I would like to thank Robert S. Ross and Andrew Scobell as well as anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.Google Scholar

1. These troop movements were first reported by Mainichi Shimbun and Newsweek at the beginning of September, with subsequent reports out of Hong Kong claiming 150,000 troops were involved. See Bennet, Cortlan and Liu, Melinda, “Nukes and Crimes: China's Borderline Troubles,” Newsweek , September 1, 2003, p. 5; “China Replaces Armed Police with Troops on North Korea Border: Japanese Paper,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, September 2, 2003; and “HK Paper Says China Deployed up to 150,000 Troops on Border with DPRK in Aug,” Agence France-Presse, September 14, 2003, carried by Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS).Google Scholar

2. Yong-chin, O, “Fear of US Attack Forced NK to Come to Negotiating Table,” Korea Times (Internet version), August 27, 2003, via FBIS.Google Scholar

3. Walt, Stephen M., The Origins of Alliances, paperback ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990), p. 1, n. 1; Snyder, Glenn H., “Alliances, Balances, and Stability,” International Organization 45, no. 1 (Winter 1991): 125. For a similar definition, see Snyder, Alliance Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997), p. 4.Google Scholar

4. Snyder, , Alliance Politics , p. 144; and Walt, , Origins of Alliances. Google Scholar

5. Morgenthau, Hans, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace , 5th ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973), p. 173.Google Scholar

6. Morgenthau, Hans, “Alliances in Theory and Practice,” in Wolfers, Arnold, ed., Alliance Policy in the Cold War (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1959), p. 186.Google Scholar

7. For other examples of including informal alliances—ententes—in analyses of alliances in general, see Snyder, , Alliance Politics ; and Walt, The Origins of Alliances. Google Scholar

8. At least one scholar has referred to the Sino-Pakistani relationship as an entente: see Syed, Anwar, China and Pakistan: Diplomacy of an Entente Cordiale (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1974). It should be noted that I am using the term entente in a slightly different manner than its use to describe the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale or the Triple Entente between Britain, France, and Russia, at least as these were originally conceived. As noted by Snyder (Alliance Politics, p. 11), these prior relationships were based on the reductions of mutual tensions and conflicting interests that generated expectations for security cooperation; in the four Chinese ententes discussed here, the PRC reached understandings with its allies that created informal commitments of support.Google Scholar

9. In the case of Thailand, for example, China verbally promised to teach Vietnam another “lesson” if it attacked the royal kingdom, but never elaborated precisely how this would occur. Interview with former supreme commander of the Thai Armed Forces, Bangkok, August 1995.Google Scholar

10. For additional discussions of the differences between alliances and ententes, see Berridge, G. R., “Ententes and Alliances,” Review of International Studies 15, no. 3 (July 1989): 251–260; Kann, Robert A., “Alliances Versus Ententes,” World Politics 28, no. 4 (July 1976): 611–621; and Snyder, , Alliance Politics, pp. 346–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11. Sino-Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, published in Peking Review 4, no. 28 (July 14, 1961): 5.Google Scholar

12. On abandonment and entrapment, see Snyder, Glenn H., “The Security Dilemma in Alliance Politics,” World Politics 36, no. 4 (July 1984): 466–467.Google Scholar

13. Snyder, , Alliance Politics , p. 188.Google Scholar

14. Chanda, Nayan, Brother Enemy: The War After the War: A History of Indochina Since the Fall of Saigon , paperback ed. (New York: Collier, 1988), p. 18.Google Scholar

15. Snyder, , Alliance Politics , pp. 322–323.Google Scholar

16. On the use of asymmetrical interdependence as a means of influence, see Keohane, Robert O. and Nye, Joseph S., Power and Interdependence (Boston: Little, Brown, 1977). On the use of economic leverage in statecraft, see Baldwin, David A., Economic Statecraft (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985).Google Scholar

17. For discussions of the role of compellence in coercive diplomacy, see Schelling, Thomas C., Arms and Influence (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966); and Craig, Gordon A. and George, Alexander L., Force and Statecraft: Diplomatic Problems of Our Times, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). For a discussion on the importance of promises as well as threats in compellence, see Davis, James W. Jr., Threats and Promises: The Pursuit of International Influence (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000).Google Scholar

