Positive role of China

Can Xi-Kim summit revive US-N. Korea talks?

Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his two-day visit to North Korea, Friday. His visit drew keen attention from the international community because it came amid the stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington as well as the escalating U.S.-China trade war.

Xi's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jongun raised expectations that China will play a positive role in bringing the North back to the negotiating table for nuclear disarmament. It is encouraging to see Xi expressing support for the "political" resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue during his summit with Kim, Thursday. The Chinese leader vowed to play a "positive" and "constructive" role in achieving the denuclearization of the peninsula.

Kim's remarks also heightened, to a certain degree, a hope for the resumption of the negotiations with the U.S. He said the North will "stay patient" although there is a lack of a positive response from the U.S. to its efforts to resolve the problem. Kim appeared to use Xi's visit to Pyongyang, the first of its kind for a Chinese head of state in 14 years, as a chance to express his willingness to return to dialogue with Washington.

Despite these positive aspects, both Xi and Kim lacked clear commitment to break the deadlock over the North's denuclearization. Rather, they seemed to focus more on efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries on the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic normalization. They even tried to show off their traditionally strong alliance in an apparent bid to put pressure on the U.S. to accept their respective demands.

In this regard, Beijing and Pyongyang certainly have common interests in dealing with the "America-first" Trump administration. For his part, Xi might want to play a North Korea card in hard negotiations with the U.S. for tariffs imposed on Chinese goods and Trump's campaign against Chinese telecom giant Huawei. In a similar vein, Kim is also seeking China's help in putting forward its demands for sanctions relief even before fully dismantling its nuclear arsenal.

For this reason, some skeptics express growing concerns that North Korea and China are forming a new front against South Korea and the U.S. which have worked together to prod the North to denuclearize. China, the sole remaining benefactor for the North, can claim its stake in the peninsula issues as a signatory to the armistice agreement at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Beijing may also seek to actively engage in denuclearization and peace-making on the peninsula. Yet it needs to make genuine efforts as a responsible member of the international community to ease tensions and settle peace in Northeast Asia. China should never try to revive the Cold War in the region to turn its rivalry with the U.S. to its advantage.

As such, the Kim regime is required to build trust by taking meaningful and substantive steps toward denuclearization before asking for the lifting of U.N. sanctions. For the part of South Korea, President Moon should double down on his diplomatic efforts to find a viable solution to the North Korean nuclear issue when he meets with Trump and Xi at the G20 summit next week in Osaka, Japan.