Will North Korea take China and US ‘right to the brink’?
Pyongyang regime’s nuclear missile programme could be a ‘make or break’ issue, analysts warn
Tensions over North Korea’s nuclear missile programme will take Sino-US relations “right to the brink” and could prove a “make or break” issue for the two countries, analysts warn.
“There have been signs that the promise of cooperation between the US and China seems to be breaking down,” Australian National University defence studies expert Dr Brendan Taylor said. “Unfortunately, it’s going to take going right to the brink for the US and China to start working together in a genuine and concerted way.”
After a fleeting honeymoon between US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping following their meeting in Florida in April, the two countries have taken to blaming each other for Pyongyang’s march towards nuclearisation.
Taylor said Washington’s “inconsistent and erratic” approach had exhibited a level of uncertainty, as well as a lack of success.
North Korea had become an almost “make or break” issue in the Sino-US relationship, alongside the trade deficit, Dr Carla Freeman, an expert in Chinese foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, said.
“Pyongyang has been an expert in playing countries off each other to get what it needs,” she said. “They are particularly good at creating strains in the US-China relationship to push their own agenda.”
