A North Korean crisis is at hand, what can China do to prepare?
Worst-case scenario would involve refugees and nuclear fallout in border areas if conflict breaks out over Pyongyang’s missile programme, analysts say
China needs to start preparing for a possible crisis if tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme escalate into a military conflict, experts have warned.
The stark assessment comes as hopes of a diplomatic solution to North Korea’s missile tests remain bleak and fears increase of a military showdown between Washington and Pyongyang.
Possible threats in a worst-case scenario involve nuclear contamination near China’s border with North Korea and the influx of thousands of refugees if a crisis breaks out.
Beijing has routinely kept quiet about its preparedness for such a scenario on the Korean peninsula amid reports of China boosting security along its North Korean border.
“Under the mounting pressure from the US and UN sanctions, I’m very pessimistic about prospects in the peninsula,” said Zhang Tuosheng, director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies. “China needs to have en emergency plan to deal with the influx of refugees and possible nuclear contamination,” he said.