The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    INTERVIEWKorean adoptee in Germany reunites with birth family after 42 years

  • 3

    Korea to start mass production of KF-21 in 2024

  • 5

    Zoo shares sad story of what caused Sero the zebra to escape

  • 7

    Kim Min-gyu, Go Bo-gyeol bid farewell to 'The Heavenly Idol'

  • 9

    Daughter of North Korean dictator seen wearing $1,900 Dior jacket

  • 11

    Will Apple Pay launch boost local iPhone sales?

  • 13

    INTERVIEW'Welcome to world of art therapy'

  • 15

    INTERVIEWForbes-listed entrepreneur pursues partnerships with Samsung, LG, SK to help Ukraine

  • 17

    Indonesian students advise Korean bank on entering Indonesian market

  • 19

    Long viewed as an outsider, conceptual artist grabs global spotlight in his twilight years

  • 2

    Zebra captured after escaping from Seoul zoo

  • 4

    Will exempting foreign nannies from minimum wage boost Korea's birth rate?

  • 6

    Yoo Yeon-seok threatens to sue people spreading accusations about him

  • 8

    Sandstorm from China forecast to push up fine dust levels in Korea

  • 10

    Retailers rush to adopt Apple Pay system

  • 12

    INTERVIEWExpert pitches Laotian rural reform to solve NK's chronic food shortages

  • 14

    Kim Nam-gil to embark on Asia fan-meeting tour

  • 16

    Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series

  • 18

    US Fed lifts key interest rate amid banking sector fears

  • 20

    Samsung, SK chiefs prepare for trips to China amid intensifying 'chip war'

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Yun Byung-se
  • Kim Won-soo
  • Ahn Ho-young
  • Kim Sang-woo
  • Lee Kyung-hwa
  • Mitch Shin
  • Peter S. Kim
  • Daniel Shin
  • Jeon Su-mi
  • Jang Daul
  • Song Kyung-jin
  • Park Jung-won
  • Cho Hee-kyoung
  • Park Chong-hoon
  • Kim Sung-woo
  • Donald Kirk
  • John Burton
  • Robert D. Atkinson
  • Mark Peterson
  • Eugene Lee
  • Rushan Ziatdinov
  • Lee Jong-eun
  • Chyung Eun-ju and Joel Cho
  • Bernhard J. Seliger
  • Imran Khalid
  • Troy Stangarone
  • Jason Lim
  • Casey Lartigue, Jr.
  • Bernard Rowan
  • Steven L. Shields
  • Deauwand Myers
  • John J. Metzler
  • Andrew Hammond
  • Sandip Kumar Mishra
Sat, March 25, 2023 | 07:26
Donald Kirk
China as 'honest broker'
Posted : 2023-03-02 16:50
Updated : 2023-03-02 16:50
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link

By Donald Kirk

WASHINGTON ― We don't have to be told how disappointing the Chinese as moderators or hosts in negotiations are. The failure of the six-party talks on North Korea, run by China from 2003 to 2007, should be enough to convince anyone that talks hosted by Beijing will go nowhere.

Now the Chinese are intimating that they would make a great choice to run talks for settling the war in Ukraine. Remembering the failure of the six-party talks years ago, we can be sure China as moderator of Ukraine talks would guarantee disappointment at best, betrayal at worst.

The Chinese, to be sure, did not openly say they should play a major role in negotiations for a deal on Ukraine. Rather, in a 12-point proposal put out by Beijing, China offered to play a "constructive" role in bringing about the end of the war. That suggestion signaled China's dream of appearing as an honest broker, the peacemaker, bringing about a ceasefire in a conflict that has already taken at least 100,000 lives.

Chinese intervention in the quest for an end to the war would serve no purpose other than to project China as a player in a region in which the Chinese have had little or no influence. China, as moderator, would be sure to tilt the talks in favor of Russia despite China's claims of neutrality. Pointedly, China's proposal for ending the war says nothing about the need for Russian forces to withdraw from territory they've already overrun.

The best that may be said for Beijing's proposal is that it would seem quite difficult for China to sell weapons to the Russians while pretending to want to negotiate a solution. Here too, however, we cannot be sure the Chinese are not using their proposal as a cover for making a deal with the Russians. China would not have to sell basic weapons to Russia to keep Putin happy. He would gladly accept machinery for Russia's arms industry. High-tech equipment would be useful.

