WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The U.S. and South Korea have called on China to use its influence over Russia and North Korea to prevent escalation after Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia to aid Moscow's war against Ukraine. Beijing has so far stayed quiet.
In a rare meeting earlier this week, three top U.S. diplomats met with China鈥檚 ambassador to the United States to emphasize U.S. concerns and urge China to use its to try to curtail the cooperation, according to a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the sides had 鈥渁 robust conversation just this week" and that China knows U.S. expectations are that 鈥渢hey鈥檒l use the influence that they have to work to curb these activities."
鈥淏ut I think this is a demand signal that鈥檚 coming not just from us, but from countries around the world,鈥 he said at a news conference in Washington with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and .
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in a statement that China's position on the Ukraine crisis is 鈥渃onsistent and clear.鈥
China strives "for peace talks and political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. This position remains unchanged. China will continue to play a constructive role to this end,鈥 Liu said.
The U.S. says 8,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia near Ukraine鈥檚 border and are preparing to help the Kremlin . China has yet to publicly comment on the move.
Beijing has forged a , and while it has also been a major ally for Pyongyang, experts say Beijing might not approve of the closer military partnership between Russia and North Korea because it sees it as destabilizing in the region.
The Russia-North Korea partnership runs contrary to Beijing鈥檚 goal for a peaceful Korean Peninsula, said Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at China鈥檚 Renmin University.
Beijing is 鈥渁ware of the complexity and danger of the situation,鈥 Shi said, noting that the 鈥渇act that China hasn鈥檛 said anything yet on the military alliance agreement between North Korea and Russia indicates that China strongly disagrees with it.鈥
Dennis Wilder, senior fellow for the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on global issues at Georgetown University, called Beijing鈥檚 鈥渞adio silence鈥 on North Korea鈥檚 move 鈥渟taggering." He said Beijing must find a balance between supporting Moscow and not angering the West, and that Chinese President Xi Jinping might 鈥渇or his own sake ignore the whole thing.鈥
Xi has built a personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and 鈥渉e cannot see Putin fail,鈥 Wilder said this week at a panel discussion hosted by the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.
At the same time, Xi cannot anger the Europeans and Americans when his country's economy is struggling, Wilder said. 鈥淪o he鈥檚 not going to say anything publicly about this,鈥 Wilder said.
Victor Cha, Korean chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said at the same panel discussion that for China, 鈥渢here鈥檚 probably a combination of a little bit of exasperation, a little bit of panic and a little bit of they don鈥檛 know what to do with regard to the current situation.鈥
It鈥檚 unclear if Beijing was informed of Pyongyang's move in advance, Cha said. Beijing also could fret over Russia gaining more influence than China over North Korea, Cha said.
Austin said Thursday that China 鈥渟hould be asking Russia some hard questions at this point and whether it intends to broaden this conflict by this kind of behavior.鈥
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Dan Kritenbrink and Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs James O鈥橞rien met with Chinese envoy Xie Feng in Washington on Tuesday, according to the State Department official, who would not detail the Chinese response.
Lu Chao, director of the Institute of American and East Asian Studies at Liaoning University in China's northeastern province of Liaoning, said the U.S. should not expect China to manage North Korea.
鈥淚t is not the case that China is responsible to manage North Korea and the U.S. is responsible for managing South Korea,鈥 Lu said. 鈥淚 hope the U.S. government could understand China鈥檚 stance."
Lu also said the troop deployment is 鈥渁 matter between Russia and North Korea,鈥 while China鈥檚 attitude remains unchanged that the conflict should not be escalated.
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AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
