China`s mixed signals on N.Korea`s nuke test

China has been sending mixed signals since North Korea’s third nuclear test. While many voices in China are urging sanctions on the North Korea in a break from the past, Beijing continues to embrace Pyongyang. If China does a balancing act between North Korea and the world, Pyongyang will strongly believe that Beijing will never abandon it again even if it plays with nuclear fire.

In a news conference to Chinese and global correspondents as part of China’s National People’s Congress on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said, “Sanctions are not the fundamental solution to (North Korea’s) nuclear issue. Related parties should stay calm and disciplined.” Pyongyang explicitly threatened to turn Seoul and Washington into "a sea of fire" in response to the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council. How would Yang have responded had Beijing received the same threat?

China’s Transport Ministry ordered strict implementation of U.N. National Security Resolution 2087, which was adopted in the wake of North Korea’s long-range missile launch in December last year. After the Security Council adopted Resolution 2094 against North Korea on March 3, China’s Ambassador to U.N. Li Baodong said, “The full implementation of the new resolution is important.” So what is China’s real intent? Is it the implementation of the Security Council resolution that it agreed on or a neutral approach that pits South Korea and the U.S. against North Korea, which made the provocations?

North Korea`s third nuclear test conducted Feb. 12 was a provocation against a new leader in South Korea as well as against the U.S. and China. Seoul and Washington as well as Beijing have urged Pyongyang to get rid of its nuclear program. China’s new leader Xi Jinping, who will officially be elected president soon, should recognize that the North’s nuclear test is a challenge to himself and show a strong response. The Chinese leadership under Xi can control North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if it shows a tough stance from the beginning.

After North Korea`s latest nuclear test, a growing number of Chinese are urging North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons. The Financial Times ran an op-ed by Deng Yuwen, deputy editor of Study Times, the journal of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China. Deng said, “Beijing should give up on Pyongyang and press for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula.” A Chinese staged a protest demanding no further aid for and strong sanctions on North Korea, opposing nuclear tests. Chinese Internet users circulated a video clip criticizing the nuclear test and their government`s lukewarm attitude, with one saying, “A renegade roars in Pyongyang but his brother in Beijing is just trying to comfort him.” If the Chinese leadership ignores public opinion to embrace the North Korean dictator, it could face heavy criticism from the Chinese people.

North Korea gets most of its food and crude oil from China. If Beijing increases sanctions on Pyongyang, the latter will feel a threat to its survival. If China no longer tolerates the North`s nuclear armament, it must not miss this golden opportunity to tackle the crisis by actively participating in the implementation of stricter U.N. sanctions.

North Korea has announced that it will withdraw from the 1953 armistice Monday to protest Key Resolve, an annual military exercise conducted by South Korea and the U.S. Beijing, as a party to the armistice 60 years ago, has a responsibility to deter Pyongyang from engaging in destructive action.