Why is China supportive of the Korean Process?

Why is China easing North Korea’s (“NK”) negotiation path with the US?

Option A: Altruism — they think it will do good for the world.

Option B: Selfish reasons — it will be good for them.

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Stating the obvious would be to say B — but how?

Because China hopes that the US commitment to the Korean Peninsula will wane over time if NK and South Korea (“SK”) de-escalate or better.

With Korean commitment receding, China will reduce potential direct military threat should there be a conflict involving the US.

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As for the other actors — normalization benefits both NK and SK. While SK will want to have the US military backing, it would prefer to have it alongside the Korean question resolved.

Hence, this is the big threat China sees — NK and SK make peace while the united Korea has US troops stationed and is US protected. An even bigger launchpad risk for China.

So China will support a gradual normalization where NK will demand US troop withdrawal at some point for some stage of the negotiation.

It is a dangerous game for China as all actors are aware of each others’ intent without publicly revealing it. Perhaps the sheer direct contact opportunity NK is getting with the US and SK will make the outcome more unpredicatable for China.