China on North Korea

[Randy W]

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China needs to adhere to NK policy

 

Global Times:

 

 

The latest nuclear test in North Korea on February 12 has raised concerns about nuclear pollution among residents of North China, with the test site reportedly being less than 100 kilometers from the Jilin border. Fortunately, as yet, Chinese environmental authorities have not found any signs of pollution along the border.



We have to demand that North Korea ensures there is no pollution of Chinese soil or air. This is a red line for North Korea. It is also a guarantee the Chinese government must provide for its own people. If this line is crossed, the Korean Peninsula crisis will turn into China's crisis.



. . .



China does need to give a stern warning or even punishment to North Korea if it hurts China's interests. But the warning should be one that informs a strategic friend about China's bottom line. China cannot join the camp of the US, South Korea and Japan, by making North Korea China's enemy.



China will adhere to its pursuit of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula while maintaining its special relationship with North Korea

 

 

and again from the Global Times (today)

 

China needs to find right way to punish NK

 

 

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo are anxious to see China change its North Korean policy. Since Pyongyang's nuclear test has damaged China's interests, it's necessary for China to give Pyongyang a certain "punishment." The key problem is what the extent of this punishment should be.

. . .

if Beijing takes a sharp turn in its attitude toward Pyongyang, it will become North Korea's top enemy, which is the desire of the US, Japan and South Korea. China must avoid this situation.

Beijing is not an ally of Pyongyang, but at no point should China turn North Korea into its enemy, especially when it is crossing the nuclear threshold. This should be the strategic bottom line of China's North Korean policy. However, China should express its opposition against Pyongyang's nuclear activities through actions. The international community won't accept China's blind protection of North Korea.

Beijing should punish Pyongyang, but should also try to avoid being the focus of North Korean and global public opinion. The reduction in China's assistance to North Korea shouldn't be more prominent than the increase in sanctions by the US, Japan and South Korea. This should be the bottom line for China to participate in international sanctions against North Korea.

 

[Fu Lai]

North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test

 

"It's all ready. A fourth and fifth nuclear test and a rocket launch could be conducted soon, possibly this year," the source said, adding that the fourth nuclear test would be much larger than the third, at an equivalent of 10 kilotons of TNT.

 

"(North) Korea is not afraid of (further) sanctions," the source said. "It is confident agricultural and economic reforms will boost grain harvests this year, reducing its food reliance on China."

 

North Korea's isolated and small economy has few links with the outside world apart from China, its major trading partner and sole influential diplomatic ally.

 

China signed up for international sanctions against North Korea after the 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests and for a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in January to condemn the latest rocket launch.

 

China will continue to condemn the actions and sign on with UN sanctions, but I think they should not slow assistance to the people of the DPRK. IMO it is the govt that is to blame.