dailyO
Variety

China may be using North Korea's nuclear programme as a bargaining chip

Advertisement
Arindam De
Arindam DeOct 03, 2017 | 18:25

China may be using North Korea's nuclear programme as a bargaining chip

In the post World War II world, no state has displayed the kind of recklessness with nuclear weapons as North Korea has done.

We thought that Hiroshima and Nagasaki had aptly demonstrated that there can be no winners in a nuclear conflict. Even the superpowers had stepped back when the Cold War came to a boil, though they have kept a few hundred warheads aimed at each other.

Advertisement

The North Korean nuclear history is one of steadfast search for technology which ended as Pakistan provided the bomb and enrichment technologies. Whether a rouge scientist acted on his own or was there tacit approval of the state is a futile and pointless debate. Pakistan sources the nuclear technology it calls its own from the so-called conscience keeper of the Nuclear Suppliers Group these days - China.

China may have made more than just indirect contribution to Kim's nuclear toys - the basic shape of the warhead, the trucks that are used as mobile launch bases - TEL trucks.

POTUS has already flagged the issue and so had Tillerson. Indian intelligence has always maintained that Pakistan's new ABABEEL warhead multiple re-entry vehicle technology is of Chinese origin. What is not clear is whether this technology came to Pakistan via North Korea or the other way around. North Korea categorically does not possess the technology to measure or test temperature and pressure shields that are needed to protect multiple re-entry vehicles. So somebody provided them with that.

china1690_100317060226.jpg
Chinese Communist Party official Liu Yunshan with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.

Advertisement

The Hawsong was tested very close to the China-North Korea border which could have facilitated sophisticated in flight and re-entry mode monitoring by a party that has the technology.

In its quest for world dominance, China had started off with two unshakeable allies and all-weather friends. That both of them showed signs of turning rouge was probably either overlooked in the quest for obedient allies and buffer states or it was a part of the greater design.

A nuclear armed North Korea, which is paying scant heed to Chinese appeals of putting an end to its nuclear tests, ensures that USA gets more involved in the region rather than withdrawing.

Besides when Kim has his triggers on a nuclear missile can China assert its dominance in the area? We are still waiting for the day when the process of turning terror outfits into political parties ends in Pakistan - and maybe Hafiz Saeed visits China as a minister of the state - the head? Who knows? That is a possibility.

China may have planned the assistance to North Korea's nuclear missile development programme as a Trojan horse to divert international attention from its overt and covert aggression in the South and East China seas. On the other hand, DPRK's nuclear weapons could act as a bargaining chip for China in its quest for better trade terms with US, Japan, and South Korea. The trio had actually shown some signs of agreeing to the later.

Advertisement

Geopolitics is all about twists and turns. So if tomorrow, bothered by the constant and targeted riling and alienating by China, either Japan or South Korea or both decide to procure nuclear deterrents of their own where would that leave us or them?

Last updated: October 03, 2017 | 18:25
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy