Iraq and North Korea are the two most urgent issues challenging the international community. While Iraq denies that it has weapons of mass destruction, North Korea has declared that it has a nuclear weapons program. Both states are in direct political and diplomatic confrontation with the US; Iraq is heading for a military confrontation with it. Non-proliferation of WMDs is a core interest for America’s security concerns and for maintaining its sole super power status. China, as a regional power in East Asia and as permanent member of the Security Council, also has stakes in resolving these issues, which also impacts upon Sino-US relations and China’s international credibility as a great power.

North Korea’s declaration caused concern in Beijing about instability in the Korean peninsula. Though North Korea has been its ally, Chinese support for it is not unqualified. In fact, contemporary Chinese foreign policy has no place for ‘proletarian unity’ and Beijing’s economic interests have a stronger resonance in Chinese foreign policy at present. China, does not want to endanger its growing political and economic integration with the world by supporting an isolated nation accused of making nuclear weapons. However, this does not mean that China has abandoned North Korea.

China turned down the US proposal to participate in a multilateral process to negotiate with North Korea. Speaking at a special meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Zhang Yan, Chinese ambassador to the United Nations Office in Vienna, said that China believed the key to the DPRK nuclear issue was “effective dialogue directly among the parties concerned.â€Â