Analysis of Kim's hydrogen bomb claim
- By Deng Yuwen
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 25, 2015
No matter whether Pyongyang possesses H-bombs or not, the Kim's remarks can only encourage the country to move even further away from attempts at denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The international community was once hopeful that the North Korea would follow Iran to give up its nuclear plans in exchange for the termination of international sanctions. However, the Pynongyang has more than once denied it had any intention to follow Iran's lead in this regard.
The H-bomb furor has embarrassed China which has spared no effort to revive the Six-Party Talks. Besides, what China worries about most is probably the security of the nuclear reactor in the North Korea. Should leaks occur during the production of weapons-grade fuel for hydrogen bombs, the border between China and the North Korea would suffer irreparable damage.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said China will unremittingly adhere to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, uphold peace and stability of the peninsula and seek to solve problems through negotiation.
This can be regarded as China's disapproval of the North Korea's behavior on the nuclear issue and partly its seeming inability to stop the development of the nuclear weapons in that country.
Based on its own national interests, China should not, however, abandon bilateral ties with the North Korea.
Given the behavior of Japan allied with the United States, it is possible to see the North Korea, as a partner of China, contributing to the balance of power in Northeast Asia, so its possession of atomic and hydrogen bombs would be less detrimental in the short and medium term.
This may explain why the bilateral ties between China and the North Korea have recently been defrosted. Yet, these bilateral relations are still unstable exemplified by the sudden cancellation of a North Korean pop group's planned performance in Beijing recently.
The sustainable "friendship" between the two countries has been moving on for traditional and geopolitical reasons rather than the commonality of the institutions that the two countries seemingly share.
Actually beneath the superficial resemblance of the two countries in view of their systems lie stark contrasts leading to instability testing the wisdom and resolution of China.
Deng Yuwen is a researcher of the Charhar Institute.
The article was translated by Wu Jin. Its original version was first published in Chinese.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarilythose of China.org.cn.
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