China to back N.Korea despite rocket launch: NY Times

The New York Times on Thursday said China, which expressed regret over North Korea`s launch of a long-range missile this week, will continue to support the North to hold the U.S. in check, quoting experts from the U.S. and China.

Beijing’s “regret” as expressed in an official briefing will not lead to change in its North Korea policy or support for U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang, the report added, because the U.S. is competing with China to secure greater influence in Asia, and thus Beijing does not want regime change in Pyongyang that could result in Washington playing a major role in Korean reunification. China is also fearful of social disruption due to the potential influx of North Korean refugees that could occur if a fundamental change occurs in the Stalinist country.

Another variable is Pyongyang’s nuclear tests, which have been conducted after each attempt to launch a long-range missile in recent years. Jonathan Pollack, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said in a comment to the New York Times that China is unlikely to support new sanctions on North Korea for fear that the latter will conduct another nuclear test because of the new sanctions.

Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt of the International Crisis Group, an international watchdog in Beijing, said, “China might be thinking that it will better off if the North Korean regime remains rather than the regime`s collapse.”

A Chinese professor at the Center for Korea Research in Beijing said China will join the U.N. by signing a U.N. statement criticizing the North’s latest rocket launch instead of supporting new sanctions.

witness@donga.com