Closer NK-US ties ‘fit China’s intention’
Choosing Hanoi for the venue of the second USNorth Korea summit shows that the US hopes North Korea will choose the path of Vietnam, which has embraced economic globalization, analysts said.
Yet China does not need to worry about Pyongyang’s wisdom on decision making, Chinese experts told the Global Times on Sunday, just after US President Donald Trump announced Friday that his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place in the Vietnamese capital.
Trump revealed his decision in an evening tweet. “My representatives have just left North Korea after a very productive meeting and an agreed upon time and date for the second Summit with Kim Jong-un,” Trump said. “It will take place in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 27 & 28. I look forward to seeing Chairman Kim & advancing the cause of peace!”
Trump also announced in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night that he would meet with Kim on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam.
“Vietnam is a country which fought a war with the US just like North Korea did,” said Wang Junsheng, a research fellow on East Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. “The US just wants to tell North Korea that as long as it embraces economic globalization and abandons nuclear weapons, it can enjoy the same development that Vietnam has had.”
Kim also wants to showcase Pyongyang’s strong determination on economic development, Wang noted.
Currently, due to strategic needs on certain geopolitical issues related to China, ties between the US and Vietnam are strengthening, so Washington might want to deliver a message to Pyongyang that “If you become a rival to China in region, then you can receive more friendship from the US. The US also wants to hint to China that the US has leverage on the issue of the Korean Peninsula,” Zheng Jiyong, director of the Center for Korean Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Global Times.
China has always firmly advocated that North Korea and the US must resolve problems through peaceful dialogue and negotiation rather than military measures.
China does not need to be worried because North Korea is not Vietnam, Zheng said.
“If North Korea and the US become closer, this path would fit exactly with China’s political intentions,” said Zheng.
He noted that China just needs to keep contributing and assisting with the exchanges between North Korea and the US, as well as with South Korea, and it doesn’t need to worry about North Korea’s wisdom. Pyongyang has a clear understanding of where the bottom line is, he said.