So, according to the Wall Street Journal today, the U.S has been negotiating with China over what to do to North Korea after they exploded another nuclear bomb in September of this year. In diplomatic terms, this agreement to restrain North Korea went at lightening speed.
If there is any question about the status of North Korea, this agreement points to it. North Korea doesn't do anything unless China agrees, so negotiating with China to get North Korea to do anything carries that relationship in the background. This case in point makes it clear.
The goal here is get revenue from coal down by 60%. That is one of the few sources of foreign currency North Korea is supposed to have. So, who buys all of North Korea's coal? China. So, if China wanted to cut North Korea's revenue from coal, they would not have to do very much to do it. They could just unilaterally cut the purchase of coal and announce it to the world. Instead, they want to "negotiate a milestone agreement" which is 17 pages long. This is the kind of negotiation that we have to wonder about.
Since 2009, China has steadily increased its purchase of coal from North Korea from $200M to $1.2B. Since it is one of the few sources of revenue the North has, they have effectively kept them in foreign currency by buying goods, and supplying them with oil and natural gas. Nobody does more to keep them going than China, and nobody has more influence. Yet, the North continues to explode bombs and build up its missile capabilities, all the while threatening the U.S and very few others. So now, in a magnanimous jesture of good will, the Chinese have agreed to cut back on coal purchases. That isn't good enough.
How about getting the Chinese to get together with the North and tell them to stop building bombs and missiles, and doing all that testing? It is fairly obvious the Chinese benefit from having the North do what they do best - saber rattling- and we have accepted their role without blaming their chief benefactor.
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