Cary Huang

Can Xi Jinping plug the trust deficit in stalled US-North Korea nuclear negotiations?

High-profile summits between Kim and Trump have ended in failure, with Pyongyang lifting its moratorium on nuclear testing. China, an acknowledged partner of influence in the region, should embrace its role as peacemaker

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un greet the crowds at a performance at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on June 20. Beijing’s mediation of nuclear talks would help promote its status as a responsible power on the world stage. Photo: Xinhua

Cary Huang

Published: 2:00am, 15 Jan 2020Updated: 4:15pm, 17 Feb 2020

The signing of a US-China trade deal this week once again shows how history can change because of negotiations. This is why leaders, whether they are democratically elected or a dictator, prefer diplomacy to military means for settling disputes. Peace often means less cost and more benefits than war.

This is also the reason US President Donald Trump is seeking diplomacy to resolve the wrangle with his North Korean opponent Kim Jong-un over the nuclear issue, despite the failure so far of their multiple summits.

Trump surprised the world by holding three summits with Kim within a year: the first in Singapore in June 2018; the second in Vietnam in February last year; and the third at the demilitarised zone that separates North and South Korea in June.

Now, nearly 20 months after their first summit, Kim has announced an end to the self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, which had been in place since the first summit.

In these talks between the US and North Korea, each side’s objectives were clear: the US sought denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, while North Korea wanted US assurances it would not try to overthrow Kim’s family rule. From the beginning, Washington and Pyongyang were largely agreed on these goals. But the stand-off came from their fundamental disagreement on the approach to reach them.