The United States has been relying on China to help maintain the uneasy peace in Asia, as China remains one of the only nations left to maintain diplomatic ties with North Korea.
While China has shown some interest in cooperation with America when it comes to North Korea, China-U.S. relations are strained as well. A recent example occurred earlier this month when the Chinese government called America’s deployment of defensive missile technology an South Korea a threat to their national security. President Trump will be meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week at his Mar-a-lago resort, and North Korea will certainly be a topic of conversation.
Ahead of the meeting Trump told an interviewer for the Financial Times that “if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.”Trump has long expressed concern over China’s commitment – or lack of commitment in preventing North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, as the international community has been attempting this primarily through economic sanctions and China is North Korea’s largest trade partner.
China may become more reliant on trade with North Korea, however, as America continues to levy sanctions against China. Furthermore, Trump’s plans to increase the cost of foreign products to spur U.S. production could make China more economically reliant on North Korea.
In Trump’s interview with the Financial Times he refused to elaborate on his comments, leading many to draw their own connections, including linking Trump’s recent comments with those made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who suggested that America would not be beyond launching a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.
While North Korea has not yet developed nuclear weapons capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, BBC defense and diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus recently pointed out that North Korea is very capable of launching nuclear attacks on South Korea, including U.S. military bases.
Other world leaders and experts have expressed varying levels of concern regarding Trump’s statements.Robert Kelly, an associate professor of international relations in South Korea told the Telegraph “people are probably concerned that it is more Trump erratic posturing, empty bluster.”
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, however, has expressed approval with the United Nation’s work with China and China’s influence on North Korea, and has recommended maintaining the pursuit of diplomatic relations to solve the problem rather than threatening to work around certain parties.
One of the only methods left open for the United Nations to control North Korea is through canceling aid, as the population of the country relies almost exclusively on food donated from other countries. Cutting this aid has not historically proven effective in coercing the leaders of North Korea into complying with regulation on their nuclear program, and it is unclear whether cutting aid further or even completely would convince the North Korean government to participate more willingly in bargaining, or whether it would lead them to hostility.
