January 28, 2003

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERS

FROM: ELLEN BORK, Deputy Director

SUBJECT: China's Unhelpfulness Regarding North Korea

One of the ways American administrations deflect attention from the unsatisfactory record of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship and justify the policy of "constructive engagement" is to claim that Beijing is helpful on other important matters. North Korea, for example, has been a perennial mention on the U.S. wish list of Chinese cooperation. China's historic and geographic ties to North Korea, American policymakers believe, give Beijing useful leverage over its neighbor.

Useful to whom? American and Chinese interests in North Korea are not the same as China has shown during the most recent episode of DPRK nuclear blackmail and the treatment of North Korean refugees. Rather than join the international community's effort to bring about a diplomatic solution, China balked at the referral of North Korea's nuclear violations to the United Nations Security Council. Moreover, according to a CIA report to Congress and classified intelligence reported in the Washington Times, North Korean companies in China procure material for DPRK weapons programs. ("North Korean Firms Using China as Base to Obtain Missile Supplies," January 22).

Then there is China's treatment of North Korean refugees. Last March, when refugees sought asylum in foreign embassies in Beijing, the Chinese government began repatriating North Koreans in great numbers. According to the Washington Post, "fewer than 100,000 and perhaps as few as 20,000 North Koreans remain illegally in northern China, down from a high of 200,000." The newspaper also reports that China thwarts North Koreans attempting to depart by boat for dangerous journeys to Japan or South Korea. ("China Cracks Down on North Korean Refugees, January 22). This is no humanitarian gesture since refugees returned to the DPRK face torture, imprisonment, forced labor or execution.

Opinions differ about the influence Beijing's leaders have with Kim Jong-il. Reportedly, there is friction between Beijing and Pyongyang. That is not the point. China is uniquely situated to impose economic pressure on the regime and relieve the suffering of North Korean refugees. It is also capable of cooperating with the international community on the nuclear issue. China isn't doing any of these things. U.S. officials should remove North Korea from the list of matters on which China supposedly cooperates and take the opportunity to review the record of "constructive engagement."