Sino File | As North Korea loses its use, China loses its patience
The halting of coal imports suggests Beijing can no longer stomach Kim Jong-un’s erratic behaviour, even at the risk of losing a buffer against US interests in Asia
China’s move to effectively cut off North Korea’s revenue lifeline by banning coal imports is the first significant signal that Beijing is willing to work with the United States to rein in its defiant neighbour after President Donald Trump’s repeated complaints.
This latest move might also indicate a willingness to break the deadlock between China and the US since Pyongyang quit the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 2003.
Trump has made repeated calls for China to get tough on North Korea, saying Beijing could end its neighbour’s nuclear programme “very quickly and easily”.
China does provide most of North Korea’s food and fuel; it has long played a crucial role to effectively keep the regime afloat and avoid a repeat of the famines of the 1990s. But the solution China truly seeks is not what the US anticipates.
North Korean diplomat arrives in Beijing for first talks since Kim Jong-nam assassination
China’s strategists have long-feared any tough action against the reclusive state might lead to its collapse, triggering a refugee wave at China’s borders and leave Beijing without a geopolitical buffer to US forces under a unified Korea.