On China And North Korea: The Strength Of Weakness And The Limits Of Power
The Trump administration wants China to help "solve" the North Korea problem. Beijing has leverage, but its influence on Pyongyang — and even whether it wants to use all of it — is far from clear.
When President Donald Trump says that if China doesn't help solve the North Korea problem, "we will solve the problem without them," or hints at rewarding Beijing if it makes Pyongyang behave, people understandably focus on what (if anything) that says about U.S. intentions.
Meanwhile, Vice President Pence's comments at the DMZ Monday — emphasizing the American "resolve" demonstrated in Syria and Afghanistan, and saying that China needs to apply more pressure on Pyongyang — suggest that there's no real disagreement on goals, just on who will take the hard steps to get there.
But we should also ask what it would mean to "solve" North Korea from China's perspective, and how
