North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program Is Obviously Part of China’s Strategy
It is clear that North Korea could have the technical ability to develop its own nuclear weapons program, because the technology involved is 75 years old.
However, it is clearly nonsense to think that North Korea could become a nuclear power without China’s protection and support for the project. It is also ridiculous to think that Pyongyang’s feudalistic and isolated regime has had the capability to survive on its own for 75 years, and has autonomy in deciding its foreign policy against China’s wishes.
North Korea’s economy is just 2% of South Korea’s, and its trade volume is less than 0.4% of South Korea’s. Yet, Pyongyang has consistently threatened South Korea and even the U.S. for almost 30 years after its withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993. Pyongyang has already carried out six nuclear weapons tests since 2006, and has performed many Inter-continental ballistic missile tests. In spite of such escalation, China has not seriously tried to deter Pyongyang’s weapons development.
Instead, China is trying to deter a common goal of the international community, which is to bring North Korea’s nuclear programs to an end.
China has continually protected the Pyongyang regime, sabotaging sanctions against North Korea initiated by the United States and international bodies. As history shows, China has never been a generous nation to its neighbors. China effectively made North Korea part of its extended territory, a military outpost that can help to defend the Chinese Communist Party’s monopoly of power. The primary role of Pyongyang is to prevent the spread of freedom and democracy stemming from South Korea and the U.S. For more than 70 years, the Pyongyang regime, as a vassal state of China, has faithfully played its role by taking an aggressive and hostile stance against the free world.
Without Beijing’s protection from the pressure of the International community, it would have been impossible for Pyongyang to have persistently developed and tested nuclear weapons. China is behind North Korea, pulling the strings. Pyongyang heavily relies on energy supplies from Beijing for its survival. About 93% of North Korea’s foreign trade is with China. Pyongyang is a proxy of China, implementing its nuclear strategy on behalf of its master. For the sake of the regime’s survival, Pynongyang must continue its nuclear strategy. The 25 million North Koreans are victims of the Kim dynasty’s totalitarian rule and also victims of the Chinese Communists’ rule for 70 years.
North Korea’s nuclear weapons strategy is nothing but an appendage of the nuclear strategy of China, which uses Pyongyang as its puppet. China has clearly been sponsoring North Korea’s nuclear weapons program while feigning strong opposition to Pyongyang’s projects. China has tried to frustrate the efforts of the U.S. by weakening or violating international sanctions on North Korea.
Now it is apparent that neither President Obama’s and nor President Trump’s approaches were able to make any progress on this issue for the past dozen years. Obama’s approach focused on persuading Pyongyang to give up its program through collaboration with China in the name of “strategic patience” and engaging in the Six-Party Talks. That approach gave Pyongyang time to improve its weaponry, and also elevated the standing of Beijing in terms of global diplomacy. Trump’s first approach was threatening and pressuring Pyongyang, but he then tried to cut a “big deal” with North Korea through direct meetings and negotiations in Singapore and Hanoi.
The Obama and Trump administrations have not succeeded in forcing Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. Through many attempts and failures, it has become clear that negotiation and dialogue with the proxy in Pyongyang are meaningless. Now it is time for the international community, including the U.S., to press Beijing to finally take a position against Pyongyang’s projects, and compel Beijing to immediately cease its support for Pyongyang. If China refuses its responsibility by continuing to provide Pyongyang with energy and currency, the U.S. and the international community should impose a strong secondary boycott and rigorous sanctions policy against China until Pyongyang gives in.
