Beijing appears to have sent warning against future provocations


China has reportedly stopped repatriating North Korean refugees against their will in an apparent show of discontent over its wayward ally’s unilateral launch of a long-range rocket last week despite its calls for restraint.

Citing multiple Chinese sources, the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday that Beijing has stopped sending them back to the repressive state where refugees could face harsh punishment including torture and execution.

“North Korea did not notify China of its detailed plan for the missile launch in advance. It did not show due consideration for the friendly nation,” one Chinese official was quoted by the paper as saying.

Another official said, “Although it is unclear from when Beijing stopped the repatriation, it stopped that.”

China has been under international criticism with human rights activists calling on it to stop the “inhumane” repatriations. Classifying the refugees as “illegal economic migrants,” it has stuck to its decades-old repatriation pact with the North.

However, its patience appears to be wearing thin.

Earlier this month, China allowed five North Korean defectors who had holed up in a South Korean mission for nearly three years to leave for Seoul in the form of deportation.

On Monday, China, which has long taken the side of the North, agreed at the U.N. Security Council to issue a presidential statement strongly condemning Pyongyang for its rocket launch and discouraging its further provocations.

When the UNSC convened its session to discuss its response to Pyongyang’s artillery shelling of the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong in November 2010, China opposed using strong words to denounce its impoverished ally.

On Tuesday, Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry angrily responded to the tougher international criticism, underscoring that it will continue to launch what it calls satellites. It also hinted that it could conduct a third nuclear test.

Experts said that Beijing appears to have sent a clear message to Pyongyang that it is unhappy with the North breaking the growing mood for dialogue, taking a confrontational path and undermining regional security.

“In due consideration of the nascent leadership in Pyongyang, China has kept repatriating defectors. But hopes for the multilateral denuclearization talks were dashed by the rocket launch, and the North hinted at the possibility of a third nuclear test,” said Nam Chang-hee, a political science professor at Inha University.

“Along with its displeasure over the launch, it sent a signal to the North to deter its additional provocations against the South.”

Nam added that China might have felt pressure as South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are moving to strengthen their trilateral security cooperation with the North ratcheting up military tension.

“China wants stability on the Korean Peninsula, and it does not want to see Seoul, Washington and Tokyo working in tandem to deepen security cooperation over North Korea. In particular, it does not want the three to build a missile defense system,” he said.

“The recent moves by Beijing appear to show that South Korea can use some sort of leverage (to pressure China over North Korean issues) through the trilateral cooperation.”

During a meeting with his panel on diplomatic and security affairs, President Lee Myung-bak expressed hopes for China’s policy toward the Korean Peninsula, saying that Beijing is “trustable.”

“On peninsular issues, the role of China is very important. We will have to maintain a good relationship with it,” he was quoted by his aide as saying.

During his summit talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul last month, Lee called for Beijing’s cooperation in persuading the North to stop the rocket launch.

In an unusual move, Hu was said to have criticized the North and stressed that it has to focus instead on improving the livelihoods of its 23 million people.

Despite global pressure and entreaties, the North fired off a long-range rocket from its west coast launch site last Friday. The rocket exploded minutes after lift-off.

Experts say that the rocket appears to be the Taepodong-2 missile presumed to have a range of more than 6,700 kilometers, long enough to hit parts of Alaska, but still short of reaching the U.S. mainland.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)