- Tom Malinowski: How to take down Kim Jong Un
By Paul Butchard, Divergent Options: “For the PRC, their relationship with the DPRK is a regional policy issue and a central element of PRC-United States relations. President Xi Jinping is forging an outgoing, “Striving for Achievement” foreign policy for the PRC. Simultaneously, the PRC has displayed more public disapproval of Pyongyang’s destabilising behaviour than previous years. The course of action the PRC adopts towards the DPRK will play a major role in the relationship between Beijing and Washington in years to come, influencing events globally."
In June, the White House delivered three blows to China. First, it imposed sanctions on a Chinese bank and two individuals for abetting North Korea’s financial transactions. Second, it listed China in the category of worst offenders in human trafficking. Finally, it announced a $1.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan. The Trump administration also made several lesser-order jabs, among them calling for more freedom in Hong Kong and conducting another freedom-of-navigation operation near the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It did all this as Chinese President Xi Jinping tried to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China from Britain.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-gives-beijing-a-lesson-in-the-art-of-the-deal-1499899021