North Korea issue doubles as a gateway to presidents’ dialogue, but Beijing has learned perils of helping the US in return for trade concessionsDisputes with Washington could affect how strictly Beijing enforces sanctions against Pyongyang
As the leaders of China and the United States prepare for their much-anticipated meeting in Argentina over the weekend, the South China Morning Post looks at the increasingly strained ties between the two nations. This second part looks at how North Korea has influenced China-US relations. Read the first part here.
North Korea will be high on the agenda as the leaders of China and the United States meet in Argentina this week to revive cooperation, but deep-rooted distrust is likely to prevent any major changes in their rivalry, observers say.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, are set to meet at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires two weeks after there was open hostility between the two nations at the Apec meeting in Papua New Guinea.
The two leaders talked by phone early this month and agreed to meet in Argentina’s capital to lay the ground for further discussions on North Korea, allowing them to repair relations that have weakened over the past year because of trade friction.
Analysts generally agree that the two sides will reaffirm their stance on denuclearisation and commitment to the United Nations sanctions on the Kim Jong-un regime, giving a chance for them to cooperate despite their vast differences on trade.
Yang Jiechi, director of the Communist Party’s Office of Foreign Affairs, said at the US-China diplomatic and security dialogue this month that China would “continue to enforce strictly” the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Zhao Tong, a fellow with the nuclear policy programme at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy in Beijing, said the ongoing trade war was presenting China serious challenges that might have affected its decision to accommodate the US, an outcome that could be repeated in Buenos Aires.
“It cannot be ruled out that China may decide to cooperate more closely with the United States on North Korea to get Washington to stop the trade war,” Zhao said.
