Washington and Beijing Meet to Discuss the Influx of Fresh Troops in Ukraine

By Matthew Grace

With the influx of 10,000 North Korean troops deployed to Russia of which 8,000 are amassing near the Kursk region, Washington and South Korea “have called on China to use its influence over Russia and North Korea to prevent further escalation.” This comes after the announcement of Ukraine’s intensions to draft another 160,000 people after its previous mobilization requiring men ages 25-60 to sign up for the electronic military service log. 

Furthermore, three U.S. diplomats met with the Chinese ambassador to talk about Washington’s concerns of Pyongyang’s contribution to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented that “I think this is a demand signal that’s coming not just from us, but from other countries around the world.” Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington stated that “China strives for peace talks and political settlement of the Ukraine crisis… and China will continue to play a constructive role to this end.”

 Although China has a “no limits” agreement with Russia and has been a significant ally for North Korea, some experts claim China is uncomfortable with Russia and North Korea’s flourishing military partnership. The Chinese observe this partnership as destabilizing the region and counteracts China’s overarching goal for a peaceful Korean Peninsula. Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at China’s Renmin University added Beijing’s latency in addressing the recent military alliance may indicate that they adamantly disapprove of it. Dennis Wilder, senior fellow for the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on global issues at Georgetown University concluded adjacently to Yinhong’s claim, that President Xi Jinping may “ignore the whole thing” and “cannot see Putin fail” but he cannot “anger the Europeans and Americans when his country’s economy is struggling”.