| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Once described as 'as close as lips and teeth', in recent years the relationship between China and North Korea has become more strained. Beijing has conflicted motivations in its policy towards Pyongyang. It resents the disruption North Korean provocation brings to Northeast Asia. Some observers argue that Beijing's North Korea policy is illogical, as it increases anti-Chinese resentment and support for America's military presence in Asia.1 (When Beijing gave Pyongyang diplomatic cover after North Korean forces sank the South Korean corvette Cheonan and shelled Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, it damaged China's image and strengthened cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States.) And China's indefinite protection of North Korea's nuclear arsenal might one day encourage Seoul or Tokyo to seek their own nuclear deterrents, although this will remain unlikely as long as the United States retains a meaningful military presence in East Asia. In the shorter term, the North Korean nuclear threat has prompted Tokyo and Seoul to introduce ballistic-missile defences, much to China's displeasure.
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