Page 40 - Trilateral Korea Japan U.S. Cooperation

Korea and China will pursue higher levels of military integration and
what China’s calculus is in protecting North Korea.

Prospects for North Korea-China Strategic Cooperation

China’s Strategic Calculations

22
China scholar You Ji introduced the idea of a fault zone ,
which is different from the traditional theory of a buffer zone.
Since military technology has made geographical constraints
less significant, there is, he said, no longer a need for a
geographical buffer zone. For China, North Korea’s strategic
importance is limited to preventing the West—including
the United States—from expanding. This is consistent with
the growing negative perception of North Korea in China
that has been growing since the 2000s, and with the delicate
balance between pressuring and sustaining the North Korean
23
regime. Nonetheless, now the competition with the United
States has become visible, China is actively embracing North
24
Korea for three reasons;

22 You Ji, “China and North Korea: a Fragile Relationship of Strategic Convenience,” Journal of Contemporary
China, 10:28 (2001), p. 387
23 Lei Yu and Sophia Sui, “Balancing between ’Two Evils’: U.S.-China Competition and China’s Strategy toward
North Korea’s Nuclear Issue,” Korea Observer, Vol.53, No.2 (Summer 2022).
24 Miguel Santos Neves, “China Policy towards North Korea and the Nuclear Question,” The Journal of East
Asian Affairs, Vol.33, No.1 (2020).

Chapter Two : North Korea’s Nuclear Threat and China’s Backing for North Korea 39