A diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis has become more illusory than ever after the high-level reception that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership accorded "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il last week.
China's President Hu Jintao, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il toast in Beijing May 5 in this video grab obtained May 7.
Reuters/CCTV
All nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) were on hand to greet Kim, a high level of protocol reserved for China’s “lips-and-teeth” ally.
Beijing agreed to boost economic aid to the DPRK in addition to committing massive new investments in cities close to China’s northeastern provinces. Given that Pyongyang is persevering with its program to build weapons of mass destruction, the Hu Jintao leadership’s redoubled support for its Stalinist neighbor amounts to Chinese acquiescence to Kim’s efforts to join the nuclear club.
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Diplomatic sources in Beijing said the Hu administration is relying on two methods to control its client state.
The first is to provide indispensable help for the 68-year-old Kim’s bid to prolong his dynasty.
The increasingly frail-looking Kim is desperate to obtain the blessings of the CCP leadership for his third son, Kim Jong-Un, to succeed him as the country's ruler. Kim, 26, is too young to develop a power base, and the attitude of DPRK generals is key to the succession equation. It is understood that Hu and other senior Chinese officials have reassured the Dear Leader that they would help persuade the North Korean top brass to maintain stability, that is, to continue propping up the Kim dynasty.
For the second method, state-controlled companies in China’s northeastern Liaoning and Jilin provinces – particularly those with military connections – have significantly boosted their investments in mines and other ventures in North Korea.
Prior to his meeting with Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, Kim and his aides visited the two Chinese business and high-tech hubs of Dalian and Tianjin. . .
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