Font size: 
Apart from an exchange of congratulatory telegrams between the two countries’ leaders, and a visit to China by North Korean Premier Kim Yong-il in March to attend the opening ceremony of the Sino-North Korea Year of Friendship with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, there have been no large-scale celebrations.
In fact, the 60th anniversary of friendly ties is not only a time of commemoration but also a time for reflection. China has always had a special relationship with North Korea. China generally asserts that it follows the principle of nonalignment; however, the relationship with North Korea is one of allies, including a commitment to mutual defense.
The Sino-North Korea Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Treaty, which was signed in July, 1961 and is still in effect, stipulates that both countries will take all necessary measures to protect each other from foreign invasion. If one country is attacked, the other will come to its aid with military and all other necessary support, according to the treaty.
This treaty was the outcome of the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Cold War (1945-1991). A military alliance served the interests of both countries throughout that time.
In addition, the Sino-North Korean relationship is unique in that both countries are declared socialist nations. This colors their bilateral relationship with a thick coating of ideology.
After the end of the Cold War, however, this relationship has not held up under realistic challenges.
With this military alliance in place, the nuclear issue has aroused tensions on the Korean peninsula. But China blames North Korea for the worsening situation, and has not been willing to endorse North Korea’s hard-line behavior despite the Mutual Assistance Treaty.
In terms of their current ideologies, the two sides have moved further and further apart and pursued different development models. As a result, they now have little in common with regard to ideology.
In the eyes of many North Koreans, China is marching firmly down the capitalist road, while many Chinese think that North Korea’s "military first" policy and dynastic succession are not within the realm of socialism. Under these circumstances, the so-called socialist alliance now exists nowhere but in people’s imaginations.
Fundamentally, these changes reflect the fact that the interests of the two countries have shifted dramatically.
China desires a stable, peaceful neighborhood in which to continue its reforms and its open policy, establish a harmonious society and concentrate on solving its own domestic difficulties and problems.
But the most fundamental interest of the North Korean leadership is the survival of its dynastic regime; therefore it does not desire reforms or openness. Furthermore, it sometimes seeks to unify its people by creating international tensions, including producing nuclear weapons “to maintain its security.”
Although China and North Korea do have some points of common interest, the divisions and even conflicts between them are much greater. Thus, their conventional relationship is no longer useful.
Since the old model is no longer effective, China should redefine its relations with North Korea. If China continues to fluctuate between an imaginary socialist alliance and the reality of conflicting interests, it will lack an effective policy to deal with divergent interests and will tend toward stop-gap measures without overall, strategic thinking. In this sense, the six-party talks were both a success and a lesson for China.
Certainly, China must avoid mistaken or extreme ideas in dealing with its neighbor, but it also cannot treat North Korea as just another country. Because of its geographic proximity, and the key role the Korean peninsula will play in the future of Northeast Asia, China cannot treat North Korea as just another country. Likewise, whether North Korea likes it or not, it cannot treat China as an ordinary country that it can simply ignore.
Differences and even conflicts of national interests are normal. The key is to find a mutually acceptable, win-win way forward. Perhaps Sino-North Korea relations could be repositioned as neighborly and cooperative relations between stakeholders – abandoning ideology, but maintaining the concepts of mutual interests and good neighborliness.
In the long run, mutual interests are in accordance – a safe, developed and prosperous North Korea would be in both countries’ interest. This would require that North Korean leaders not place family interests above those of the entire nation, abandon their win-lose thinking, and seek symbiotic and mutually beneficial relations with neighboring countries.
--
(Li Kaisheng teaches international relations at Xiangtan University in Xiangtan city, Hunan province, China. He holds a doctorate in law. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia.com; the original may be found at http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4e20bb500100f7r9.html ©Copyright Li Kaisheng.)
