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Donald Trump has lunch with troops at the military installation Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Photo: Reuters

How Donald Trump and China’s efforts to halt North Korea’s nuclear plans may hit stumbling block

Beijing wants to restrain Kim Jong-un but is reluctant to impose further sanctions, analysts say

Donald Trump

China is likely to agree in high-level talks with the United States about the urgent need to stop North Korea from going ahead with its nuclear ambitions and to closely monitor Chinese companies’ ties with Pyongyang, observers said.

But the fundamental differences between China and the United States over North Korea would be exposed after US President Donald Trump touched down in Beijing on Wednesday, with China reluctant to bow to pressure to impose more sanctions, they said.

On Tuesday, Trump landed in Seoul for the second stage of his Asian tour, and will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday.

In Beijing, he will have talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, where he is expected to urge China to rein in Kim Jong-un’s regime.

Justin Hastings, an international relations scholar at the University of Sydney who has researched Chinese-North Korean trade, said it was in China’s interest to ensure Pyongyang refrained from provocation.

“Trump wants China to pressure North Korea … China’s influence on North Korea’s behaviour is overstated,” Hastings said.

“China will not impose its own sanctions against Pyongyang, but it might look at Chinese companies that violate UN sanctions more closely, or it might send a signal to North Korea via stricter trade sanctions enforcement, or trade cut-offs”.

Donald and Melania Trump land in South Korea on Tuesday. They are expected to arrive in China on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

China implemented UN sanctions against North Korea in mid-August, banning imports of coal, iron ore and other commodities from its neighbour.

In late September, it ordered North Korean companies operating within its borders to shut down within 120 days, but it did not stop sending oil across the border.

In his talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, Trump said the “era of strategic patience” with North Korea was over and that the US and Japan were working to counter the “dangerous aggression” of Pyongyang.

Last month Trump congratulated Xi on his “extraordinary elevation” after he consolidated his grip on power at the Communist Party’s national congress, describing his Chinese counterpart as a “powerful man”.

Washington maintains that this elevated status will confer the power to take tougher action against North Korea.

But Beijing has said repeatedly that it will not take action that would endanger the livelihoods of the North Korean people, and that military options and unilateral sanctions should not be considered.

Lee Kyu-tae, a geopolitics expert at South Korea’s Catholic Kwandong University, said that even though China and the US both wanted to solve the North Korea problem, the core strategic differences between the world’s two biggest economies would hinder progress.

“Beijing and Washington advocate two different ways of addressing the issue. Beijing wants Washington to come to the negotiating table, while Washington wants Beijing to step up the pressure,” Lee said. “The two can’t agree with each other as they have different interests.”

Wang Sheng, a specialist in North Korean affairs at Jilin University, said Beijing would not bow to pressure to further rein in Pyongyang and would enforce only UN sanctions.

“I suppose the two leaders might focus more on bilateral issues such as trade and the South China Sea, rather than heavily discussing North Korea,” he said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Visit will reveal gap on N Korea
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