Kerry returns to Asia with the same message

By James Deshaw Rae
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, January 28, 2016
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 27, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] 



The importance of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship has never been more evident as the world economy once again teeters on the brink of crisis while security matters in global hot spots continue to heat up. Nearing the end of the Obama administration's eight years in office, the United States has dispatched Secretary of State John Kerry to Asia for one of his last official visits to the region.

His agenda reveals both strategic divergence between the two powers, and the opportunities to construct a new model of great power relations. Secretary Kerry visited Cambodia and Laos before arriving in Beijing, where he met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. On the trip, he emphasized issues like nuclear weapons in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and maritime disputes in the South China Sea. While the Korean issue presents opportunities for shared solutions between China and the United States, Sino-U.S. strategic interests in Southeast Asia suggest a more confrontational turn for the two great powers.

Although China and the United States publicized their commitment to pursuing a new United Nations Security Council resolution to address the DPRK's announcement of its most recent test of a nuclear device earlier this month, little substantive agreement was reached toward a more rigorous approach to the government of Kim Jong-un.

In this regard, little has changed over the past twenty years since the death of the DPRK's founder Kim Il-sung, when DPRK nuclear provocations really expanded. Each American administration, from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush to Barack Obama, has essentially faced the same dilemma: there is no good solution to the DPRK's saber-rattling. No president has seen a reasonable opportunity for a military solution; the risks to regional stability, American forces deployed to the area, and civilian casualties are far too great. Thus, each president has sought to engage China through the Six-Party talks to pressure the DPRK to comply with its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and sundry UN Security Council resolutions and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections.

China has steadfastly opposed DPRK efforts to develop and test ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, and sought to moderate the behavior of the governments of Kim Jong-un and his deceased father Kim Jong-il. Xi Jinping has maintained the consistent position of past Chinese presidents in opposing DPRK brinkmanship and blackmail but through dialogue and informal channels rather than condemnatory and hostile rhetoric as is often practiced by American political leaders. While China is perhaps the only country in the world with leverage over the DPRK, American expectations of what can be achieved are overly optimistic.

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