By Shannon Tiezzi
Looking back at history to predict how Xi Jinping will respond to Pyongyang’s latest provocation.
North Korea (also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK) claims to have conducted a successful thermonuclear test on Wednesday morning. While experts are already contesting the claim that a thermonuclear device was detonated, it does appear that North Korea tested a nuclear device of some kind, with a yield similar to the previous test in February 2013. Now the question is how the international community will respond – and that response will largely be dictated by the way China, North Korea’s traditional partner and a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, chooses to react.
The official position from China’s Foreign Ministry was crystal clear – China “firmly opposes” the nuclear test, spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a routing press conference. “China is steadfast in its position that the Korean Peninsula should be denuclearized and nuclear proliferation should be prevented to maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia… We strongly urge the DPRK to honor its commitment to denuclearization, and to cease any action that may deteriorate the situation,” Hua continued.
Hua also emphasized that China had not known about the test in advance. She said “experts” were conducting analysis to verify whether or not the device was a hydrogen bomb, as North Korea claimed.
Hua hinted at the possible ill effects on China, saying that China’s Environmental Protection Ministry would be monitoring radiation data along the China-North Korea border to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens. The Punggye-ri nuclear test site, close to where the test was conducted, is in northeastern North Korea, roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Chinese border.
Read the full story at The Diplomat