Beijing’s advisers have urged it to prepare for conflict as early as next year
Will 2018 be the year that war breaks out in North Korea? In 2017, the hermit state’s nuclear crisis escalated to its highest level in decades.
Reflecting the seriousness of the past 12 months’ events, Beijing’s advisers recently urged it to prepare for war that could come to the Korean peninsula as early as 2018.
So far, there is no sign the crisis can be reversed.
In the concluding year, Pyongyang fired some 23 missiles in 16 tests. In September, it conducted its sixth and largest nuclear weapons test, notwithstanding the pressure of strict United Nations sanctions.
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Punitive moves have included stronger measures by China, the North’s greatest trading partner and ostensible ally, amid loud calls by the US for Beijing to “do more” to curb North Korean aggression.
As the North Korean crisis tops the agenda in Sino-US relations, dealing with the issue has tested the two countries’ complex relationship.
Pushing for harsher sanctions against North Korea, US President Donald Trump fired off salvoes on Twitter accusing China of failing to help Washington contain Pyongyang’s aggression. The first UN Security Council sanctions under the Trump administration came in June with China’s help, targeting Chinese companies’ financial ties to North Korean missile and nuclear programmes.
‘North Korea is a time bomb’: government advisers urge China to prepare for war
Later that month, the US slapped deeper unilateral sanctions on Chinese individuals, a bank and companies. One of the targeted firms told the South China Morning Post that it no longer did business in North Korea.
China also supported a UN resolution that seeks to ban nearly 90 per cent of refined petroleum product exports to North Korea on Friday.
Beijing bristled at the pressure from Washington. Saying all sides needed to work towards a solution, China’s foreign ministry championed the dual suspension of North Korea’s nuclear programmes and US-South Korea military drills.
In February, China said it would suspend all coal shipments from the isolated kingdom, one of North Korea’s top exports to China. Chinese imports of North Korean goods continued to decline, causing Chinese traders along the border to feel the pinch.
Despite these measures, Pyongyang continued its series of missile tests, including the successful launch of its first intercontinental ballistic missile in July.
