China fears NK nuke test

By Chung Min-uck

The swift and unanimous adoption of a presidential statement by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) against North Korea Monday is not a sign of a policy shift by China, according to experts.

Rather, the agreement to such a move came over fears that Pyongyang may carry out a nuclear weapons test following a failed rocket launch last week, they say.

Getting China onboard for the latest UNSC statement was easier than expected. Beijing is a permanent veto-wielding council member which had sided with Pyongyang rather than the West over the North’s past provocations, In 2009, it took eight days for the council to issue a chairman’s statement condemning a North Korean rocket launch. This time, a document with stronger wording passed in just three.

A China expert in a South Korean governmental institute said, on condition of anonymity, “Beijing’s approval of the statement is mainly due to concerns over a possible nuclear test, not to condemn the rocket launch itself.”

North Korea carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Both were staged within one to three months after satellite-carrying rocket launches, which other countries including the United States and South Korea saw as a disguised long-range ballistic missile test that violated U.N. resolutions.

In the legally-nonbinding statement adopted Monday, the 15-member council “strongly condemned” the launch of the rocket, calling it a “serious violation” of Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874, which ban Pyongyang from any launch using ballistic missile technology.

The council also called for an update of lists of North Korean entities and items subject to U.N. sanctions within 15 days.

It also determined to take action accordingly in case of a further launch or nuclear test by the Stalinist regime.

Seoul welcomed the UNSC’s swift move.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said in a statement that the government supports the council for coming to a consensus in a swift manner to strongly condemn the launch.

“North Korea must clearly understand the firm and unified stance against the launch of the international community, and I urge it to cease any provocative acts that can threaten peace and safety on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia and to abide by UNSC resolutions,” Cho said.

Pyongyang has not issued an official response to the newly approved statement yet.

Cho said in a press briefing that Seoul is looking forward to trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States, and is also expecting China’s active involvement as the host of the long-stalled six party denuclearization talks.

However, Zhang Xiaoan, vice president of the United Nations Association of China, was quoted as saying by Sina, one of China’s biggest on-line media outlets, that the statement adopted by the UNSC this time is almost the same as the previous ones indicating China’s participation in adopting it does not mean a change in policy toward its long-time ally.

“What’s written in the presidential statement adopted by the UNSC is quite balanced. It reflects the common thoughts of the members of the Security Council. There are no additional sanctions against the North. The statement also failed to determine the nature of the North’s rocket launch carried out last Friday. The North, I guess, grasped the inner meaning of the statement,” said Zhang, Monday.

Experts say Beijing prioritizes North Korea’s stability more than anything as it fears a flood of refugees entering China if the regime collapses.