China Expert: Don’t Fall for Beijing’s North Korean Ruse

China expert and columnist Gordon Chang urged the U.S. not to put too much faith in China’s pledge to squeeze North Korea, saying the Chinese “will make a great show of complying” with the United Nations Security Council’s sanctions before “supporting the North Korean economy in ways that the U.N. does not permit.”

Chang, a Daily Beast columnist and author of the book “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On The World,” spoke during an interview Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” about how the increasingly aggressive North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan early Tuesday morning. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe blasted “this reckless act of launching a missile that flies over our country” as an “unprecedented, serious and important threat.” U.S. President Donald Trump warned that “all options are on the table,” and China warned that its tensions with North Korea have reached a “tipping point approaching a crisis.”

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But Chang urged the U.S. not to be fooled by China’s seemingly tough stance on deterring North Korea that the country displayed after the U.N. Security Council, on August 5, slapped North Korea with new sanctions.

“But you know, we’ve got to remember that there are other patterns in North Korea. And one of them is that after the adoption of the Security Council sanctions — and we saw that on August 5 — the Chinese will make a great show of complying with them. But after two or three months or so … then they go and they do something and they start to secretly trade with the North Koreans,” he said.

Chang pointed to the February coal-buying sanctions slapped on North Korea when the Chinese announced that it would comply.

“They weren’t going to buy coal from the North Koreans for the rest of this year. But they did in fact buy coal from the North Koreans in February after the announcement, in April, May and June,” he said. “And right now, it looks like they’re buying North Korean coal not from North Korea, but through third countries.”

“So we have to watch the Chinese very carefully about all these things, because we know in three or four months from now — maybe even sooner — they will be supporting the North Korean economy in ways that the U.N. does not permit,” warned Chang.

The author did admit, however, that he believes the Chinese have acted to hamper North Korea and comply with the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions.

“I think the North Koreans are hurting a little bit. For instance, they canceled an air show … and I think largely because of the scarcity of aviation fuel,” Chang said. “They get almost all of their aviation fuel from both the Russians and the Chinese, but primarily from Beijing. And that’s an indication that the North Koreans indeed are hurting.”

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Trump has worked hard to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to work with the U.S. and Europe in containing and stamping out the threat North Korea poses to the rest of the world — even as his administration began going after China for its unfair trade practices with the U.S. and its alleged copyright violations.

Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson championed the fact that there had been no serious provocation from North Korea since the U.N. sanctions were enacted. But after the latest missile launch over Japan, Chang noted that Tillerson’s words ring hollow.

“[Tillerson] had to have known that the North Koreans were going to do something because they do something every year during these exercises,” he said, pointing to the military drills the U.S. and South Korea conducted last week.

“Also, President Trump on that same day very much said I think North Korea is starting to respect us. Apparently what we saw … was an indication that no, North Korea does not respect the United States,” Chang said.

“And although we think that we can solve this, history says that the North Koreans are getting the better of us each and every time. And this is paradoxical because they’re one of the weakest states in history, and the United States is the most powerful national on earth,” he added. “And right now it seems like the weak are beating up the strong.”