The North Korean and Iranian nuclear issue poses great challenge for China, said Professor Jia Qingguo, Associate Dean of School of International Studies of Beijing University at a recent seminar on the future directions of Chinese foreign and security policy in Stockholm.
He said that Beijing was dismayed at the decision made by North Korea to withdraw from the six-party talks recently. China's basic stand on the North Korea and Iranian nuclear issues are still against North Korea to have nuclear weapons, against resort of force and to solve the problem through peaceful means. China doesn't support sanctions because sanctions cannot solve the problem. China holds that the North Korean nuke issue must be solved through dialogue and negotiations. China will try to mediate, but both the US and North Korea must make necessary concessions.
Professor Jia held that if North Korea owns nuclear weapons, it is likely that South Korea and Japan will follow suit. Then it will be difficult to guarantee the security in East Asia because the more countries own nuclear, the greater the possibility of having a nuclear war. If one uses force against North Korea, it will lead to war and humanitarian disaster, and harm China's security and economic development. "Both scenarios are unacceptable for China”, said Professor Jia.
Thus, North Korean and Iranian nuclear issue poses huge challenges for China. How to solve these problems will have a great impact on China, said Professor Jia.
"There is no alternative but peaceful means in how to handle this problem. The key is how to bring North Korea back to the six-party talks. I think Beijing still wants to get North Korea back and make parties keep their promise. The only option for China is to urge both sides to cool down and try to reach agreements on both sides."
Professor Jia said although the US was not very ‘excited' about North Korea's recent test , it can still do something for resuming the six-party talks, for example to normalize relations with North Korea and abandon the use of force against it. China will try to urge North Korea not to develop nuclear weapons because it is in the best interest of North Korea.
"If North Korea wants to survive as a regime, it has to develop its economy. If it pursues nuclear weapons, in the long run, it will make the regime unsustainable. I think the North Korean leaders understand this."
Professor Jia said that China welcomes Japan to join in the six-party talks. But it shouldn't use the six-party talks to solve the abduction problem between North Korea and Japan. Six-party talks is designed for solving the North Korean nuclear issue.
He suggests that Japan can put up forward specific conditions to North Korea so that they can normalize relations. Japan can negotiate with North Korea about the abduction issue and be more specific about what kind of concessions Japan expects from North Korea. North Korea has apologized by coming up with the ashes of the alleged victims. What else should it do? "Of course, North Korea should do its own homework too,"said Professor Jia.
On the Iranian issue, Professor Jia thinks that China welcomes Obama administration's new approach towards Iran and is happy to help solve the problem. But the prospect of solving the Iranian nuclear issue is still uncertain. China doesn't believe that sanctions can solve the problem. Because China has economic and strategic interests in Iran, it hopes to solve the problem through peaceful means. China won't support sanctions unless one can prove that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Also because China's interest in and influence on Iran are limited, China will not take the lead to solve the problem. This is different from the North Korea nuclear issue which concerns China's security interest. But China can play a mediating role, analyzed Professor Jia.
Professor Jia said that China believes that every country has its legitimate concerns.
"We have to take other country's legitimate concern into serious consideration. Iran has its own legitimate concerns. It has been under threat for a long time, both military and political threat. If you want to discourage Iran from developing military capacity, you have to make assurance to its security. "
Professor Jia suggests that the US do more work on policy, but not just threat to impose sanctions or use force. In terms of nuclear program, one can get experts to set criteria for nuclear weapons.
Therefore, Professor Jia said even though there are new challenges in the nuclear issue, China will continue to use those effective ways to push for peaceful solutions to the North Korea and Iranian issues.
Professor Jia said that there is a gap in expectations from the international community about ‘what China should do' and ‘what China can do'. The international community hopes China can help solve the Sudan issue, Iranian issue and other issues, but in reality, China's not ready and not experienced enough to shoulder too much responsibility in the short period of time.
On the issue of foreign aid to Africa, Professor Jia said Chinese way of helping Africa faced a lot of criticism from the west, although a lot of them were full of prejudice and misunderstanding, there could be this or that problems in Chinese way of assisting Africa. But at least one point was certain, that it caused reflection on western way of assistance to Africa. Why after so many years of assistance from the west, the situation in Africa is still so difficult? It's time to have a reflection on western assisting model.
By Xuefei Chen, People's Daily Online reporter in Stockholm
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article