After North Korea’s latest nuclear test, China must lead global efforts to rein in insecure regime
The world must get tough on reclusive and dangerous leader Kim Jong-un and Beijing is best-placed to exert diplomatic muscle as never before
North Korea’s dangerous ways have for too long been tolerated by the world. Its testing of a fourth nuclear device ignores the global push for denuclearisation and threatens international peace and security.
Rightly, it has been condemned and governments have called for a united effort to bring leader Kim Jong-un’s regime to heel. But mere words and half-hearted efforts are not enough, as history has shown; the explosion that caused a tremor so powerful that life in neighbouring Jilin (吉林) province was shaken has to serve as a wake-up call, in particular for China so that the lives of its people will not be disrupted.
WATCH: North Korea announces successful hydrogen nuclear test
Beijing is leading the charge, calling for Pyongyang to return to six-nation talks to end weapons proliferation that broke down in 2012. China initiated the negotiations a decade ago and has every reason to seek a deal; the North’s nuclear and missile programmes hinder regional stability and prosperity.
Should Kim’s threats to attack South Korea and its ally, the United States, be carried out, the Chinese would be caught up in a potentially catastrophic conflict. The North’s unpredictability and provocations prove its threats cannot be taken lightly.