China ready to abandon North Korea?

China has emphasized ties with other world leaders, while Pyongyang has been criticized

China's new President Xi Jinping appeared to be in sociable mood at the BOAO economic forum in the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

China's state media has published dozens of photos showing Mr Xi glad-handing his counterparts from Australia, Cambodia and even Algeria.

In contrast, China's supposed ally, North Korea, received the rhetorical equivalent of a rap on the knuckles.
"No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains," Mr Xi warned during a speech at the opening of the forum.

The Chinese president did not mention any country by name, but it is widely believed that his words were aimed at Pyongyang.

Decades ago, China and North Korea forged a relatively close relationship based on shared historical and ideological ties. But that relationship has entered a dark period.

"Since North Korea's nuclear test in February, there has been no high-level official contact and the relationship on both sides is relatively cold," explains Professor Su Hao of China's Foreign Affairs University.

Links between the two countries failed to recover after the death of Kim Jong-Il last year, some argue. When Kim Jong-Un came to power, he failed to pay his respects to the leaders in Beijing who were providing his regime with the majority of North Korea's food and fuel aid.

"In comparison with his grandfather and his father, China has minimal personal contact with the young leader," says Cheng Xiaohe, deputy director at the Center for China's International Strategic Studies at Renmin University in Beijing.

"When this young guy came to power, he tried to show his tough face to the US and South Korea, but also to China."

'Unwelcome distraction'

Now, some academics and journalists in China are openly pushing Beijing to rethink its policy on North Korea.

In February, China's Financial Times newspaper published an op-ed article titled "China Should Abandon North Korea". Its author, editor Deng Yuwen, argued that Beijing should support Korean reunification.

He was later dismissed from his job after the Chinese foreign ministry called to complain about the article.

Mr Deng's position received support on China's internet forums, though he appears to be in the minority.

Many prominent government officials want China to maintain the status quo with North Korea, for all the usual reasons: millions of North Korean refugees could pour across China's borders if the Kim regime collapsed, creating additional economic pressures for Beijing.

Also, a unified Korea might align with Washington, the thinking goes, leaving China with a US ally right on its border.

However, that is an outdated concern that only made sense decades ago, says Dr Cheng Xiaohe.

"China is a formidable country with a large economy and a modern military," he explains.

"China is not afraid of being invaded or circled by any country."

At the same time, China is busy with its own domestic troubles and Beijing's own regional tensions in the South and East China Seas. Increased troubles from Pyongyang are an unwelcome distraction.

Chinese diplomats are attempting to defuse the problem by embracing strongly worded diplomacy and United Nations sanctions to keep Pyongyang in line.

If that fails, more direct action might be taken by reducing fuel aid, as Beijing has done in the past.

If those measures fail to work, Beijing's leaders may come to miss the relatively stable days of the elder Kims.

"Peace, like air and sunshine, is hardly noticed when people are benefiting from it," Chinese President Xi Jinping noted in his opening speech at BOAO. "But none of us can live without it."
Source: BBC Posted by Unknown 4/11/2013