Even before North Korea detonated its most powerful nuclear bomb yet, Japan was calling for moves to cut off its oil supply.
Even before North Korea detonated its most powerful nuclear bomb yet, Japan was calling for moves to cut off its oil supply.
Afterward, U. S. President Donald Trump threatened to halt all trade with any country that does business with Kim Jong Un’s regime. China, which supplies most of its food and fuel, on Monday called the warning “unacceptable.”
Some sort of oil embargo is likely to come up as the international community discusses a response to the nuclear test, starting with a United Nations Security Council meeting later Monday. China has resisted such a move in the past over fears that North Korea might collapse, but has grown increasingly frustrated with its rogue ally.
Still, while China might make a gesture to Trump in an effort to defuse his criticisms, it may not be the panacea the U. S. president is looking for, and do little in a practical sense to slow Kim down.
“A temporary or partial ban is possible, but the Chinese government will definitely refuse to cut off oil exports completely or permanently to North Korea, ” said Shi Yinhong, an adviser to China’s cabinet and international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing. “If China agreed to cut off oil exports completely, China would use all its tools but not achieve any purpose, and the consequence could be costly.”
Since the Korean War, Beijing has avoided prodding North Korea to the point it might collapse, fearing a destabilizing economic blow and the possibility of the U. S. military gaining influence on its border via a unified Korea. That calculation has held even while China’s interests have diverged from those of North Korea.
Relations between President Xi Jinping and Kim have been cool — a shift from prior leaderships in both countries — with state-run media occasionally sparring. Kim’s decision to conduct the nuclear test as China prepared to host leaders from the so-called BRICS nations was seen as a slight to Xi.
China supplies most of North Korea’s crude oil, according to the U. S. Energy Information Administration, but it’s hard to know exactly how much: China hasn’ t reported any volumes in its published customs data since 2013.
