US

Gunfire tests China's cool

By zhang jin China Daily
Updated: 2010-06-10 00:00

BEIJING — Rare gunfire by Pyongyang’s border soldiers that killed three Chinese has sparked public outrage in China and could prompt Beijing to harden its stance toward its long-standing ally.

“The DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) must give an explanation, compensate those who should be compensated and punish those who should be punished,” said Lu Chao, a researcher at Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

“The DPRK should be aware that the incident, if not handled properly, will surely impact the country’s image among Chinese people. In the long run, it will hurt Pyongyang’s interests in China,” he added.

China, a veto-wielding United Nations Security Council member, has the right to block any sanctions against the DPRK. Beijing is also a major supplier of food and daily consumer goods for impoverished Pyongyang.

In the first official confirmation of the shooting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang explained on Tuesday that “on the morning of June 4, some residents of Dandong, Liaoning province, were shot by a DPRK border guard on suspicion of crossing the border for trade activities, leaving three dead and one injured.”

Qin said China has formally complained to Pyongyang over the incident.

Dandong is a major shipping hub and rail link for goods going into and out of the DPRK from China.

A Dandong-based trader told China Daily on Wednesday that smuggling across the border “is quite common”. China’s 1,415-km border with its neighbor is guarded by troops on both sides, but the river dividing the nations is often narrow and vulnerable to smugglers.

“It is not rare” for border troops from both nations to fire warning shots toward smugglers. However, “shooting people to death was not heard of before”, the trader said on condition of anonymity.

Some netizens are furious over the shooting, calling it a defiant act.

“Is this what a good neighbor should do to his brother?” posted one anonymous netizen on Sina.com.cn, one of China’s largest news websites.

The rare protest from Qin shows that China has been losing its patience with the DPRK, wrote Xin Lijian on his widely read blog on Sina.com.cn on Wednesday.

Beijing has been supporting Pyongyang for years, but the DPRK’s reluctance to return to the Six-Party Talks and its frequent sabre-rattling recently has upset China, he said.

The deaths of the suspected smugglers come at a time of high tension over the March sinking of the South Korean warship, the Cheonan. Forty-six lives were lost when the ship went down. The Republic of Korea, with the support of the US and Japan, has accused Pyongyang of firing a torpedo at the warship and are demanding heavier sanctions against Pyongyang. The DPRK has denied any involvement in the sinking.

China has been striking a balance between the two blocs since the Cheonan incident, calling for restraint. But recently, it has distanced itself a bit from the DPRK. Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier this month that China condemns any act that destabilizes the Korean Peninsula and that “China could also be a victim” if a war broke out.

The DPRK walked away from the negotiating table in April 2009, after the United Nations condemned its test launching of a rocket, which reportedly carried a nuclear warhead.

Since then, Chinese and US leaders have lobbied but failed to get the DPRK back to the Six-Party Talks. Chinese analysts said Beijing will likely play down the border shooting and leave some room for diplomatic efforts to solve the Korean Peninsula standoff.

Qin’s remarks do not contain any sharp reprimands or threat of punishment that is often uttered after incidents where Chinese are held or killed in other countries, said Shi Zhan, an international relations expert at the Beijing-based China Foreign Affairs University.

“(His remarks) show that China doesn’t want to boil up the issue before the truth is out,” he said.

What Beijing wants to do is add a little pressure on Pyongyang; a breakaway is the last thing that China wants, he added.

Strategically, the DPRK cushions China from the military scope of the US.

Lu also called the incident “an individual case”, saying that tension and nerves from patrolling soldiers may have led to the gunfire.

The DPRK usually raises its vigilance along the border when regional and domestic tensions run high, he said.

“Some wish to provoke China and the DPRK … which is the last thing both nations want to see,” he said.