China debates its bond with North Korea

[Coventina]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Beijing -- When is it time to dump an old friend who insists on behaving badly? The debate is raging in China.

North Korea's latest nuclear test raises the question of just how long the bonds forged between old communist allies will endure.

The test was conducted barely 50 miles from the Chinese border. The ground rumbled in northeast China, and some schools were evacuated because of fears of an earthquake.

"It was quite shocking. The location where they did this test was a lot closer to China than to where Kim Jong Il is living in Pyongyang," said Zhang Liangui, a Korea expert with Beijing's Central Party School, where Communist Party officials are trained.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-china-korea27-2009may27,0,4005894.story

[Vidar]

1. Interesting development.

[Baclava]

2. China has been propping him up for decades - let them take him out.

But they won't as long it's profitable for them to keep their puppet in place.


"The relationship between North Korea and China is a product of history and geography. The 850-mile border with China is North Korea's main connection to the outside world -- given that the DMZ bordering South Korea is as fortified as ever. Virtually all flights in and out of North Korea pass through China.

Even as North Korea has tested nuclear weapons, test-fired missiles and generally made a nuisance of itself in the neighborhood, Beijing has supplied its old ally with goods varying from fuel to fertilizer, corn to cosmetics, shoes, clothing and electronics. Chinese exports to North Korea last year amounted to $2 billion."