Stability and Strategy: Why Is China So Easy on North Korea?

CNBC
While the world watches North Korea test yet another missile in defiance of international sanctions and warnings, China continues to be a friend to Kim Jong Un's regime.

Chinese Envoy Wraps up North Korea Trip after Meetings

The Associated Press
ABC
A high-level Chinese envoy wrapped up a four-day trip to North Korea on Monday after meeting with top officials and discussing the tense state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula and other issues.

Exclusive: China Curbs Tourism to North Korea Ahead of Trump Visit

Sue-Lin Wong and James Pearson
Reuters
Chinese tour operators based in the border city of Dandong have been told to halt trips to the North Korean capital Pyongyang, five sources told Reuters on Tuesday, the day before U.S. President Donald Trump’s first official visit to China.

Sinica Podcast

09.22.17

North Korea Behind the Scenes

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
North Korea is a mystery to nearly everyone—even those who have dedicated their lives to studying the country, including Korean experts based in Seoul, national security experts in Washington or Beijing, and a variety of foreigners who have spent...

Chinese State Newspaper Says Trump Trade Probe Will ‘Poison’ Relations

Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to his top trade adviser to investigate supposedly unfair Chinese trade practices will “poison” relations between the two countries, a Chinese state-run newspaper said on Monday.

Spotlight: Washington, Pyongyang Step up War Rhetoric, Further Escalate Tensions over Korea Nuclear Issue

Xinhua
In the latest of the increasingly intense war of words, Pyongyang said it would prepare a plan by mid-August to strike the U.S. territory of Guam with intermediate missiles, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Thursday.

Sinica Podcast

07.24.17

Straight Talk on North Korea and China

Jeremy Goldkorn & Kaiser Kuo from Sinica Podcast
Lyle Goldstein, an associate professor and strategic researcher at the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute, is an expert on Chinese and Russian security strategies. He is also an insightful commentator on what is going on...

China’s New Silk Road Promises Trade and Riches, with President Xi at Helm

Ben Blanchard, Sue-Lin Wong
Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping and 29 other heads of state on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to build an open economy and ensure free and inclusive trade, under the ambitious Belt and Road initiative led by Beijing.

North Korea Blights China’s One Belt, One Road Party with Missile Launch

James Griffiths
North Korea’s missile launch Sunday came at a highly embarrassing time for China, its chief ally and economic partner. As Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared to inaugurate the Belt and Road Forum, Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile from a base in...

North Korea Expected to Ask China for a Break at Summit

Kristin Huang
South China Morning Post
North Korea is expected to press China to tone down its economic sanctions when its delegation attends an infrastructure and trade summit in Beijing on Sunday, observers said.

China Tells U.S. and North Korea to ‘Stop Irritating Each Other’

Ben Blanchard
Independent
China has called on all parties in the Korean standoff to stay calm and “stop irritating each other” a day after North Korea said the United States was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war.

The North Korea Rhetoric Is Angry -- but Is Conflict Closer?

Joshua Berlinger, Brad Lendon
CNN
U.S. warships and submarines are on the move. North Korea has carried out its largest ever live-fire drill. Washington and Pyongyang are trading inflammatory rhetoric on a weekly basis.

Xi, Trump Discuss Ties, Korean Peninsula Situation over Phone

Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Monday discussed bilateral ties and the situation on the Korean Peninsula on phone, pledging close contact by various means to promptly exchange views on major issues of common...

China’s Leader Urges Restraint on North Korea in Call With Trump

CHRIS BUCKLEY
New York Times
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged President Trump to show restraint toward North Korea despite signs that the North may be preparing a nuclear test. Mr. Xi made the appeal in a phone call with Mr. Trump on Monday that reflected growing alarm...

China Is Sending the U.S. a New Message about North Korea

Evelyn Cheng
CNBC
Beijing appears to be sending fresh signals about its view on North Korea, in order to convince U.S. President Donald Trump to take less aggressive action against the rogue nuclear state, several political analysts say.

China Is Squeezing North Korea - but Not Too Hard

Jethro Mullen
CNN
China wields huge influence over the North Korean economy, accounting for more than 80% of its smaller neighbor’s foreign trade and serving as its main gateway to the rest of the world.

