China and the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

In view of ongoing efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear problem, and in light of China's efforts in doing so, the following comments from Yu Bin made in 2003 might be worth bearing in mind.

The senior research associate from Shanghai Institute of American Studies wrote that:

1) If the Korean War of 1950-53 held any lessons for China, it would be a) the country should not get involved in a conflict that it did not start, and b) China should intervene only if there was a reasonable chance of success.

2) The U.S. is out of touch with a profoundly changed Northeast Asia, where the lines between Cold War friends and foes have "significantly blurred in the past few decades."

3) Throughout the Korean War, China fought and suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties. Yet, post-war North Korean propaganda scarcely acknowledged China's role. Moreover, Pyongyang often played Beijing against Moscow, and vice-versa.

4) Unlike his father, Kim Jong-il was born in Russia and seemed obsessed with that country. Kim Il-sung, on the other hand, was educated in Manchuria, spoke Chinese, and joined the Chinese Communist Party. The younger Kim had also, since the 1980s, "systematically purged his regime of anyone with strong links to China."