Beijing wants to restrain Kim Jong-un but is reluctant to impose further sanctions, analysts say
Beijing is likely to agree with the United States about the urgent need to stop North Korea from going ahead with its nuclear ambitions and closely monitor Chinese companies’ ties with Pyongyang during high-level talks between the two sides, observers said.
But the fundamental differences between China and the United States over North Korea will be exposed when US President Donald Trump touches down in Beijing on Wednesday, as China is 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.
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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 cutoffs”.
