China Advises the US to Listen to North Korea as Top Envoy Speaks With Chinese Counterpart

After Pyongyang's repeated rejection of the Biden administration's efforts to initiate talks, the US' top envoy for North Korea talked with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday, according to a State Department spokesperson.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated earlier that Liu Xiaoming, the country's special envoy on the Korean Peninsula, spoke by phone with US special representative Sung Kim and that the two "agreed to remain in touch." Last month, Kim paid a visit to South Korea to try to break the deadlock in denuclearization negotiations with North Korea, which has ignored Washington's attempts to contact it since President Joe Biden took office in January.

Donald Trump, Biden's predecessor, met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times but failed to persuade him to give up his nuclear arsenal.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the State Department, acknowledged the contact but declined to say what was discussed. The US will cooperate with allies South Korea and Japan on North Korea, while China has a role to play and certainly has influence with the regime, said Price. He added that the Biden administration was waiting for a positive response from North Korea.

Biden administration seeks help from China

At a time when the leaders of the two allied Asian neighbors are highlighting the developing relations between their nations, China has encouraged the US to listen to North Korea and its concerns. The Biden administration is seeking China's assistance in resolving the ongoing Korean Peninsula issue as he shapes his strategy to the nuclear-armed nation, as per Newsweek.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry released a transcript of a phone discussion between Liu Xiaoming, China's special representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs, and Sung Kim, the United States' special representative for North Korea. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Liu stressed the importance of the dual-track approach and the phased and synchronized principle in promoting the political settlement of the Peninsula issues and called on the US to take seriously and address the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s legitimate and reasonable concerns and support DPRK-ROK reconciliation and cooperation.

Sung Kim's remarks were also summarized in China's readout. The phone call comes less than a week after North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on the ruling Communist Party of China's centennial on July 1.

His flowery speech remembered the seven-decade friendship between the two communist countries. It also alluded to the pressures that both Beijing and Pyongyang have faced in the contemporary period, as the United States and Western countries strive to disarm North Korea's nuclear weapons and contain China's rise to global leadership.

The US accused China, North Korea's primary ally, of "flagrant violation" of its responsibility to implement UN sanctions against the country in December. China says it abides by UN sanctions against North Korea; but it has voiced optimism, along with Russia, that relaxing those requirements would help break the impasse in nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang, Reuters via MSN reported.

Can China persuade North Korea to denuclearize?

The historical ties between China and the Korean Peninsula appear to indicate that China has a significant impact on the peninsula. Many historic Korean characteristics, such as governance, architecture, painting, and literature, are based on Chinese models.

Economic support from China was crucial in Korea's post-war rebuilding. As a result, China must wield tremendous influence over North Korea.

However, the connection between Korea and China is considerably more complicated than this basic analysis suggests. The Korean people have a long history of defying Chinese pressure.

According to National Interest, even if the Chinese were to exercise influence, the North Koreans are just as likely to reject it. They have not embraced North Korea's nuclear development since it has tended to strengthen US nuclear capacity and, perhaps more importantly, may inspire Japan to fall into line. However, the Chinese have tended to be careful in their pressure on North Korea, concerned that it would be driven further into a position and then lash out.