OpinionTrump-Kim summit scorecard: China racked up gains, but so did all the other players on the Korean peninsula

Cary Huang says there can be no losers if peace is realised on the Korean peninsula because the diplomatic game requires that participants’ gains outweigh their losses

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) and China’s President Xi Jinping meet in the Chinese city of Dalian in May. Photo: AFP/KCNA

Published: 1:03pm, 19 Jun 2018Updated: 6:49pm, 19 Jun 2018

Diplomacy is about the trade-off between give and take. Any country must secure more gains than losses to agree a diplomatic deal.

That is why all players on the Korean peninsula – South Korea, North Korea, China and the United States – were effusive about the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore on June 12, hailing it with the epithet “historic”, as it served every stakeholder’s interest.

Most commentators agreed that the summit itself would be a success as long as it happened, given the real fears of conflict in the region just a few months ago when US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un exchanged threats of a nuclear war. The dreamlike face-to-face encounter between the two leaders spoke volumes for global diplomacy, although some criticised the episode as being heavy on pomp but light on substance.

Most importantly, the summit opens up an avenue for future talks on normalising US-North Korea relations, denuclearisation of the peninsula and cementing a formal peace treaty, the ultimate accomplishments for realising peace.

Trump and Kim got most of the propaganda bonanza. Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in were also praised for having made a significant contribution in enabling the summit. These leaders received a boost in public image and political legitimacy, despite each having their own hugely different political contexts.

Watch: Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ on North Korea