ID :
189343
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 23:31
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/189343
The shortlink copeid
China 'walking a fine line' in dealing with N. Korea
North Korea's growing dependence on China, reflected by the launch of new joint economic zones along their border, drives a wedge among parties seeking to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons drive, experts here said Friday.
Jonathan Pollack, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, pointed out that China is taking advantage of the flexible implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in 2009 to punish Pyongyang for its second nuclear test.
"It's important to note that the way the Security Council resolution following the nuclear test in 2009, when it was drafted, it has a sufficiently elastic quality that the Chinese can and do argue that what they are doing is not in defiance of the sanctions, since the sanctions do not place any sanctions on normal economic collaboration between states or to humanitarian assistance," he said at a forum to mark the publication his new book, "No Exit: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons and International Security."
He said that the Chinese are walking a fine line, however.
"It does seem to me that an increase of their assistance to the North and the North's growing dependence on China, where perhaps now 75-80 percent of North Korea trade is with China, creates the problem of divisions within those trying to inhibit North Korea's nuclear weapons development," he added.
He was referring to a recent initiative by North Korea and China, its closest political and economic ally, to create joint economic complexes on the sandy islands of Hwanggumpyong and Wihwa along their river border.
The move came shortly after the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, visited China and held summit talks with President Hu Jintao late last month.
For China, Pollack said, it is an indirect way for economic collaboration with North Korea without alarming the reclusive communist nation that the outside world might make excessive inroads into it.
Jack Pritchard, president of Korea Economic Institute, noted the timing of the special economic zones announcement.
He recalled the exchange of trips by Chinese President Hu Jintao and the North's leader in October 2005 and January 2006. At that time, Kim's request for massive economic assistance was reportedly turned down by Hu, and the North went ahead with a nuclear test in October 2006.
A very important question is whether China is worried that "something bad can happen in connection with this," he said, with the Chinese asking, "So do we now need to move forward in some limited elements -- in a safe and relatively controlled zone?"
Reviewing the Obama administration's policy on Pyongyang, meanwhile, Pollack and Pritchard agreed that its ultimate goal seems to be minimizing risk instead of seeking the unrealistic goal of coaxing the North into abandoning its nuclear weapons program.
Jonathan Pollack, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, pointed out that China is taking advantage of the flexible implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in 2009 to punish Pyongyang for its second nuclear test.
"It's important to note that the way the Security Council resolution following the nuclear test in 2009, when it was drafted, it has a sufficiently elastic quality that the Chinese can and do argue that what they are doing is not in defiance of the sanctions, since the sanctions do not place any sanctions on normal economic collaboration between states or to humanitarian assistance," he said at a forum to mark the publication his new book, "No Exit: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons and International Security."
He said that the Chinese are walking a fine line, however.
"It does seem to me that an increase of their assistance to the North and the North's growing dependence on China, where perhaps now 75-80 percent of North Korea trade is with China, creates the problem of divisions within those trying to inhibit North Korea's nuclear weapons development," he added.
He was referring to a recent initiative by North Korea and China, its closest political and economic ally, to create joint economic complexes on the sandy islands of Hwanggumpyong and Wihwa along their river border.
The move came shortly after the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, visited China and held summit talks with President Hu Jintao late last month.
For China, Pollack said, it is an indirect way for economic collaboration with North Korea without alarming the reclusive communist nation that the outside world might make excessive inroads into it.
Jack Pritchard, president of Korea Economic Institute, noted the timing of the special economic zones announcement.
He recalled the exchange of trips by Chinese President Hu Jintao and the North's leader in October 2005 and January 2006. At that time, Kim's request for massive economic assistance was reportedly turned down by Hu, and the North went ahead with a nuclear test in October 2006.
A very important question is whether China is worried that "something bad can happen in connection with this," he said, with the Chinese asking, "So do we now need to move forward in some limited elements -- in a safe and relatively controlled zone?"
Reviewing the Obama administration's policy on Pyongyang, meanwhile, Pollack and Pritchard agreed that its ultimate goal seems to be minimizing risk instead of seeking the unrealistic goal of coaxing the North into abandoning its nuclear weapons program.