18. Kiernan, Ben, How Pol Pot Came to Power (London: Verso, 1985), p. 140.Google Scholar

19. Zedong, Mao, “Guanyu Yuenan Renmin Zhan de Zuozhang Guimo de Dianbao” [Telegram Concerning the Scope of Combat Operations of the Vietnamese People's Army], in Central Documents Research Office of the CCP, comps., Jianguo Yilai Mao Zedong Wenjian [Manuscripts of Mao Zedong Since the Founding of the Country], vol. 4 (Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 1990), p. 509.Google Scholar

20. See “Pakistani Army Chief Cuts Short Visit to China After Receiving ‘Full Support,’” Jang (Rawalpindi), May 30, 1999, pp. 1–2, via BBC Worldwide Monitoring, May 30, 1999.Google Scholar

21. “President Jiang Says China, Pakistan ‘Friends in Adversity,’” Xinhua News Agency (domestic service), May 24, 1999, carried by BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, May 26, 1999. Note that despite the headline, it was General Musharraf who called China and Pakistan “friends in adversity,” not President Jiang.Google Scholar

22. Author interview with former U.S. diplomat in South Asia, Washington, D.C., March 18, 2004.Google Scholar

23. Wit, Joel S., Poneman, Daniel B., and Gallucci, Robert L., Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2004), pp. 154–155.Google Scholar

24. Sun, Lena H., “North Korea Presents China with Dilemma,” Washington Post , June 17, 1994, p. A20; Sharma, Yojana, “North Korea: China May Be Softening Stance on Sanctions,” Inter Press Service, June 6, 1994; author interviews with former U.S. diplomats, Washington, D.C., March 18 and April 1, 2004. See also Wit, Poneman, and Gallucci, , Going Critical, especially pp. 198–199 and 208–209.Google Scholar

25. Chanda, , Brother Enemy , pp. 259–261.Google Scholar

26. Ibid.; Biao, Geng, “Report on the Situation of the Indochinese Peninsula,” Issues and Studies 17, no. 1 (January 1981): 86–88.Google Scholar

27. Ross, Robert S., “China and the Cambodian Peace Process: The Value of Coercive Dipomacy,” Asian Survey 31, no. 12 (December 1991): 1175.Google Scholar

28. Choudhury, G. W., India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Major Powers (New York: Free Press, 1975), pp. 211–212; Sisson, Richard and Rose, Leo E., War and Secession: Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), pp. 250–251.Google Scholar

29. Choudhury, , India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, p. 213; Sisson, and Rose, , War and Secession, pp. 251–252; Bhola, P. L., Pakistan-China Relations: Search for Politico-Strategic Relationship (Jaipur, India: RBSA, 1986), p. 198.Google Scholar

30. Sisson, and Rose, , War and Secession , p. 250; Choudhury, , India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, pp. 210–211.Google Scholar

31. For a discussion of the role that strong economic development can play in creating new great powers, see Gilpin, Robert, War and Change in World Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), especially pp. 67–72.Google Scholar

32. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing reiterated this fundamental goal at a news conference during the March 2004 National People's Congress session. See Wiest, Nailene Chou, “Prosperous N Korea ‘in Beijing's Interest’; Foreign Minister Backs Stability,” South China Morning Post , March 7, 2004, p. 7.Google Scholar

33. Chanda, , Brother Enemy , pp. 259–260, 328–329.Google Scholar

34. On the rationale for China's decision, see Quinn-Judge, Paul and Lee, Mary, “Less Than a Lesson,” Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), March 21, 1985, pp. 50–51; Chanda, Nayan, “Preparing the Ground,” FEER, March 14, 1985, p. 28; and Nations, Richard, “Great Leap Sideways,” FEER, May 30, 1985, pp. 15–16. For a discussion of these events, see Chambers, Michael R., “Explaining China's Alliances: Balancing Against Regional and Superpower Threats” (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 2000), pp. 268–272, 420–422.Google Scholar

35. Biao, Geng, “Report on the Situation of the Indochina Peninsula,” p. 86; Chen, King, China's War with Vietnam, 1979: Issues, Decisions, and Implications (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1987), p. 86.Google Scholar

