Radio
Free Asia (RFA) in a reported on Feb. 5, 18, Monday that RFA had compiled
evidence that China had “late last year deployed another missile defense
battery at an armored division in Helong, west of Longjing in the Yanbian
Korean Autonomous Prefecture, pictured in red above.”
A
“North Korean source in China” speaking to RFA also noted that Pyongyang had observed the
movement of 300,000 troops closer to the North Korean border and “missile
defense batteries near North Korean reservoirs by the Apnok and Duman rivers.”
The batteries would prevent the violent outpouring of those reservoirs into
China in the event of an airstrike.
On
Friday, China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported that Beijing was also investing in
establishing nuclear monitoring stations throughout the world, but especially
near North Korea, to more rapidly gather information about a potential
airstrike. While carefully noting that “detection is not targeted at any particular
country,” the newspaper noted that the planned 11 nuclear monitoring stations
“are responsible for detecting nuclear activities in neighboring countries,
including North Korea.”
The People’s
Daily claims the monitor plan “shows China’s commitment
to global nonproliferation.” Taken in tandem with reports of military movements
near North Korea, however, this development indicates concern that a major
military or political event in North Korea will impact China significantly.
Another
state newspaper, the Global Times, remarked on U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of
the Union address last week that “risks of US military action are growing.”
Trump singled North Korea out as the world’s most egregious human rights
abuser, celebrating the plight of North Korean refugees who risked their lives
to escape.
In
December, Chosun Ilbo reported that China is not only using its military
assets to prepare for a potential catastrophe in North Korea; the newspaper
cited Japanese media that had revealed evidence of China’s building massive
refugee camps near the North Korean border, some that could welcome up to
half-a-million refugees. Officials reportedly ordered the construction of
such camps in Jilin, the same city where state media published a citizens’ guide to surviving a nuclear
war triggered by North Korea.
The
state-run Jilin Daily published an article in December suggesting
citizens “close their windows and doors during an emergency and immediately
take a shower and wash out their mouths and ears after being exposed to
radiation.” It mentioned potential regional tensions without blaming
North Korea directly.
While
state media remained subtle about government fears regarding North Korea,
communist academics made clear in December that they believed Kim
Jong-un’s regime could not be trusted to keep China out of a major
regional war.
“North
Korea is a time bomb,” remarked Professor Shi Yinhong. “We can only delay
the explosion, hoping that by delaying it, a time will come to remove the
detonator.”
China,
North Korea’s largest trade partner, almost single-handedly keeps Kim’s economy afloat.
Through a tense year for Kim and President Trump, who has not shied away from
challenging the autocrat, China stuck by North Korea, increasing trade to the fellow communist country.
Beijing has abided by some United Nations sanctions, however, and forced
businesses on North Korea’s border to limit their contact with the regime.
Businesses
along the border “are now being severely hurt as wider customs controls are
established along the border, sources working in the area say.” Many of these
businesses traffic in goods that are not obvious candidates for sanctions, such
as cosmetics and paper. RFA suggests that those impacted on the ground have
soured on North Korea’s government, as its belligerence has triggered the sanctions.
Dictator
Kim Jong-un has rejected all attempts by the global community to convince the
country to abandon its illegal nuclear weapons program and has continued
testing ballistic missiles and suggesting that their ultimate destination will
be the United States.
On
the other side of the border, Pyongyang is “stirring up anti-China sentiment
among ordinary citizens through conferences and lecture sessions as the closed,
authoritarian country’s economy bears the brunt of tough new economic sanctions
supported by its longtime ally.” North Korea rarely confronts China on
international platforms, but even this line was crossed in 2017, when the Korean Central News
Agency accused China, without naming the country, of “dancing to the tune
of the U.S.” by agreeing to abide by U.N. sanctions.
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