WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The U.S. and South Korea have called on China to use its influence over Russia and North Korea to prevent escalation after\u00a0Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia\u00a0to aid Moscow\u2019s\u00a0war against Ukraine. Beijing has so far stayed quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a rare meeting earlier this week, three top U.S. diplomats met with China\u2019s ambassador to the United States to emphasize U.S. concerns and urge China to use its\u00a0sway with North Korea\u00a0to try to curtail the cooperation, according to a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the sides had \u201ca robust conversation just this week\u201d and that China knows U.S. expectations are that \u201cthey\u2019ll use the influence that they have to work to curb these activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I think this is a demand signal that\u2019s coming not just from us, but from countries around the world,\u201d he said at a news conference in Washington with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and\u00a0their South Korean counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in a statement that China\u2019s position on the Ukraine crisis is \u201cconsistent and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China strives \u201cfor peace talks and political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. This position remains unchanged. China will continue to play a constructive role to this end,\u201d Liu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. says 8,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia near Ukraine\u2019s border and are preparing to help the Kremlin\u00a0fight against Ukrainian troops in the coming days. China has yet to publicly comment on the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beijing has forged a\u00a0\u201cno limits\u201d partnership with Moscow, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russia-North Korea partnership runs contrary to Beijing\u2019s goal for a peaceful Korean Peninsula, said Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at China\u2019s Renmin University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beijing is \u201caware of the complexity and danger of the situation,\u201d Shi said, noting that the \u201cfact that China hasn\u2019t said anything yet on the military alliance agreement between North Korea and Russia indicates that China strongly disagrees with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dennis Wilder, senior fellow for the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on global issues at Georgetown University, called Beijing\u2019s \u201cradio silence\u201d on North Korea\u2019s move \u201cstaggering.\u201d He said Beijing must find a balance between supporting Moscow and not angering the West, and that Chinese President Xi Jinping might \u201cfor his own sake ignore the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi has built a personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and \u201che cannot see Putin fail,\u201d Wilder said this week at a panel discussion hosted by the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, Xi cannot anger the Europeans and Americans when his country\u2019s economy is struggling, Wilder said. \u201cSo he\u2019s not going to say anything publicly about this,\u201d Wilder said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victor Cha, Korean chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said at the same panel discussion that for China, \u201cthere\u2019s probably a combination of a little bit of exasperation, a little bit of panic and a little bit of they don\u2019t know what to do with regard to the current situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s unclear if Beijing was informed of Pyongyang\u2019s move in advance, Cha said. Beijing also could fret over Russia gaining more influence than China over North Korea, Cha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austin said Thursday that China \u201cshould be asking Russia some hard questions at this point and whether it intends to broaden this conflict by this kind of behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019Brien met with Chinese envoy Xie Feng in Washington on Tuesday, according to the State Department official, who would not detail the Chinese response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lu Chao, director of the Institute of American and East Asian Studies at Liaoning University in China\u2019s northeastern province of Liaoning, said the U.S. should not expect China to manage North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is not the case that China is responsible to manage North Korea and the U.S. is responsible for managing South Korea,\u201d Lu said. \u201cI hope the U.S. government could understand China\u2019s stance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lu also said the troop deployment is \u201ca matter between Russia and North Korea,\u201d while China\u2019s attitude remains unchanged that the conflict should not be escalated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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