36. Sisson, and Rose, , War and Secession , p. 253.Google Scholar

37. Becker, Jasper, “Sudden Impact,” New Republic , April 21, 2003, pp. 14–15.Google Scholar

38. In a report prepared by the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo in fall 2002, North Korea's nuclear antics were described as risky adventurism. See “China Govt Paper Accuses N. Korea of ‘Adventurism,’” Jiji Press Ticker Service, December 27, 2002. For reports on the changing perspectives of Chinese analysts, see Chang, Gordon G., “China Has a Surprise for Kim Jong Il,” International Herald Tribune, February 12, 2003, p. 6; Hutzler, Charles, “Pyongyang May Hold Materials for a Bomb,” Asian Wall Street Journal, July 18–20, 2003, p. A1; Snyder, Scott, “A Turning Point for China?” Comparative Connections, 2nd quarter 2003, available at http://csis.org/pacfor/cc/0302Qchina_skorea.html; Erickson, Jim, “Odd Man Out,” Time Asia (online), publication date September 8, 2003 (accessed September 2, 2003); Marquand, Robert, “Is Pyongyang Bluffing or Backing Itself in a Corner?” Christian Science Monitor, September 2, 2003, p. 8.Google Scholar

39. Because of Chinese claims that they do not engage in coercive diplomacy against friends and neighbors, Beijing needs such plausible deniability to maintain the principle even while breaking it.Google Scholar

40. On North Korea's nationalistic attitude toward China, see Mansourov, Alexandre Y., “Giving Lip Service with an Attitude: North Korea's China Debate,” in Limaye, Satu, ed., Asia's China Debate (Honolulu: Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, December 2003).Google Scholar

41. Cha, Victor D. and Kang, David C., “The Korea Crisis,” Foreign Policy no. 136 (May–June 2003): 23.Google Scholar

42. North Korea had become extremely reliant on China for its oil supply after the United States suspended oil shipments (which were part of the 1994 Agreed Framework) as the crisis escalated in late 2002. On the oil cutoff, see Becker, , “Sudden Impact”; and Bezlova, Antoaneta, “Politics—China: Security Worries Include Korea, U.S. and Japan,” Inter Press Service, April 7, 2003. Some analysts have suggested that the pipeline was shut off not to put pressure on North Korea but, as the Chinese claimed, for “technical reasons.” Beijing, however, welcomed the perception that the shutoff was intentional. See Scobell, Andrew, “China and North Korea: The Limits of Influence,” Current History 102, no. 665 (September 2003): 278.Google Scholar

43. Bezlova, , “Politics—China.” Google Scholar

44. On the wheat and corn shipments, see Hutzler, , “Pyongyang May Hold Materials for a Bomb.” Google Scholar

45. “Japan: China Demands New Treaty to Replace 1961 China-DPRK Friendship Pact,” Sankei Shimbun (Internet version), July 15, 2003, via FBIS; “Japan: Daily Says China Sounding Out DPRK on New Pact on Military Alliance,” Sankei Shimbun (Internet version), July 15, 2003, via FBIS; Brooke, James, “North Korea Lashes Out at Neighbors and U.S.,” New York Times, August 19, 2003, p. A10.Google Scholar

46. On China's rejection of the arms request, see Snyder, Scott, “Regime Change and Another Nuclear Crisis,” Comparative Connections , 1st quarter 2003, available at http://csis.org/pacfor/cc/0301qchina_skorea.html; Sankei Shimbun, “Japan: China Demands New Treaty”; and Willy Wo-Lap Lam, “Time to Act, China Tells N Korea,” CNN.com, August 25, 2003, available at http://edition.cnn.com/2003/world/asiapcf/east/08/24/willy.column/index.html. On China's rejection of military assistance before the April talks, see Snyder, , “Turning Point for China?” Google Scholar

