Beijing is signaling that it will do what it must to rein in North Korea, even if it exacts a heavy toll on China.<\/b>
\nBeijing is signaling that it will do what it must to rein in North Korea, even if it exacts a heavy toll on China.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 2371, the \u201csingle largest economic sanctions package ever leveled against the North Korean regime\u201d and \u201cthe most stringent set of sanctions on any country in a generation, \u201d over the weekend, according to U. S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. The new sanctions are expected to cut Pyongyang\u2019s $3 billion export revenue by as much as one-third. As trade with China accounts for roughly 90 percent of all North Korean trade, the sanctions are expected to hit China the hardest.
However, Chinese officials are indicating that they are willing to bear that burden.
\u201cOwing to China\u2019s traditional economic ties with North Korea, it will mainly be China paying the price for implementing the resolution, \u201d Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday. \u201cBut in order to protect the international non-proliferation system and regional peace and stability, China will fully and strictly properly implement the entire contents of the relevant resolution.\u201d
China has skirted sanctions in the past, exploiting the livelihood loophole, which suggests that the international community must apply pressure to North Korea in such a way that it does not affect the lives of the North Korean people.
\u201cEvery dollar of revenue that North Korea \u2014 that the North Korean government gets, they\u2019 re not feeding their people with it, \u201d Haley told Fox News Monday. \u201cThey\u2019 re using it toward a nuclear weapons system.\u201d
The latest round of sanctions follows two successful tests of the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile in July. Experts assess that the North\u2019s new ICBM could potentially deliver a nuclear payload to cities across the continental U. S., escalating the threat. North Korea has also tested several new short-, medium-, and intermediate-range missiles, improving its ability to threaten its neighbors in Northeast Asia. \u201cEnough is enough, \u201d Haley said.
China\u2019s acceptance of the new sanctions is surprising, considering that China tried to wash its hands of the crisis on the peninsula just last month.
\u201cRecently, certain people, talking about the Korean peninsula nuclear issue, have been exaggerating and giving prominence to the so-called \u2018China responsibility theory, ‘\u201d Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press briefing in July. \u201cI think this either shows lack of a full, correct knowledge of the issue, or there are ulterior motives for it, trying to shift responsibility.\u201d
\u201cAsking others to do work, but doing nothing themselves is not OK, \u201d he added.
China is torn between its desire to be a respected, responsible international power and its longstanding ties with North Korea, which serve Chinese strategic interests on the Korean Peninsula. Beijing is reassured by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson\u2019s statements that the U. S. is not seeking regime change, internal collapse, reunification, or an excuse to use military force against the North, but it is unclear whether or not China intends to uphold its end of the deal.
China seems to be pleased with Tillerson\u2019s repeated calls for dialogue and a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but China\u2019s long-term strategic interests in the region as a whole remain different from those of the U. S.
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