China Reveals New Dongfeng Missiles

Hong Soon-do
Huffington Post
China has been staging its armed demonstrations recently, which seems to be aimed at suppressing rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

US Official: With Eye on North Korea, China Puts Bombers on ‘High Alert’

Ryan Browne, Elise Labott
CNN
China put cruise missile-capable bombers ‘on high alert’ this week as the United States sees evidence the Chinese military is preparing to respond to a potential situation in North Korea, a US defense official told CNN.

Why Trump’s Plan to Use China against North Korea Is Probably Doomed

Zeeshan Aleem
Vox
President Trump believes the road to disarming North Korea runs through China, its biggest and most powerful ally. The problem is that Beijing doesn’t seem willing to do much of anything to rein Pyongyang in.

China’s Korea Policy ‘in Tatters’ as Both North and South Defy Sanctions

Washington Post
On Monday, South Korea announced that it would press ahead with the “swift deployment” of a U.S. missile defense system, despite vociferous Chinese opposition.

Will China Stand Aside if North Korea Wants to Talk to Trump?

South China Morning Post
The science of using artificial intelligence to gauge the destructiveness of each bomb, however, is not something North Korea seems interested in, even though Pyongyang has access to super computers. Why?

Air China Clarifies Ticket Sales to Blame for Temporary Flight Cuts to Pyongyang; No Suspension of Services

South China Morning Post
Air China, the only Chinese carrier with regular services to North Korea, clarified on Friday that it was not suspending flights between Beijing and Pyongyang, state media reported.

North Korea Is Increasingly a Focus of U.S.-China Meeting

ABC
The White House is talking in more urgent terms about North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, as President Donald Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping approach.

Trump Ready to Tackle North Korea Alone—FT Exclusive

Lionel Barber, Demetri Sevastopulo, and...
Financial Times
Donald Trump has warned that the U.S. will take unilateral action to eliminate the nuclear threat from North Korea unless China increases pressure on the regime in Pyongyang.

How to Persuade China to Squeeze North Korea’s Lifeline

Patricia Kim
Foreign Policy
Beijing is reluctant to give Pyongyang a real ultimatum—but the U.S. can bring it round

North Korea Mocks China for ‘Dancing to U.S. Tune’

Jonathan Cheng and Chun Han Wong
Wall Street Journal
North Korea appeared to lash out at Beijing in a state-media commentary published Thursday, aiming unusually pointed rhetoric at a powerful neighbor that Pyongyang has long relied on for economic and diplomatic support.

China, Russia Condemn North Korea’s Missile Launch

Joshua Berlinger
CNN
China has voiced opposition to North Korea’s test of a reported new ballistic missile more than 24 hours after reports of the launch emerged. But the country shrugged off suggestions it should be doing more to intervene in the rogue state’s military...

North Korea Special Envoy Sent to China for Talks

Margie Mason
Huffington Post
Because Choe Ryong Hae has high-level military and ruling party positions, he can cover a variety of topics and likely will discuss security, normalization of economic ties and possible requests for aid when he meets with Chinese officials. 

Bank of China Closes Account of Key North Korean Bank

Reuters
The closure is the first significant, publicly announced step taken by a Chinese entity to curb its dealings with North Korea in the wake of international pressure to punish Pyongyang over its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programs.&nbsp...

China’s Xi Signals Limited Shift Away From North Korea

Peter Ford
Christian Science Monitor
The current situation, in which North Korea has threatened the US and its ally South Korea with nuclear strikes, is “a golden opportunity for the US and China to work together and build mutual trust.”  

China ‘Shifts Position’ On North Korea

Malcolm Moore
Telegraph
Beijing appears to prefer the devil it knows, in the shape of the unpredictable Kim family regime, to the uncertainties, and perhaps American influence, that a reunification on the Korean peninsula could bring, but that seems to be changing.&...

Infographics

04.09.13

China, North Korea, and Nuclear Arms

Ouyang Bin, David M. Barreda & more
As tensions again escalate on the Korean Peninsula, ChinaFile examines more than a decade of developments in North Korea’s nuclear armaments program. We begin our timeline in late 2002, when China first joined diplomatic discussions, paving the...

Reports

01.22.10

China-North Korea Relations

Dick K. Nanto, Mark E. Manyin, Kerry Dumbaugh
Peony Lui
Congressional Research Service
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) plays a key role in U.S. policy toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). The PRC is North Korea’s closest ally, largest provider of food, fuel, and industrial machinery, and...