Hannah Kitners
(Postgraduate Student, MA Global Program, Webster University, Missouri, USA)
Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr)Publication date: 11 September 2017
Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Re-search Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).
China has a complex relationship with its geographic neighbor, North Korea. Their long and historic relationship has been tumultuous at times, but China’s prominent policy is to promote stability and peace in the Korean Peninsula (Chung & Choi, 2013). In order to promote this policy, the Chinese government maintains a certain level of affiliation with the isolated North Korean regime in terms of trade, commerce, aid and assistance (Taylor 2013). North Korea benefits from this policy because it allows them to have some economic stability and keeps the state from failing. In the minds of the Chinese leadership, this affiliation provides Beijing with some amount of leverage over Pyongyang that no other country has (Chang, 2016). China uses its unique relationship with North Korea to gain geopolitical advantage in the Asia-Pacific region and throughout the rest of the international community....Read more