On December 2, Huanqiu published an opinion article about China’s role in dealing with North Korea. Below are some of the key points from the article.
China is still one of the few countries that, to date, has insisted on maintaining a friendly policy toward North Korea. Even though China has participated in the sanctions that the United Nations has imposed against North Korea, China remains as North Korea’s largest trade partner. During a number of UN Security Council debates, China has strongly opposed total economic sanctions against North Korea. China has stressed that the sanctions should only target the department or areas that are related to its nuclear projects and shouldn’t impact the livelihood of the North Korean people. In order not to make the North Korean people suffer from the sanctions, China has endured tremendous pressure from the U.S. and the western media.
China has done all it can for the U.S. The root cause of the North Korean nuclear crisis is the worsened hostile relationship between the U.S., South Korea, and North Korea. The mentality that (the remedy) is “China’s responsibility” is wrong. China has fulfilled its responsibility to impose sanctions against North Korea as defined in the UN Security Council resolution. As a result, we have sacrificed the relationship between China and North Korea. The U.S. and South Korea have not fulfilled their responsibility to ease the tension and promote a dialogue with North Korea. They put most of their hope on China to force North Korea to change its position.
For a period of time, the U.S. has somewhat threatened China to get China to increase sanctions against North Korea. China has done its best to excise patience in negotiating with the U.S. on our position. In the fierce conflicts between the U.S. and North Korea, China has played a key role which has prevented the situation from breaking down. As the U.S. is increasing its pressure on North Korea, it is unquestionable to believe that the loss that China will suffer will be tremendous.
As the Korean Peninsula conflict escalates to another level, most of the pressure will continue to shift to China. However, to the U.S. and South Korea: please be clear. You created this trouble so you must take the responsibility. China can’t bear that for you.
North Korea continues to violate the UN Security Council Resolution and launched a ballistic missile. It should be prepared for more sanctions. China has no reason to pay for their mistake and bear the responsibility for them. Regardless of what mistakes North Korea has made, it is wrong to impose complete economic sanctions or discontinue the diplomatic relationship and isolate North Korea. China has no responsibility to cooperate with the U.S. to fulfill this unrealistic plan. The U.S. has no command power over China and the UN Security Council.
Pyongyang should be more and more clear that, as long as it continues to conduct nuclear tests, China will not help it to be spared from future punishment. The chances that a war might break out in the Korean Peninsula are growing, but whether a war will start or not is not dependent on what China will do. The big policy for China is to maintain its independence, encourage the Security Council to come up with a reasonable policy and not give in to the excessive requests from the U.S. and South Korea.
If the situation suddenly gets even worse, China would have to deal with it.
Source: Huanqiu, December 2, 2017
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2017-12/11417389.html