What is China Thinking?
Posted: December 1st, 2010 | Author: Maha Rafi Atal | Filed under: Foreign Policy | Tags: China, North Korea, nuclear weapons, South Korea | 1 Comment »Latest post at Foreign Exchange waffles about trying to understand what’s happening on the Korean peninsula:
So here are the questions: to what extent is the DPRK acting with Chinese support, and to what extent is it acting alone? and if it is acting alone, how comfortable is Beijing with the decisions Pyongyang is making? How seriously should observers take Chinese expressions of dissatisfaction, if, as the pessimists suggest, the proposed solutions are empty? South Korean news is reporting that North Korean envoy Choe Thae-Bak is in Beijing till Saturday–is that a friendly meeting or an opportunity for reprimanding? Truth be told, we just don’t know.
What we do know is that the primary foreign policy imperative for China is its sphere of influence in northeast Asia, not the regime per se.
What is China thinking about the DPRK? They’re thinking we are on the wrong side of history with regards to the Korean Peninsula… how do we hurdle this Tiger on our way to regional hegemony.