North Korea’s impending launch of what appears to be a ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States puts a spotlight on China, the North’s closest ally and benefactor. Click below to read the rest of the story.
China has insisted publicly to the U.S. that it has little influence over the weapons programs of its reclusive neighbor, even though it is the North’s largest provider of food, fuel, and industrial machinery, according to the Congressional Research Service.
While the U.S. State Department presses China to use its influence to stop the launch, foreign policy experts say China is urging restraint because its aims differ from the U.S.
“China has less influence than we think, but more than it uses,” said Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, Northeast Asia director for the International Crisis Group.
The West’s priority is for North Korea to stop threatening its neighbors and end an illegal nuclear program that is suspected of transferring nuclear technology to other states, such as Syria. But China’s communist leadership’s priority is to ensure the impoverished dictatorship does not erupt in revolution or uprisings, experts say.
China fears a flood of refugees more than North Korea’s uranium-enrichment program or missile technology, and sees the North as a useful buffer between it and U.S.-backed democratic South Korea, Kleine-Ahlbrandt said.
