Fault lines emerge in China's support for its old ally

BEIJING: The first crack has appeared in China's resolve to shelter North Korea from international sanctions, with a prominent Chinese scholar saying his country's foreign policy has been ''hijacked by Dear Leader''.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, stood by the South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak, in Seoul yesterday to pledge her ''full support'' for his stance against North Korea's ''belligerence and provocation''.

She said there was no room for doubting last week's findings that a North Korean torpedo had sunk the warship Cheonan on March 26, killing 46 sailors.

''The international investigation was objective, the evidence overwhelming, the conclusion inescapable: this was an unacceptable provocation by North Korea,'' Mrs Clinton said.

Chinese officials say the opposite. Most Chinese experts declined to take calls yesterday or stuck to the official line that the case had not been proved.

''The Chinese Government has not got very persuasive evidence to support the judgment about who sank the South Korean ship,'' said Yan Xuetong, a professor of international relations at Tsinghua University.

Mrs Clinton said the US and South Korea would work together to chart a course of action in the United Nations Security Council but did not explain how this could be done without Chinese support.

But Zhu Feng, a respected professor of international relations at Peking University, revealed an unease within China's foreign policy establishment that has been kept under wraps since China swung staunchly behind its Communist ally in August. ''Any increase in North Korea's very, very provocative behaviour means the time will be coming for Beijing to run out of patience,'' he told

the Herald. ''The broadly shared impression in Beijing is that China's policy to the North Korean peninsula has been very badly hijacked by Dear Leader.

''North Korea is very ruthlessly blinded to China's interests. That's why I think the Cheonan warship issue probably will not be the last straw to crash the camel's back, but sooner or later that straw will be coming.''

Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, the north-east Asia director of the International Crisis Group, said China knew its fence-sitting was ''not a tenable position''.

''Tensions are rising rapidly and inaction on China's part is allowing a dangerous situation to escalate further,'' she said.

The Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, showered Pyongyang with aid and friendship in a September visit and when he visited two months later the Defence Minister, Liang Guanglie, said relations with North Korea were ''sealed in blood''.

This month, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, was received by all nine members of China's Politburo Standing Committee. China has not rolled out that level of courtesy to any leader since Kim Jong-il made his last international trip in 2006.

''China really offered North Korea a truly great honour, it's a truly rare occurrence,'' Professor Zhu said.

''The main reason behind China's humility is that we want to increase Chinese influence over North Korea. We want to comfort Dear Leader and make him believe we're so sincere, we don't want to be very arrogant in our relationship in handling our bilateral relations. I think China's gesture was very well motivated. Unfortunately, we achieved little.''

Mrs Clinton backed President Lee's response to the torpedo investigations, including the decision to resume blasting propaganda over the border. North Korea has denied any involvement in the ship sinking. North Korean defectors said Kim Jong-il had ordered his military forces to be ready for war.

North Korea vowed to sever ties with the south and expel South Korean workers from the Kaesong joint industrial zone. Reports said it would sever communication links, ban the passage of South Korean ships and airlines through its territories and resume propaganda broadcasts across the border.

Mrs Clinton said North Korea could choose another path and reject isolation, so its people could have a better life.

Fault lines emerge in China's support for its old ally

http://www.smh.com.au/world/fault-lines-emerge-in-chinas-s...