China, Feeling Left Out, Has Plenty to Worry About in North Korea-U.S. Talks

This article discusses how China's leaders may be viewing the new shifting landscape between North Korea and the U.S. It discusses how China may be concerned that if North Korea and the US do establish a semblance of a relationship China may loose much of it's standing as the main player, in Northeast Asia, in international relations. It discusses, how as it is now, North Korea is dependent on China for trade purposes, stating that nearly 90 of North Korea's trade is routed through China; a deal or treaty between the U.S. and North Korea would open the door for North Korea no longer being dependent on China. I think this speaks to a realist view but in an economic sense, in that for China they are concerned with growing and establishing themselves as a dominate global economy, and if the lose their tie to North Korea a new player will be on the board, and they will be forced to split more of the pie that is the global economy.

The article also discusses how essentially for China there could be some good. It discuses how that a peace treaty between the U.S. and North Korea, could potentially mean that one of it's neighbors would be denuclearized and that the U.S. would no longer have a legitimate reason to have troops stationed on the Korean peninsula. I think this would be an interesting thing to watch, to see if that would be part of the conditions for an agreement. I think the U.S. may want to be hesitant to remove it's military presence in the area, as we have discussed how China is already trying to take control of more and more waterways/trade routes, and having a military presence in the area is one way to counter act their movements.

It will be interesting to see what comes in the near future and how it plays out for all that are involved, no just North Korea and the U.S.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/world/asia/china-north-korea-nuclear-talks.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

-Kevin Druger