47. On Hu's virtual ultimatum to Kim, see Yong-chin, O, “Fear of US Attack Forced NK to Come to Negotiating Table”; Lam, Willy Wo-Lap, “Time to Act, China Tells N Korea,” CNN.com, August 25, 2003, available at http://edition.cnn.com/2003/world/asiapcf/east/08/24/willy.column/index.html; and “Hu Jintao writes to Kim Jong-il to Open Door to Six-party Talks,” Hong Kong Economic Journal, September 5, 2003, available at http://www.nautilus.org/pub/ftp/napsnet/special_reports/hujintao-letter.txt. The quotation is from Lam's article.Google Scholar

48. “China Puts Soldiers on North Korea Border,” Associated Press, via New York Times online updates, September 15, 2003.Google Scholar

49. Eleven countries—Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States—were the initial core participants when President George W. Bush announced the initiative in May 2003, but over sixty countries participated in the May 2004 meeting on the initiative.Google Scholar

50. Armitage, Catherine, “China Acts to Stop WMD Transport,” Weekend Australian , August 16, 2003, p. 17.Google Scholar

51. See “US Official Presses China on N Korean Refugees, Population Control,” Agence France-Presse, August 11, 2003; and Hiebert, Murray, “North Korea: Escape Valve,” FEER, August 14, 2003.Google Scholar

52. “North Korea to ‘Steadily Beef Up Nuclear Deterrent’—Spokesman,” KCNA in English, September 30, 2003, via BBC Worldwide Monitoring, September 30, 2003.Google Scholar

53. “China Receptive to High-Sea Weapons Intercept Program: U.S.,” Japan Economic Newswire, September 9, 2003.Google Scholar

54. See “Intelligence,” FEER , November 20, 2003, p. 10.Google Scholar

55. See “Beijing Has Blocked Shipments of Nuclear-Related Materials,” Reuters, carried by South China Morning Post online updates, June 4, 2004.Google Scholar

56. “U.S. in ‘Delicate’ Talks with China over N. Korean Refugees,” Agence France-Presse, carried by South China Morning Post online updates, October 3, 2003.Google Scholar

57. On China's offer of economic cooperation, see “China's Top Legislator Meets DPRK Premier, Calling for Closer Economic Ties,” Beijing Xinhua, October 30, 2003. On the specific offer of aid, see “China to Provide Grant-in-Aid to DPRK,” Pyongyang KCNA in English, October 30, 2003, via FBIS; “China Offers $50 Million for North Korea to Keep Talking,” International Herald Tribune (Herald Asahi) (Internet version), January 12, 2004. The Japanese media reports stated that the aid was nominally for a glassworks plant, but Pyongyang would be allowed to spend the aid at its discretion. The Japanese report also claimed that China promised to deliver the aid only after the second round of the talks had been held. Following North Korea's “sincere attitude” at the February talks, China approved the funds, although it is suspected they will be disbursed in installments over time so that China can maintain some leverage over Pyongyang (this is the largest single amount of aid from China to the DPRK in recent years). See “China to Provide US$50 Mil to Finance Glass Plant in N. Korea,” Seoul Yonhap in English, March 2, 2004, via FBIS. Google Scholar

58. Hoo, Stephanie, “China Reportedly Urges North Korea to Soften Its Stance,” Associated Press, April 20, 2004; “N. Korea Leader Demands U.S. Step Back First Amid Beijing Visit,” Kyoto, April 20, 2004; and “FM Spokesman: China to Offer Assistance to DPRK,” Xinhua, April 22, 2004. The quotation is from “Kim Jong Il Pays Unofficial Visit to China,” Xinhua, April 21, 2004. The fact that this official Xinhua report of the meetings relates both Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin stressing the need for better and more frequent consultations and communication on “major international and regional issues” suggests that Beijing was less than happy with North Korea's efforts in this area. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post later reported that China had agreed to double its food aid to North Korea; see Glenn Kessler, “Talks on North Korean Nuclear Program Resume in Beijing,” Washington Post, May 10, 2004, p. A22.Google Scholar

59. “Koreas Open High-Level Military Talks,” Associated Press, May 26, 2004; “Rivals North and South Korea Open Talks,” Associate Press, June 3, 2004, via New York Times online updates; “Koreas Pledge to Ease Military Tensions,” Associated Press, June 4, 2004, via New York Times online updates.Google Scholar

60. Talmadge, Eric, “N. Korea Agrees to Release Kin of Kidnapped Japanese,” Boston Globe , May 23, 2004, p. A3.Google Scholar

