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China demonstrates its responsibility of a great power over nuclear issue, expert says
Experts praised China’s strong support for the detente on the Korean Peninsula that has paved the way for the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, top leader of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The meeting between the two leaders took place on Sentosa Island in Singapore on Tuesday. It is the first summit between a sitting US president and a DPRK top leader.
“Tuesday’s meeting sent out a positive signal that both countries are actively seeking to improve bilateral relations,” said Yu Shaohua, a senior researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, noting the current positive trend could not have taken place without China’s unremitting efforts.
On one hand, Beijing has been proactively promoting peace talks and opposing war or chaos on the peninsula. On the other, China has also demonstrated the responsibility of a great power by playing a key role in enacting and fulfilling United Nations resolutions over the peninsula’s nuclear issue, Yu said.
The remarks by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday reaffirmed China’s support to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and China will continue to play a constructive role in this regard.
Charles Armstrong, a professor of Korean Studies at Columbia University, said: “China has played a very important role behind the scenes.”
Armstrong noted that China has consistently encouraged dialogue between the US and the DPRK, adding since China participated in the Korean War, China will necessarily be part of any formal peace process that converts the Korean War Armistice to a peace agreement.
On Tuesday, Trump and Kim signed a joint document in which they committed to working “to build a lasting and stable peace regime” and establishing new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the people of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
Although there is still a long way to go to achieve final denuclearization, China’s proposed “dual-track approach” is the real solution to the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula, said Piao Jianyi, an expert from National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The approach calls for promoting denuclearization while establishing a peaceful mechanism on the peninsula. Piao said the nuclear issue is closely related to the long-term security threats faced by all parties, especially by the DPRK.
Therefore, in advancing the process of denuclearization, it is a fair and reasonable requirement to resolve the legitimate security concerns of the DPRK as well as the right thing to do in achieving denuclearization, Piao added.
For Pyongyang and Washington, the goals of denuclearization are different. But only by holding peaceful dialogues, making mutual concessions and establishing a mechanism for regular talks can the two sides resolve their long-existing problems, said Liu Xuelian, head of the Institute of Northeast Asian Geopolitics and Economics at Jilin University.
China has been actively supporting the peace process and dialogues, as only a peaceful peninsula can promote Northeast Asia’s overall stability and development, Liu added.