Page 57 - Trilateral Korea Japan U.S. Cooperation

improvements will come with time if current trends continue.
North Korea could not have advanced this far without China’s
acquiescence and outright support. Thus, one fairly presumes
Beijing is happy with this state of affairs.

Beijing says it Cannot Rein in North Korea

The PRC frequently claims it can’t do anything to control
North Korean behavior. And then, at the same time, it
describes the relationship as close as “lips and teeth” and
defends the Pyongyang regime publicly and in international
forums. China no longer makes even a token effort to enforce
United Nations (much less U.S.) imposed sanctions on North
Korea.

But China could at any time shut off North Korea’s fuel and
food imports and enforce sanctions – and the North Korean
regime would be in dire straits in short order. But, Beijing
refuses to do so. Once again, one concludes that Beijing does
not mind a nuclear armed North Korea with missiles capable
of delivering these weapons, which are able to hit the United
States in addition to South Korea and Japan.

This may be a gamble of sorts for the PRC. The future is hard
to predict, and a war on the Peninsula or in the region would
cause immense economic and financial harm to Beijing, as
foreign trade on which China relies would be severely affected.
At least that’s how we would see things. But Beijing has higher
priorities and is willing to run that risk in the near to medium
term. What are these higher priorities?: to seize Taiwan; to

56 Section I : North Korea-China Relations: How and Why Does Beijing Protect and Empower Pyongyang?