61. On missile test fears, see Brooke, James, “Japan Raises Defenses on Signs North Korea Plans Missile Test,” New York Times , September 24, 2004, p. A10; and Watanabe, Chisake, “Japan Suspects North Korea Missile Moves Were Only an Exercise,” Associated Press, September 24, 2004.Google Scholar

62. Following the failure to hold the second round of the six-party talks in December 2003, the North Koreans were balking at scheduling a new date for the talks. To bring them around, in addition to offering to build a bottle manufacturing plant in North Korea, the Chinese reportedly threatened to move the talks out of Beijing. In mid-February, the Chinese also held another round of discussions with the United States on the PSI; following these discussions, U.S. undersecretary of state John Bolton commented that the Chinese agreed with the goals of PSI even though they had not agreed to join it. Such comments certainly worried Pyongyang, and such a position by Beijing would have been intended to warn the DPRK to mind its behavior. For reportage on these events, see Faiola, Anthony, “N. Korea and U.S. Have Plenty to Discuss,” Washington Post , February 4, 2004, p. A17; Weisman, Steven R. and Sanger, David E., “North Korea May Get Aid If It Pledges Nuclear Curb,” New York Times, February 25, 2004, p. A11; Kammerer, Peter, “Bribes to N Korea Damaging Talks,” South China Morning Post, March 3, 2004, p. 8; and Cody, Edward, “U.S.: China Is Ally Against Proliferation,” Washington Post, February 17, 2004, p. A13.Google Scholar

63. This figure was generated by comparing data on Chinese manufacturing exports to the United States (U.S.$108.225 billion) from the U.S. Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division with data on total Chinese manufacturing exports (U.S.$371.423 billion) from the Asian Development Bank. Data available at http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/site1/2002/c5700.html and http://www.adb.org/documents/books/key_indicators/2003/pdf/prc.pdf (both accessed October 1, 2003).Google Scholar

64. Asian Development Bank statistics, available at http://www.adb.org/docments/books/key_indicators/2003 (accessed October 23, 2003); Ilhwan, Moon and Roberts, Dexter, “Korea's China Play,” BusinessWeek Online, March 29, 2004.Google Scholar

65. “China Remains No. 1 Investment Destination for S. Korean Firms,” Seoul Yonhap, January 29, 2004, via FBIS.Google Scholar

66. Cha, and Kang, , “Korea Crisis,” p. 23.Google Scholar

67. On October 2, 2003, Pyongyang announced that it had completed the reprocessing of 8,000 fuel rods to extract plutonium, and that it would use this plutonium for the purpose of “increasing its nuclear deterrent force.” See Faiola, Anthony, “N. Korea Claims Nuclear Advance,” Washington Post , October 3, 2003, p. A1. In early January 2004, it showed a jar of what it claimed to be reprocessed plutonium to a U.S. delegation that included Sigfried Hecker, former director of Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory. Dr. Hecker testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that what he saw seemed to be plutonium metal, but that he could not definitively conclude that or conclude that it was from the recent reprocessing efforts. See his prepared statement to the committee, January 21, 2004, included in Luse, Keith and Jannuzi, Frank, “North Korea: Status Report on Nuclear Program, Humanitarian Issues, and Economic Reforms,” Staff Trip Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, February 2004. In April 2004, it was reported that U.S. intelligence agencies were moving toward increasing their estimate of North Korea's nuclear arsenal from possibly two to at least eight based on their reprocessing of the formerly stored plutonium. See Kessler, Glenn, “N. Korea Nuclear Estimate to Rise,” Washington Post, April 28, 2004, p. A1.Google Scholar

68. The stability-instability paradox refers to this: the possession of nuclear weapons by two states can lead to a stable condition of nuclear deterrence between them. The paradox arises because one of the states, believing the other will be deterred by the nuclear weapons, then engages in low-level conflict against the other. This instability at a lower level can then lead to an escalatory spiral of violence that could potentially reach the nuclear level. This concept has been used to describe the situation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.Google Scholar

69. “China Hopes for Direct Talks Between USA, North Korea Soon—Spokesperson,” Xinhua, February 11, 2003, via BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 11, 2003.Google Scholar

