Beijing faces global dilemma as allies call for end to North Korean collaboration in Ukraine war
NATO and the European Union are stepping up efforts to persuade China to help North Korea stop sending troops and other support to Russia — to sustain its war against Ukraine.
Until 12,000 North Korean troops were sent to Russia’s Kursk border region to help defeat Ukrainian forces there, according to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments. NATO claims Russia is sending missile technology to North Korea in return.
With Russia exploiting its military advantage in Ukraine, the United States wants its allies to exert political pressure on China to control North Korea. Since Pyongyang and Beijing established diplomatic ties in 1949, their relationship has been described as being “as close as lips and teeth”.
One political lever is the threat of any increased Western activity in China’s backyard — the Asia-Pacific region. Last week, the EU sealed security pacts with regional powers Japan and South Korea.
In an opinion piece for the Politico Last week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that “China has a particular responsibility here, to use its influence in Pyongyang and Moscow to ensure that they cease these actions. Beijing cannot pretend to promote peace while turning a blind eye to growing aggression.”.
On a visit to Latvia on Thursday, Rutte warned that missile technology exchanges in particular represent “a direct threat, not only to Europe, but also to Japan, South Korea and the American continent”. Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand now regularly participate in NATO meetings.
On Wednesday, after conversations with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he also stated that “the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific really need to be seen as one theater, not two separate theaters”and that “Our security, therefore, is now increasingly global, and we have to see this as a global issue”.
Although North Korea and Russia have grown significantly closer, many observers say China is reluctant to form an anti-Western tripartite alliance with them as it prefers a stable security environment to address economic challenges and maintain relationships with Europe and its Asian neighbors.
In a blog published on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell detailed his recent trip to Japan and South Korea, where North Korean troop deployments and other assistance to Russia were on the agenda. agenda.
“This marks an escalation of the highest seriousness, which was, of course, at the center of our discussions with Japanese and South Korean leaders.”wrote Borrell, who also spoke with Blinken on Wednesday.
Borrell celebrated the conclusion during his trip of new security and defense partnerships with Japan and South Korea, “the first outside Europe”.
“The EU was certainly not born as a military alliance, but, in the current geopolitical context, it can and should also become a partner and provider of global security”he wrote.
Blinken said this week that the Biden administration is determined in its final months to help ensure that Ukraine can continue fighting a full-scale invasion next year by sending as much aid as possible to keep Russian forces in check. or strengthen its position in any peace negotiations.
With information from AP*
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2024/11/14/otan-e-ue-cobram-china-por-fim-do-apoio-da-coreia-do-norte-a-russia/