The Chinese record as moderator of six-party talks on Korea should provide a warning. While hosting talks on getting North Korea to give up its nuclear program, China made sure to keep supplying the North with virtually all its oil while shipping products needed to enable the North to arm and equip its military establishment of 1.2 million troops. Nor did China persuade North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader, Kim Jong-un, to put his nuclear program on hold. The talks ended soon after North Korea conducted its first underground nuclear test in October 2006.

By hosting six-party talks, China was able to assert its authority over both Koreas, as in the era of the 500-year Yi dynasty when Korean kings paid obeisance to Chinese rulers. While keeping North Korea on life support, China also emerged as South Korea's biggest trading partner. South Korean leaders are reluctant to offend China despite the South's historic alliance with the United States. President Yoon Suk Yeol may advocate intensified joint exercises with the Americans, but he would not want to join in defending Taiwan, the island province to whose freedom the Americans are committed against a Chinese attack.

As host of talks on Ukraine, China would be in quite a different position. Looking for commercial opportunities, the Chinese could turn the talks into a device for penetrating the regions surrounding Ukraine both commercially and diplomatically. China, importing oil and natural gas from Russia, could strike great deals with the Russians, who would want in effect to bribe the Chinese into almost openly pro-Russian "neutrality." The Chinese would also hope to expand commercial contacts throughout eastern Europe even as Putin sought to fulfill his vision of a Russian empire matching that of the former Soviet Union.

Just as important, by encouraging if not moderating talks on Ukraine, the Chinese could play western European nations, banded together in NATO, led by the Americans, against the Russians. The job of honest broker would give the Chinese an upper hand where now they are secondary if not marginal players.

Nor would China's President Xi Jinping mind if the war drags on and on, bogging the Americans down, and distracting them from challenging Chinese claims to the South China Sea as well as Taiwan. China would support Russia's aims, guaranteeing no loss of territory in a deal that would leave Ukraine substantially weaker than before the Russian invasion.

The Russians, with the Chinese looking on, could consolidate their gains and go on to wage another war. As "honest broker," the Chinese could be sure the Russians would reward them handsomely for playing a role that cost them nothing.


Donald Kirk (www.donaldkirk.com) writes from Washington as well as Seoul.


 
Top 10 Stories
1Zoo shares sad story of what caused Sero the zebra to escapeZoo shares sad story of what caused Sero the zebra to escape
2Burnout: Cardiothoracic surgery residents work 102 hours a week Burnout: Cardiothoracic surgery residents work 102 hours a week
3North Korea will pay price for reckless provocations, warns Yoon North Korea will pay price for reckless provocations, warns Yoon
4Second daughter of Daesang chairman promoted to vice president Second daughter of Daesang chairman promoted to vice president
5More companies adopt electronic voting amid increase in shareholder activism More companies adopt electronic voting amid increase in shareholder activism
6Churches, Seoul gov't unite to fight low birthrate Churches, Seoul gov't unite to fight low birthrate
7What's next for Do Kwon? What's next for Do Kwon?
8FTC criticized for delaying approval for Hanwha's acquisition of DSME FTC criticized for delaying approval for Hanwha's acquisition of DSME
9Over 70% of firms unwilling to embrace longer workweek Over 70% of firms unwilling to embrace longer workweek
10Samsung Display strike looms due to deadlocked wage negotiationsSamsung Display strike looms due to deadlocked wage negotiations
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Yoo Yeon-seok threatens to sue people spreading accusations about him Yoo Yeon-seok threatens to sue people spreading accusations about him
2Kim Min-gyu, Go Bo-gyeol bid farewell to 'The Heavenly Idol' Kim Min-gyu, Go Bo-gyeol bid farewell to 'The Heavenly Idol'
3Kim Nam-gil to embark on Asia fan-meeting tour Kim Nam-gil to embark on Asia fan-meeting tour
4Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series
5Long viewed as an outsider, conceptual artist grabs global spotlight in his twilight years Long viewed as an outsider, conceptual artist grabs global spotlight in his twilight years
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group