Chinese experts are divided on whether the UN Security Council's latest expanded sanctions against the DPRK will work. But they believe the move reflects the international community's unity against Pyongyang's nuclear endeavor, and called for restarting dialogues to diffuse tensions.
Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said the latest measure was "proper and necessary."
As a result of the sanctions, "the DPRK would find it more difficult to advance missile technology and develop nuclear weapons," Shi said.
Asked how Pyongyang would respond, Shi noted the DPRK had always been "tough, rejective, and even provocative" toward previous UN resolutions and sanctions. "But the international community has no better choice," Shi said.
China and Russia may have differences with the US and its allies over how to implement the expanded sanctions, he said. "But their general standpoint in opposing Pyongyang's nuclear bid is the same."
But Liu Jiangyong, an expert on Northeast Asian security at Tsinghua University, said the UN measure won't be effective. "It may delay the DPRK's nuclear plan from a technological point of view," Liu said. "But from the policy perspective, it won't work, and may even backfire."
