Alliance Fatigue amid Asymmetrical Interdependence:Sino-North Korean Relations in Flux

Abstract

For more than four decades, China has been commonly recognized as North Korea’s closest patron—it has served as a conduit for communication between the major regional powers and the “Hermit Kingdom,” a political and diplomatic protector of the neighboring socialist brethren, and an indispensable source of economic support. But the more important strategic glue binding the two countries has been the “Sino-North Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance” of 1961. However, since its reform and open-door policy in 1978, China has pursued a different set of strategies and directions for its national development, only to witness an ever-widening gap between its national interests and North Korea. The Sino-North Korean alliance has been redefined from a traditional alliance of “lips-to-teeth” to an alliance of asymmetrical interdependence. Unambiguous signs of future changes in their relationship include: China’s active and immediate diplomatic involvement in dealing with North Korea’s renewed nuclear threat since 2003; its unusually public academic arguments for the redefinition of the Sino-North Korean alliance; and its intentional redeployment of the People’s Liberation Army for sealing the Sino-North Korean border.