TWQ: North Korea: The Beginning of a China-U.S. Partnership? - Summer 2008
July 1, 2008
"This whole six-party process has done more to bring the U.S. and China together than any other process I'm aware of," stated Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs and the top U.S. negotiator at the six-party talks, after agreement was reached on the February 13, 2007, action plan on North Korean nuclear disarmament. This remark, one of numerous accolades by U.S. officials praising Beijing for its cooperation on the North Korean nuclear issue, was undoubtedly partly intended to encourage China to use its influence over North Korea to further the process of denuclearization. Yet, there is little question that successful cooperation on the North Korean nuclear crisis has provided a boost to the U.S.-Chinese relationship.
The threat posed by North Korea's nuclear programs presented a rare strategic opportunity for close U.S.-Chinese cooperation that would prove to be the first successful comprehensive collaboration on an international security issue of critical importance to both countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Determined that the North Korean nuclear issue should be addressed multilaterally rather than bilaterally, the Bush administration sought to involve China from the inception of the second North Korean nuclear crisis in the fall of 2002.
Initially, China preferred to remain uninvolved. Beijing did not view the situation as an opportunity to strengthen ties with the United States or enhance its role in Northeast Asia. Worried by the unraveling of the Agreed Framework, a bilateral accord signed by Washington and Pyongyang in October 1994 to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, the Chinese urged the United States to resolve the tense situation through bilateral dialogue with North Korea. Eventually, however, China judged the risks of inaction to exceed the costs of initiating a multilateral dialogue process.
Over time, China’s role in the process evolved from a passive onlooker to a reticent host and finally to "chief mediator" and "honest broker." Today, although the crisis is far from resolved and the realization of denuclearization is uncertain, an examination of the process from the onset of the crisis in 2002 to the February 2007 agreement offers a useful lens through which to examine U.S.-Chinese cooperation on a critical security issue and its impact on the broader bilateral relationship. It also provides a test of Beijing's willingness to take up former deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick's challenge "to become a responsible stakeholder" in the international system.
