooted in the deferent interests and approaches.
China's strategy toward North Korea is to maintain a peaceful and stable Korean Peninsula, no matter what happens. This is understandable because China could not afford the flood of refugees if the North Korean regime collapsed. More importantly, the success of the US "regime change" policy would bring a geopolitical disorder to China.
In fact, like US-Japan alliance, US-South Korean alliance is also a bargaining chip for the US to hedge China. Bonnie Glaser, senior fellow of the CSIS, pointed out that China harbors numerous suspicions about South Korea and US intentions toward the North.
China worries that the US allies would use a unified peninsula as a base for military operations in the Taiwan Straits and that the US would reunify the peninsula to further its "encirclement" of China.
Therefore, to relieve Chinese concerns, the US should offer strategic reassurances to China, especially taking more cautious and prudent approaches to the Taiwan question, and reducing China's fear. US-South Korean alliance should enhance the transparency of its operations to ease China's worries.
Moreover, the US should not overestimate the influence of China on North Korea. North Korea has been playing games between China and the US over years, trying to get benefits from both. But the US has no consistent policy toward North Korea and sometimes is also trapped in strategic dilemmas.
