Beijing is deflecting blame for North Korea’s nuclear program, while antagonizing South Korea over THAAD. Beijing is deflecting blame for North Korea\u2019s nuclear program, while antagonizing South Korea over THAAD.<\/b>
With the North Korean nuclear crisis escalating, President Trump has repeatedly accused Beijing of refusing to use its control over Pyongyang to curb the latter\u2019s nuclear program. Today, however, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi denied that implication,\u00a0blaming rising tensions on Seoul and Washington as much as\u00a0Pyongyang. Financial Times :
The Chinese are\u00a0posing as the responsible actors here, but that disingenuous posture is unlikely to go over well in Washington or Seoul. And Wang\u2019s initial proposal\u00a0that South Korea and the United States suspend\u00a0their military exercises, in\u00a0the uncertain hope that North Korea\u00a0will play along and engage in productive talks, is likely\u00a0to be dead on arrival.
Meanwhile, as China deflects the blame for Pyongyang\u2019s activity, it\u00a0continues to\u00a0pressure Seoul over its deployment of the THAAD missile defense system. The installation of that system is currently underway , and China has registered its disapproval with coercive economic measures, from shutting down South Korean Lotte stores in China to encouraging boycotts of Korean goods and banning Chinese tour groups from the country. The severity\u00a0of the Chinese response has surprised many in South Korea, creating the impression that\u00a0China\u00a0is devoting more diplomatic energy to petty retaliation over THAAD\u00a0than actually addressing\u00a0the North\u2019s nuclear aggression.
Wang\u2019s latest words show\u00a0how difficult it will be for\u00a0Trump to solicit\u00a0China\u2019s\u00a0cooperation\u00a0in restraining Pyongyang. The Chinese ban on coal imports from North Korea offered initial hope that they might be changing tack , but prospects for intensified pressure now seem fainter. Secretary of State Rex\u00a0Tillerson heads\u00a0to Asia next week with North Korea high on the agenda; the trip\u00a0should provide an indicator of whether the United States and China can find common ground on the crisis.<\/p>\n