70. “Chinese Delegate Says North Korean Security Concerns Should Also Be Addressed,” Xinhua, February 27, 2004, via BBC Worldwide Monitoring, February 27, 2004.Google Scholar

71. In meetings with the leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea during his October 17–23 trip to Asia and the annual APEC summit, President Bush proposed a multilateral nonaggression pledge to North Korea to be worked out through the six-party discussions hosted by Beijing. This proposal was admittedly vague, but represented a significant shift in the U.S. approach to the crisis. See Allen, Mike and Kessler, Glenn, “Bush Says Pact with N. Korea Possible,” Washington Post , October 20, 2003, p. A1. Pyongyang's initial reaction was to reject the proposal, but it soon agreed to consider the offer, and subsequently agreed “in principle” to participate in a second round of the six-party talks in Beijing. See Anthony Faiola, “N. Korea Agrees to Resume Nuclear Talks,” Washington Post, October 31, 2003, p. A18.Google Scholar

72. Kahn, Joseph, “North Korea Is Studying Softer Stance from the U.S.,” New York Times , June 24, 2004, p. A12.Google Scholar

73. Lam, Willy Wo-Lap, “China Diplomacy Hinging on ‘Korean Option,’” CNN.com, June 3, 2003, available at http://edition.cnn.com/2003/world/asiapcf/east/06/02/willy.column/index.html.Google Scholar

74. Lam, Willy Wo-Lap, “Beijing's New Urgency over N Korea,” CNN.com, July 30, 2003, available at http://edition.cnn.com/2003/world/asiapcf/east/07/29/china.korea/index.html.Google Scholar

75. Slevin, Peter and Pomfret, John, “N. Korea Threatens Nuclear Arms Test,” Washington Post , August 29, 2003, p. A1.Google Scholar

76. On the North Korean statements, see “North Korean FM Says Six-Way Nuclear Talks ‘Useless,’ ‘Harmful,’” Agence France-Presse, August 30, 2003, via FBIS. For reports of Chinese reactions, see Kahn, Joseph with Sanger, David E., “North Korea Disdains More Nuclear Talks,” New York Times, August 31, 2003, p. 18; and Marquand, Robert, “Is Pyongyang Bluffing or Backing Itself into a Corner?” Christian Science Monitor, September 2, 2003, p. 8.Google Scholar

77. Pan, Philip P. and Kessler, Glenn, “N. Korea Says U.S. Demand Is Stalling Nuclear Talks,” Washington Post , February 27, 2004, p. A24; “No Breakthroughs at 6-Way Talks, but Dialogue to Continue,” Kyoto News Service, February 28, 2004; Magnier, Mark, “Lack of Progress in N. Korea Talks Fodder for Accusations,” Los Angeles Times, February 29, 2004, p. A8.Google Scholar

78. See “North Korea Willing to Give Up All Nuclear Facilities,” Agence France-Presse, April 4, 2004; and “Draft Documents Establishing Six-Party Talks Working Groups Accepted,” Xinhua, April 7, 2004.Google Scholar

79. Kubota, Ruriko, “Test-Fire Missile; North Korea Conducts ‘Blackmail Diplomacy’; Schemes to Isolate US,” Sankei Shimbun , June 26, 2004, via FBIS.Google Scholar

80. “Indonesia Not to Host DPRK Nuclear Talks,” Xinhua, June 30, 2004.Google Scholar

81. Kahn, Joseph and Chira, Susan, “Chinese Official Challenges U.S. Stance on North Korea,” New York Times , June 9, 2004, p. A12.Google Scholar

82. Ibid. Chinese support for allowing Pyongyang to maintain the civilian nuclear program is also hinted at in the official Xinhua report of Kim Jong Il's visit to Beijing, in which it is reported that President Hu Jintao stressed China's commitment to a “nuclear-weapon-free Korean peninsula,” rather than previous Chinese commitment to the denuclearization of the peninsula. See “Kim Jong Il Pays Unofficial Visit to China,” Xinhua, April 21, 2004.Google Scholar

83. “6 Nations Intensify Efforts to Move Talks on N. Korea Nukes,” Kyoto News Service, June 23, 2004.Google Scholar

