The 'Illogic' Of China's North Korea Policy -- Ralph A Cossa And Brad Glosserman, Asia TimesBEIJING - Discussions in Beijing about North Korea are always frustrating. It's not so much due to the sharp divergence in United States and Chinese thinking about how to deal with Pyongyang; the two sides differ on many issues.
No, the real problem is the illogic of the Chinese position - at least from a US perspective. Indeed, it would be hard to create a policy toward North Korea that does more damage to Chinese national interests than Beijing's current approach toward Pyongyang.
The standard explanation for Chinese policy goes like this: while denuclearization is desired, stability comes first. There is little chance that North Korea can be persuaded to give up its weapons - at least for a long time - as its arsenal is seen as a form of legitimacy and a deterrent to regime change.
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My Comment: China has little if any concern on how North Korea behaves .... and more to the point .... it has zero concern on how North Korea treats it's citizens. But one thing that is important to China .... is that North Korea is probably the only reliable ally that China has in Asia. And for this loyalty .... for good or bad .... China is watching North Korea's back.