I raised this question twice in this thread – http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=351746 – but nobody bit, so I’m starting a new one. What is the current attitude of the government of the People’s Republic of China towards the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)? Communist NK exists today mainly because the Chinese intervened and saved their butts during the Korean War. But how do they feel about that now? Would they go to war to defend Kim Jong Il’s regime? Would they go to war to destroy it? Do they even care? Come to think of it, do the Chinese leaders still have any kind of ideological commitment to international Communism?
The Chinese aren’t particularly thrilled with North Korea. However, they aren’t about to allow the US to do anything militarily against them for a few reasons (in no particular order):
-
National pride. To allow the US to bump off North Korea and have China just sit idly by would make China look weak.
-
Regional influence. North Korea is an irritant to the Chinese, but they’re still an ally in an area where China is surrounded by countries that aren’t necessarily friendly or are only friends of convenience (Russia). They’d rather have an unstable liability there then have N. Korea be taken over people friendly to the US.
-
Refugees. China does not want North Korean refugees in China, which is where they would go if there was a war or if China shut off the power. That’s a big reason why China is hesitant to bring the hammer down full force on the North Korean government. China doesn’t want North Korea to have nuclear weapons any more than we do, but it also doesn’t want a war on its border or have a massive refugee influx even more.
So, in short, would China go to war to defend NK? Almost certainly. Would they go to war to destroy it? Possibly. If there was a serious risk of NK launching a nuclear warhead at Japan or the US (or otherwise became a serious liability), the Chinese wouldn’t hesitate to annihilate the regime to prevent that. Do the Chinese still have any kind of commitment to international communism? Hell, the Chinese leaders don’t have any kind of commitment to domestic communism anymore, outside of the desire to not have to admit they were wrong for the last 60 years.
Basically get rid of your nukes and implement Deng Xiaoping style economic reforms. This correlates to what I remember reading in the books rogue regime and under the loving care of the fatherly leader.
As one might imagine, Chinese view toward Nor Korea is pretty much all WAG’s as neither side is holding press conferences.
Dear Leader makes semi-annual (?) trips to China. These are covered in the domestic press after the visit. Top officials frequently make trips between Beijing and Pyonyang.
I think it’s pretty much as Neurotik said
Opps, meant to add, I do not think it is a foregone conclusion that China would go to war on North Korea’s behalf. Frankly if the US were to attack North Korea unilaterally, it will be cleared with China first. I’m sure it’s already been cleared what China would tolerate if NorKor were the aggressor.
Remember China explictly pre-approved the US to go into Afganistan. This was the first time I can think of where China publicly announced that such interference in a sovereign country (and neighbor) was justified and expected.
Yeah, like that’s gonna happen!
I’ve heard NK propaganda is very anti-Chinese. however when I checked their propaganda here I didn’t see much anti-Chinese rhetoric.
Anti-chinese rhetoric is for internal consumption only. They don’t want everyone else, particularly the CHinese, to know what they’re calling them.