The announcement that North Korea possesses Nuclear Weapons, whether validated or not, raises the question
for many scholars as to whether or not the DPRK screwed China. In a translated piece, Antonio Chiang states:
Beijing has been playing a very active role in the talks, and North Korea's move demonstrates that Beijing's influence has been overestimated. China has been left with egg on its face, courtesy of North Korea, which has taken back the initiative.
The Economist also reported that North Korea's nuclear surprise took Beijing along with the rest of the world by surprise.
However, the real question is not whether or not China knew that Kim was going to pull out of the six-nation talks. It seems pretty clear that they did not. The real question is whether or not China can get North Korea and the United States back to the table. And it seems pretty clear that they can. More below the fold.
After a visit to North Korea by Wang Jiarui,
China called on the US and the DPRK to resume talks without delay. And the US responded in kind, declaring its willingness to go back to the table. Was China left with egg on its face? Absolutely not. Rather, the PRC comes away looking like the nation that is willing to bend over backwards to ensure peace in East Asia.
Now, let me clarify that I firmly believe that the US should be engaged in talks with the DPRK. But not at the beck and whim of China, dependent on the goodwill of Beijing. North Korea did not screw China with its announcement that it possesses nuclear weapons. Instead, it allowed Beijing another opportunity to play international deal-maker, further enhancing its role as a diplomatic power and further decreasing the perceived power of the United States in this agenda.
If the United States wants real progress in North Korea, it needs to be willing to meet on a one-on-one basis with the Kim regime. While wingnut claims that any bilateral concessions would "embolden" North Korea, it takes real blinders to realize that China is capitalizing on the six-nation talks to flex its newfound diplomatic strength at the direct expense of the US.
For more discussions on North Korea and China, visit Alternate State, my foreign policy blog.