84. On such hints of linkage, see Cheong, Ching, “Beijing Pulls No Punches with Cheney,” Straits Times (Singapore), April 20, 2004; and Lam, Willy, “Sino-U.S. Shadow over Nuke Talks,” CNN.com, June 22, 2004.Google Scholar

85. For example, see Lam, Willy Wo-Lap, “China Diplomacy Hinging on ‘Korea Option’”; Calabresi, Massimo, “The Next WMD Crisis,” Time, July 28, 2003, p. 38; Hutzler, Charles and Fairclough, Gordon, “China Breaks with Its Wartime Past,” FEER, August 7, 2003, pp. 24–27; and Pomfret, John, “As Talks Begin, China Views North Korea as a Risk,” Washington Post, August 27, 2003, p. A19. For an example from the Japanese media, see “Ex-DPRK Envoy: PRC, DPRK Not as Close as Thought, Nuke Issue Maneuvering Going On,” Sankei Shimbun (Internet version), July 31, 2003, via FBIS. For a Chinese analysis that points to North Korea as a problem, see Yinhong, Shi, “The DPRK Nuclear Crisis: New Turn for the Better and the Still Existing Danger,” Ta Kung Pao (Hong Kong), August 1, 2003, via FBIS. For more recent reports, see Park, John S., “China Takes ‘Xiaokang’ Approach to N. Korea,” Straits Times, February 5, 2004; Cody, Edward and Faiola, Anthony, “North Korean Ends ‘Candid’ China Visit,” Washington Post, April 22, 2004, p. A22; and Ito, Tadashi, “‘Little Emperor’ Showed Allegiance,” Sankei Shimbun (Internet version), June 5, 2004, via FBIS. Similar views were expressed by Chinese security analysts in interviews with the author, Beijing, April 2004.Google Scholar

86. Kim, Samuel S., “China and North Korea in a Changing World,” in Hildebrandt, Timothy, ed., Uneasy Allies: Fifty Years of China–North Korea Relations , Asia Program Special Report (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, September 2003), pp. 11–17; author interviews with Chinese security analysts, Beijing, April 2004.Google Scholar

87. On calls for revision of the treaty, see “PRC Scholar Proposes Amending Sino-DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation,” Wen Wei Po , August 15, 2003, via FBIS.Google Scholar

88. See Hutzler, and Fairclough, , “China Breaks with Its Wartime Past.” Google Scholar

89. See Pomfret, , “As Talks Begin.” Google Scholar

90. Snyder, , Alliance Politics , p. 347.Google Scholar

91. Liska, George, Nations in Alliance: The Limits of Interdependence (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1968), p. 36.Google Scholar

92. For a similar analysis, see Jisi, Wang, China's Changing Role in Asia , Asia Program Occasional Paper (Washington, D.C.: Atlantic Council, January 2004), especially pp. 4–5, 14–17. Wang notes that the more pessimistic view of the United States is more in the minority.Google Scholar

93. On this traditional perception, see Eastman, Lloyd E., Throne and Mandarins: China's Search for a Policy During the Sino-French Controversy, 1880–1885 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967), p. 38.Google Scholar

94. On this point, see Scobell, , “China and North Korea,” pp. 275–276; and Lam, Willy Wo-Lap, “China Diplomacy Hinging on ‘Korea Option.’” Google Scholar

95. For two important statements by PRC officials on China's rise, see Premier Wen Jiabao's remarks at Harvard University, December 10, 2003, available at http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/12.11/10-wenspeech.html; and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing's press conference following the March 2004 National People's Congress: “Full Text of Chinese FM's National People's Congress News Conference,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, March 6, 2004. Beijing's decision not to devalue its currency during the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis is often pointed to as the first example of this new responsible neighborliness.Google Scholar

96. Certainly, China's expansion into the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea as well as its threats against Taiwan can be viewed as Chinese efforts to alter the regional status quo. However, the Chinese see these moves as defensive rather than expansive. Andrew Scobell characterizes this tendency of the PRC as their “cult of defense.” See his book China's Use of Military Force: Beyond the Great Wall and the Long March (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), especially chap. 2.Google Scholar