In 1966, when France withdrew from NATO’s military command, Charles de Gaulle issued a demand that all American forces leave French soil. It is said that Lyndon Johnson’s reply was to ask whether this included the dead American soldiers buried in military cemeteries. This was not, of course, a genuine question, but rather a way of reminding de Gaulle of what America had sacrificed on French soil in two world wars.
Years later, the story became hopelessly distorted, with internet sources claiming that America’s fallen had actually been exhumed and deported by the French. Obviously, the reports were false. De Gaulle, even at his most difficult, would never have treated a wartime ally with such dishonour.
Not so the North Korean regime, it would seem:
Writing in Financial Times, Deng Yuwen argues that it is time for China to disown its North Korean ally:
The remarkable thing about this article is that Deng Yuwen is a Chinese Communist Party official –not an especially senior one, but he wouldn’t be writing for a western newspaper without approval from the top.
No doubt, this is more about firing a warning shot at Pyongyang than signaling a major shift in Chinese foreign policy. Still, as warning shots go, it's pretty close to the mark:
One has ask though: what is this “geopolitical pressure” that the Chinese imagine is directed at them? Yes, there are tensions with the US over a number of issues, but set against the enormous benefit that China has derived from access to western investment, technology and export markets they pale in comparison.
Perhaps what China’s communist government really fears is America’s stated desire to spread democracy around the world. If so, they needn’t worry. When western government have an interest in the stability of a regime (as they certainly do in China) then its surprising just how little democracy they’re willing to accept. Just ask the Saudis.