{"id":77296,"date":"2024-06-20T14:35:03","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T14:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/20\/russia-and-north-koreas-defense-pact-is-a-new-headache-for-china\/"},"modified":"2024-06-20T14:35:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T14:35:03","slug":"russia-and-north-koreas-defense-pact-is-a-new-headache-for-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/20\/russia-and-north-koreas-defense-pact-is-a-new-headache-for-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia and North Korea\u2019s Defense Pact Is a New Headache for China"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/20\/multimedia\/20china-nkorea-01-qmwj\/20china-nkorea-01-qmwj-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Russia and North Korea\u2019s Defense Pact Is a New Headache for China\" title=\"Russia and North Korea\u2019s Defense Pact Is a New Headache for China\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the contest of global narratives, China has sought to cast itself as a peaceful nation opposed to dividing the world into rival camps. In contrast, it has accused the United States of building alliances that will drive the world toward a new Cold War.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet Russia and North Korea\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/19\/world\/asia\/putin-meets-kim-north-korea.html\" title=\"\">mutual defense treaty<\/a>, which calls for the two countries to provide immediate military assistance to each other in the event of war, is exactly the kind of bloc-building that China has charged the United States with. China\u2019s closest strategic partner and its only treaty ally \u2014 Russia and North Korea \u2014 are now the ones heightening the risk of Cold War-style confrontation in northeast Asia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The pact also creates more headaches for Beijing by appearing to deepen the semblance of a trilateral axis between China, Russia and North Korea, which China has sought to avoid. \u201cBeijing has very carefully stayed away from the optics of a China-Russia-North Korea axis,\u201d said Yun Sun, the director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington. \u201cIt wants to keep its options open.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Japan, South Korea and the United States could now decide that the threat posed by a Russian and North Korean defense treaty requires them to enhance their <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/17\/world\/asia\/camp-david-summit-japan-south-korea-biden.html\" title=\"\">own security arrangement<\/a>, announced last year at Camp David, by increasing troop levels or strengthening defenses along China\u2019s periphery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For those reasons, China\u2019s top leader, Xi Jinping, might not welcome the budding bromance between President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea. Meeting in Pyongyang on Wednesday, Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim heralded the defense agreement as the beginning of a new era in their relations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The pact also exposed the limitations of China\u2019s partnerships with both countries, analysts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Xi has declared a \u201cno limits\u201d relationship with Mr. Putin and pledged \u201cunswerving\u201d support for North Korea \u2014 linking arms with two like-minded authoritarian countries to push back against what they regard as American bullying around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But by aligning with two pariah states, Mr. Xi is also at risk of facing fallout from the actions of their unpredictable leaders. Mr. Putin\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has severely damaged China\u2019s relationship with the West, which has accused Beijing of not doing enough to rein in Russia. And Mr. Kim\u2019s nuclear saber rattling has helped bring two tense neighbors \u2014 Japan and South Korea \u2014 together in a trilateral defense partnership with the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Fears already abound that Russia may provide North Korea with technology to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/19\/us\/politics\/putin-kim-russia-nuclear.html\" title=\"\">bolster Pyongyang\u2019s nuclear weapons program<\/a> in exchange for munitions for use in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Xi can ill afford more surprises at a time when he needs to turn around China\u2019s struggling economy. Despite his increasingly adversarial tone toward the West, Mr. Xi remains invested in maintaining China\u2019s position in the current economic global order.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe new pact between Putin and Kim is not good news for Beijing,\u201d said John Delury, a professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University in Seoul. \u201cXi Jinping has never had an easy relationship with the headstrong Korean dynast and now has increasing reason to worry about Putin encouraging Kim\u2019s aggressive tendencies.