Why is China seemingly doing nothing to stop North Korea?  Well there are a few reasons that I think of that could explain it.

Let’s say there is a regime change that China sponsors.  This will absolutely destabilize North Korea.  When that happens I would predict hundreds of thousands if not millions of North Koreans to head north to China.  It would be a refugee nightmare for China.  The same nightmare would occur if China were to stop sending oil to North Korea.  Why north, because the border is much less militarized than the southern border with South Korea.  China would have to attempt to accommodate all of these refugees.  This would be enormously expensive and it would likely go on for many years.  It would be a logistical nightmare.

One can never forget that China is not our friend.  China is for China.  While Kim Jong-un is testing nuclear bombs underground and launching missiles into the sky, China is busy in the South China Sea expanding and developing their artificial islands.  This is nothing more than a flagrant expansion of what they claim to be a part of China’s territorial waters.  So keep looking at North Korea meanwhile we are busy down here expanding our control.

How is North Korea building these rockets and the technology to launch them?  What does North Korea produce that they sell for money?  There is no doubt that North Korea could do any of this was it not for direct and indirect help from China.  How does China benefit?  Well I wonder how many Chinese scientists are in North Korea helping with the development of the Korean missiles.  When North Korea blows up a missile on the launch pad the world writes it off as a rookie mistake.  When China does it, which they just experienced a bad launch, China loses face because they are not considered rookies.  China wants to be considered a technologically advanced society.  So one would have to ask, is China using North Korea as a laboratory to develop and or improve their missile program and saving face when there is a problem.

Lastly, if North Korea fails what does that say for the communist ideology?  China and North Korea are joined at the proverbial state controlled hip.  A failure in North Korea is another failure of communism and this time in China’s backyard.

What is the answer?  Well you are really damned if you do and damned if you don’t in addressing North Korea.  There is only one way I can see.  Trump has to get assurance from Xi Jinping that if we use the military option, China will stay out of it.  When North Korea is defeated marshal law will be in place in North Korea primarily supported by the South Koreans.  North Koreans will be encouraged to stay and not flee to China.  If they do, they will be allowed to return.  After one year, an election will be held in the North where people can decide if they want to join the South or become autonomous again.  I don’t believe the war will last long because I don’t feel the army of the North has the wherewithal to maintain a sustained defense against a well-equipped, well fed army.  If the military option is used, lives will be lost on both sides.  War is never good.

The best way to address North Korea would be for China to take care of the problem they support.