Why US calls for China to act over North Korean missiles may test limits of Beijing’s influence
- Kim Jong-un’s regime has stepped up its testing this year, prompting the US and South Korea to ask China to do more to rein in the North
- It is unclear how far Beijing can pressure Pyongyang, and some Chinese observers say it is reluctant to push too hard
North Korea’s latest missile tests have prompted the United States and South Korea to renew their efforts to get China to rein in its ally, but according to Chinese analysts, there are limits to what Beijing can do.
But Washington has said it wants Beijing to do more to curtail North Korea’s activities. On Monday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “The president was very clear after meeting with President Xi about the influence that we know Beijing can have in Pyongyang, and we would like to see them use that influence appropriately … And the bottom line is we haven’t seen them use that influence.”
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol also urged Xi to do more when they met on the sidelines of last month’s Group of 20 summit, saying: “We expect China to play a more active and constructive role.”
Shi Yinhong, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said China used to put pressure on North Korea but had failed to make Pyongyang scale down its nuclear and missile programmes and risked making it a “long-term enemy”.