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Between the war in Ukraine and the risk of conflict on the Korean Peninsula, Mr. Delury said, \u201cPutin and Kim are forces of instability at a time when China benefits from an orderly environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">China has sought to distance itself from the new pact, with a spokesman at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday declining to comment, saying it was a Russian and North Korean issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In reality, the Russia-North Korea treaty, coupled with the alliance between the United States, Japan and South Korea, has \u201csignificantly exacerbated\u201d the risk of \u201cconfrontation, rivalry or conflict\u201d in the region, in China\u2019s view, said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Shi said peace on the Korean Peninsula was a top priority for China, and the increasing militarization of the region put one of \u201cChina\u2019s vital interests at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">China still holds considerable sway over Russia and North Korea. The United States contends the Kremlin would not be able to sustain its war in Ukraine if China did not buy massive quantities of Russian oil or supply Russia with consumer goods and dual-use technologies, like chips and machine tools, to fuel its war machine. At the same time, North Korea relies on China for virtually all its trade, including food and energy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That sway over Moscow and Pyongyang has bolstered Beijing\u2019s importance at times when other countries have called on China to use its influence \u2014 unsuccessfully \u2014 to rein in North Korea\u2019s nuclear buildup or Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Putin\u2019s wooing of Mr. Kim creates a new competitor for Beijing for influence over North Korea, creating \u201ca windfall for Kim and a headache for Xi Jinping,\u201d said Danny Russel, a diplomacy and security analyst at the Asia Society Policy Institute.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cImportantly for Pyongyang, the partnership with Putin \u2014 while not without limits \u2014 generates valuable leverage against Beijing,\u201d Mr. Russel said. \u201cPlaying major powers off against each other is a classic play in Korean history, and North Korea\u2019s massive dependence on China in recent decades has been a liability that Kim Jong-un is eager to reduce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe scorecard shows North Korea gaining the most by far, with China potentially the biggest loser,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Keeping the Kim regime in power is a priority for Beijing to preserve a buffer between the Chinese border and U.S.-led forces stationed in South Korea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">China and North Korea officially say they are as close as \u201clips and teeth,\u201d but relations between the two neighbors have long been fraught, with a mix of mutual mistrust and common interests. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since taking power in 2011, Mr. Kim has made China uncomfortable by rapidly increasing the number of missile tests and expanding North Korea\u2019s nuclear weapons program. Mr. Xi initially refused to meet with Mr. Kim. It was only when President Trump announced plans to meet with the North Korean dictator that Mr. Xi changed course, eventually holding talks with Mr. Kim in 2018, before and after the summit with Mr. Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Xi could now feel compelled again to meet with Mr. Kim, said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/gufaculty360.georgetown.edu\/s\/contact\/00336000014RXwoAAG\/victor-cha\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Victor D. Cha<\/a>, a professor of government and international affairs at Georgetown University and the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/people\/victor-cha\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Korea chair<\/a> at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, because \u201cXi cannot afford to let Putin flaunt all of this influence over his neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The growing closeness of Russia and North Korea could give China more of an incentive to try to repair and stabilize ties with South Korea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On the same day Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim met in Pyongyang, Chinese diplomats and military officials met with their South Korean counterparts in Seoul. China wants to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul in hopes of weakening South Korea\u2019s military alignment with the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At the meeting, according to Chinese state media on Wednesday, Beijing said that the Korean Peninsula\u2019s priority should be to cool tensions and avoid moves that would intensify confrontation \u2014 language that is vague enough that it could be read as a critique of either the United States or the Russia-North Korea pact. Despite its alliance with the North, Beijing sought to depict itself as a neutral player in the dispute, saying that it has always \u201cdetermined its position based on the right and wrong of the matter itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Olivia Wang<!-- --> contributed reporting from Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/20\/world\/asia\/china-russia-north-korea.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the contest of global narratives, China has sought to cast itself as a peaceful nation opposed to dividing the world into rival camps. In contrast, it has accused the United States of building alliances that will drive the world toward a new Cold War. Yet Russia and North Korea\u2019s mutual defense treaty, which calls [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/20\/multimedia\/20china-nkorea-01-qmwj\/20china-nkorea-01-qmwj-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[168,5663,26022,17318,1358,9697,202],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77296"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77298,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77296\/revisions\/77298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}