Beijing sees US security cooperation in the Korean Peninsula as the US destabilizing the region

Li Nan [author of letter below], "Debating North Korea: US and Chinese perspectives," Brookings, letters compiled by Susan A. Thornton, Li Nan, and Juliet Lee, 08-27-2021, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/debating-north-korea-us-and-chinese-perspectives/-- 嘉玮

As to what stability would look like in China’s view, the first priority is “no chaos and no war.” After the “Fire and Fury Crisis” in 2017, China wondered whether the U.S. could have a consistent policy towards the Korean Peninsula and the DPRK, and whether it prioritized stability on the peninsula as China always has. China believed war could be imminent. Thus, China sees the U.S. as the one trying to destabilize the Korean Peninsula, similar to how the U.S. currently sees China as the destabilizer in cross-Taiwan Strait relations. Also, a unified Korea resulting from the absorption of North Korea by South Korea will probably lead to turmoil. Many North Koreans cannot accept the ROK’s system, and there is the chance that a conservative South Korean government may seek revenge when unified with the North. Therefore, China hopes to achieve unification based on peaceful self-determination, and an end-of-war declaration and peace agreement are critical.