Washington, Beijing should act to stop N. Korea to develop nuclear weapons

Washington, Beijing should act to stop N. Korea to develop nuclear weapons. July. 04, 2015 01:02. .

China, along with the United States, has made it clear that Beijing does not support North Korea`s simultaneous pursuit of nuclear and economic development. At a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday (local time), Chinese delegation, involving China`s Vice Premier Liu Yandong, Vice Premier Wang Yang, and State Councilor Yang Jiechi, said that North Korea would not succeed in its efforts to develop nuclear weapons and its economy simultaneously. The remark is interpreted as the U.S. and Chinese leaders` messages to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he should give up the policy.

Kim adopted the policy of simultaneous pursuit at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea in March 2013, setting the nuclear development as his task following clearly stating in the North Korean constitution that the North would possess nuclear weapons. He is going an entirely different way from his father who expressed an intention to give up the nuclear plan through the six-party talks on denuclearizing the North. It has become inevitable to take stronger measures to stop the North Korean leader from the nuclear development.

Chinese experts said at a meeting with U.S. experts earlier this year that the North might already possess 20 nuclear warheads and has enriched uranium enough to double its nuclear arsenal by 2016. Although the U.S. views that the North has up to 10 nuclear weapons, the North`s nuclear development is of such urgency as to prompt the U.S. government to describe the North as a nuclear-armed country in the National Defense Authorization Act submitted to Congress recently. Despite the urgent situation, the six-party negotiations on the North`s nuclear program have not been held since December 2008. China, the chair country of the multilateral talks, should feel responsible.

China has plenty of opportunities to talk with the North. Beijing is providing the lifeline for Pyongyang, including oil supply. The September 3 World War II victory parade is a good opportunity for China to sit with the North. Inviting Kim Jong Un to the event requires Pyongyang-Beijing consultations first. China should send a clear message to North Korea that the only way to improve ties with Beijing and revive the North`s moribund economy is to abandon its nuclear weapons program, and then try to find a solution to the nuclear issue. If China opposes the North`s nuclear development only in words but fails to act to stop it, Pyongyang would treat Beijing as a paper tiger. The U.S. should also urge China to act so that the opposition to the simultaneous pursuit would prompt the North to change.