When it comes to N. Korea, China still has an influence

BEIJING: China may not have been at the table for Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un’s historic summit, but it still scored a strategic victory and sent out a clear message: no one puts Beijing in the corner.

Just months earlier, it seemed as though the US might cut China out of its negotiations with the North altogether, as direct contact was established between Pyongyang and Washington.

But Beijing was not about to allow itself to be left out of the action on the Korean peninsula, where it has long claimed security and economic interests, and Chinese officials moved quickly to remind both the US and North Korea that Beijing was indispensable.

And after the summit, when Trump made the shock announce- ment that the US would stop its massive war games with South Korea – a longtime Chinese goal – it was clear that Beijing had made its mark on the proceedings.

The dramatic turnaround was further cemented when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rushed to the Chinese capital to brief President Xi Jinping and other top leaders on the Trump-Kim meeting.

“The results of the Singapore Summit are basically in line with China’s expectations,” said Wu Xinbo, an expert on international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University.

“The complete denuclearisation of the peninsula and the establishment of a peace mechanism for the peninsula are consistent with China’s constant claims.” — AFP