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US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping
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US antagonism toward North Korea-China dynamic may affect Xi Jinping’s Sept. NK visit
With US President Donald Trump once again blaming China for the impasse in dialogue between North Korea and the US, there’s growing curiosity about what his true intentions are. This also creates a dilemma for China, which has been attempting to respond to changes on the Korean Peninsula by strengthening relations with North Korea. Trump has been claiming that China is responsible for the hiccups in North Korea-US dialogue since the end of May, when he was preparing for the summit with North Korea that was held in Singapore on June 12. While in the presence of South Korean President Moon Jae-in during Moon’s visit to the White House on May 22, Trump referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “poker player,” meaning that Xi was having a negative impact on North Korea-US dialogue. On several occasions since then, Trump has complained that China’s border controls are not as strict as they used to be, and on Aug. 24, he abruptly canceled what would have been Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s fourth visit to the North while tweeting that “I do not believe they [China] are helping with the process of [North Korea’s] denuclearization as they once were” because of the trade war between the US and China. Given the comments that Trump has made thus far, he appears to believe that China actually has a negative influence on the North Korea-US negotiations. “North Korea is under tremendous pressure from China because of our major trade disputes with the Chinese Government,” Trump said in a “statement from the White House” During a subsequent meeting with reporters, Trump reiterated his view that the North Korean problem is due to the trade dispute with China and that North Korea gets 93 percent of its products from China. Since Trump is attempting to reach a one-on-one deal with North Korea, he effectively regards China’s frequent appearance as being a definite roadblock. But China has shot back that it is “strictly and fully implementing UN Security Council resolutions.” On Aug. 24, the Voice of America reported that North Korea-China trade between January and July of this year was down 56.2 percent year on year. The goal of the Trump administration is definitely blocking China’s rise Experts believe that the reason Trump keeps bringing up China’s responsibility in the North Korean nuclear negotiations is because he regards curbing China’s rise as a bigger strategic objective than resolving the North Korean nuclear problem. “The goal of the Trump administration is definitely blocking China’s rise. For Trump, the issues of North Korea and its nuclear program are secondary and subordinated [to the US-China rivalry],” said Cho Sung-ryul, senior research fellow for the Institute for National Security Strategy. The National Security Strategy that was published at the end of last year by the Trump administration was the first to identify China as a “rival power” alongside Russia. A senior official in the South Korean government who is familiar with North Korea-US relations said that the US, “even while continuing to reach out to North Korea, would have needed to preclude a situation in which North Korea gets closer to China. Considering that US-China relations are indirectly connected to the North Korea issue, the US would have considered the possibility of North Korea taking advantage of that.” While China is publicly dismissing Trump’s remarks as absurd, Chinese officials are facing serious questions about their policy toward North Korea and the US. During the press briefing on Aug. 30, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying addressed the fact that Trump had brought up China’s responsibility once again and said that the US is distorting the facts and that his logic was highly irresponsible as well. Lu Kang, another Foreign Ministry spokesperson, offered similar criticism on Aug. 25, urging the US not to vacillate or blame other people. The biggest question is whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea for the Sept. 9 celebration of the establishment of the North Korean government despite Trump’s aggressive attempts to stop him. Chinese analysts think that China might delay Xi’s visit to China and send a permanent member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China to the event in his stead. By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent, and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
