Foreign Affairs

China’s Plan For A Possible North Korean Provocation May Be To Completely Ignore It

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Chinese authorities have banned domestic media from independently covering North Korean provocations, according to Japanese media reports.

China’s 19th National Party Congress, a twice-in-a-decade meeting and the country’s most important political event this year, will start this week, at a time of heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea is reportedly moving ballistic missiles into position and making threats as U.S. and South Korean troops participate in joint military drills.

North Korea has a tendency to ruin Chinese events with undesirable provocations, which have the potential to stir public frustration in China. For this reason, Chinese media outlets are not allowed to engage in original reporting on North Korea, according to Kyodo News Agency, citing sources with knowledge of the order. The order could mean little to no coverage in the event of a North Korean provocation.

As China has been complicit in international efforts to pressure North Korea, Pyongyang has been much more critical of China, accusing it of dancing to the tune of the U.S. and even refusing to meet with China’s envoy. China has voted in favor of United Nations resolutions punishing the North, ordered financial institutions to cut ties with North Korea, instructed North Korean businesses and joint ventures to close down, and forced out North Korean laborers. Beijing has also publicly condemned the regime’s frequent provocations, many of which have put a damper on important Chinese events.

During last year’s G-20 Summit, which was hosted in Hangzhou, China, the rogue regime fired off three extended-range Scud missiles. North Korea then conducted its fifth nuclear test a few days later. North Korea tested a ballistic missile just prior to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first meeting with President Donald Trump in April and again in May before Xi addressed international leaders at the “One Belt, One Road” conference in Beijing. The regime’s most recent nuclear test happened only a few hours before the start of an important global meeting in Xiamen.

If North Korea decided to rain on China’s parade again, it wouldn’t be surprising. But, the upcoming party congress is a top political event in which the Chinese president will officially start his second term and secure greater power through the appointment of key allies to prominent positions in the Chinese government. The last thing the government wants is to get overshadowed or caught off guard by a North Korean provocation.

After North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, a staged thermonuclear bomb larger than anything the regime has previously tested, Chinese authorities informed media outlets that they must avoid hyping up the test. Comments were closed on posts, and coverage was severely limited. All news stories had to be presented in accordance with the state and party line.

A Chinese source with a domestic outlet told Kyodo News that all of the newspaper’s prepared North Korea content had to be cancelled or removed to adhere to state mandates.

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