ChinaFile Recommends
02.08.16China Struggles for Balance in Response to North Korea’s Boldness
New York Times
North Korea's Kim Jong-un emphatically ignores China’s entreaties to refrain from launching a rocket.
Conversation
01.06.16
The North Korean Bomb Test—What's Next?
On Wednesday, North Korea claimed that it had tested a hydrogen bomb, bringing to four the number of nuclear weapons it has set off on its own territory since 2006. The act drew international condemnation, prompting us to ask: What’s different this...
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01.06.16No. Korea Tested a Nuclear Bomb on China’s Doorstep, and China is Not Pleased
Quartz
In Yanji, a trade hub between the two countries, desks and tables swayed and people were evacuated from buildings.
Media
10.13.15
Chinese Censors Are Giving North Korea a P.R. Makeover
On October 10, Liu Yunshan, a member of the elite Politburo Standing Committee and one of the seven most powerful men in China, paid a visit to North Korea to observe a massive parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Worker’...
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09.04.15Seoul to Begin Discussions with Beijing on Unification
Korea Times
Park Gyun-hye said that Kim Jong-un is expected to take provocative actions in the future and it is important to deter them.
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07.01.15China Invites Kim Jong Un to Beijing in September
Wall Street Journal
China has invited Kim Jong Un to attend events in Beijing in September to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
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12.12.14The Sony Hack: China’s Half-Hearted Defense of North Korea
Businessweek
It’s not easy being one of North Korea’s only allies. Chinese President Xi Jinping doesn’t seem particularly fond of Kim Jong Un, the third-generation Kim scion who rules China’s erstwhile client state.
Media
07.22.14
All Hail ‘Fatty Kim the Third’
It’s North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un as the world has never seen him. In a three-minute clip that has accumulated over 200,000 views after its early July posting on Chinese video site Tudou, a crudely photoshopped Kim dances on the street,...
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05.06.14China Denies Preparing for North Korean Collapse
Guardian
Experts say leaked contingency plans, which include the detention of leaders and establishment of refugee camps, may be valid but do not suggest that the alliance is weakening.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.13.14Why Does China Coddle North Korea?
New York Times
A larger crisis on the Korean peninsula would require Chinese involvement.
ChinaFile Recommends
04.19.13North Korean Leader Strains Ties With Chinese
New York Times
How far the alliance between the powerhouse China and the impoverished North Korea has soured is now debated openly in the Chinese news media. Few call it a serious rift, though a spirited debate is under way within the Chinese government over how...
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04.16.13‘Daily Show’ Clip Mocking Kim Jong-un Gets 2.8 million Chinese Views
Washington Post
The voraciousness with which Chinese viewers are watching the segment suggests that their appetite for such coverage, for publicly criticizing an ally that has become something of an embarrassment, far exceeds what they’re getting from state media...
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04.12.13Can N. Korea Learn From Coca Cola? (China Did)
New Yorker
“The military-first regime derives support from the public perception that it is feared and respected around the world. So international ridicule may well put the regime under more pressure to carry through on at least some of its rhetoric.”&...
Conversation
03.06.13
Are Proposed Sanctions on North Korea a Hopeful Sign for U.S.-China Relations?
Orville Schell:What may end up being most significant about the new draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council to impose stricter sanctions on North Korea, which China seems willing to sign, may not be what it amounts to in terms of...
Conversation
02.13.13
North Korea: How Much More Will China Take and How Should the U.S. Respond?
China is increasingly frustrated with North Korea and may even see more clearly that its actions only serve to increase allied unity, stimulate Japanese militarism and accelerate missile defense. For all these reasons the U.S. should lean on Beijing...
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02.12.13Nuclear Test Poses Big Challenge to China’s New Leader
New York Times
North Korea's nuclear test in defiance of China’s warnings leaves that country’s new leader, Xi Jinping, with a choice: Does he upset North Korea just a bit by agreeing to stepped up United Nations sanctions, or does he rattle the regime by...
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01.25.13China Wouldn’t Mind a Unified Korea--Just Not Yet
Atlantic
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, China has had the dubious distinction of being North Korea’s only ally and friend on the world stage.
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01.21.13China Urges Cautious U.N. Resolution on North Korea
Reuters
China says the United Nations Security Council need pass a cautious resolution on North Korea's December rocket launch, saying that was the way to ensure regional tensions do not escalate further.
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06.24.12North Korea Tests China's Patience
New York Times
As Kim Jong-un, the young leader of North Korea, consolidates his grip on power, China is showing signs of increasing frustration at the bellicose behavior of its longtime ally.