Recently there has been a muffled discussion as to where exactly the North Korean leader may be. http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3409357
If you consider running around Guangzhou supported by a 30 car motorcade all the while evicting residents of local hotels a marriage to secrecy, you've either underestimated the ambitious Japanese media or your looking to draw attention upon yourself.
North Korea, a declared communist state naturally seeks assistance through like-minded governments. China's role in handling North Korea needs to be asserted in order to shift international policy in China's favor. The recent topics of discussion have been primarily focused on convincing North Korea to take up it's cousin's economic policy, implementing minor reforms in order to become more autonomous and economically independent.
Despite risking short term troubles with U.S. policy makers, the long term benefits of support leading to a stable North Korea will reap 2 fold rewards for China. The subsidies being shoveled out to North Korea by China are the primary point of order; an increase in Korean marketability would allow for the development of a more solid infrastructure and decrease the necessity of China-based financial life support. Furthermore, were Korea to implement China's policy the U.S. would enjoy the benefit of a less threatened entity of East Asia.
It is incumbent upon China to take care of it's ally, and as such it only makes sense to attempt to give Korea the opportunity to develop economically.
As of now, even if the attempt at secrecy of the eccentric leader to the north should be jeopardized, I would only hope that Kim and Jintao would reach some sort of conclusion during his stay in southern China.
1 Comments:
I too have wondered about China's role in the entire N.Korea debacle. What kinds of incentives exist for China to become involved or remain uninvolved? Does having a reckless neighbor benefit China? If not, then why doesn't China move more aggressively to encourage N.Korea to make reforms that would make it more acceptable to the international community? On the one hand, it may actually benefit China for N.Korea to draw the ire of the US and others. By acting as a lightning rod for US criticism, N. Korea may actually draw negative US attention in the typical areas of human and political rights away from China. On the other hand, it is unlikely that China wants N.Korea to behave too recklessly. Indeed, if N.Korea is perceived to be too much of a threat, then it could cause Japan to rearm and the US to focus more of its military attention on East Asia. Neither outcome is desirable for China. Increased US presence in the area threatens China's status as a regional major power and increases the rivalry between the US and China. Japanese rearmament will likely draw a like response from China and thereby trigger an arms race between China and Japan. So, what does China want? Whatever it is trying to achieve in N.Korea, I think the stakes are larger than just the cost of the financial support that it sends to N.Korea.
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