Dr. Tong Zhao on China and North Korea

Dr. Tong Zhao, from the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, presented his assessments about China’s interests in US-DPRK relations, building off this and other reports.

Zhao believes that any sustainable solution will need to address the root of the problem: North Korea’s paranoia. “By helping to open North Korea up to the international community, and by integrating its economy into the regional economic network, we can make North Korea feel safer and become less obsessed with nuclear weapons,” Zhao says. He believes that eventually, this will create the necessary preconditions for complete denuclearization. Further discussion touched on topics including ballistic missile defense, the UNSC sanction regime, and the role of conventional arms.