China and the North Korean Nukes

These days journalists are circling the Mariott Hotel in Hanoi for news about the hotels prominent new guest: The US president, Donald Trump. He is meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

Last year in June the two met in Singapore to discuss how to get rid of the northkorean nuclear program. Back then Trump announced the result as a great success, but nobody really understood the result of the bipartisan negotiations.
This time around there´s a feeling that the public will demand more concrete results. North Korea will have to document its dismantling of nuclear installations. Otherwise Trump will meet heavy critique in the US.
On the other hand North Korea will demand the lifting of sanctions on the long term and maybe on the short term and end-of- war declaration from the US.

But maybe Hanoi – and Donald Trump - isn´t the right place to look for a solution to the north Korean problem. Maybe we should look towards another place, where North Koreas main patron is: China and its president, Xi Xinping. A country that is basically the lifeline of the North Korean leadership and holds great sway in Pyongyang.
China is both an ally of North Korea – and a global superpower that fears a rogue state with nuclear weapons and supports the international sanctions regime against the country.

In this podcast we examine the role of China in denuclearizing North Korea. And the relationship between China and the US.