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CHINA COULD BACK NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS, BUT WARY OF INSTABILITY

The China Post, May 21, 2010

BEIJING -- China, North Korea's sole major ally, could support new sanctions against Pyongyang over the sinking of a South Korean warship but wants above all to safeguard regional stability, analysts say.

China, which plans to make its own “assessment” of an international probe which concluded a North Korean submarine torpedoed the Cheonan in March, does not want to risk international isolation on Kim Jong-Il's behalf, they say.

But Beijing's support for crippling sanctions could be tempered by its fears of an influx of refugees across its common border with the North should Kim's impoverished state crumble under the weight of punitive measures, they say.

Zhu Feng, the director of the International Security Program at Peking University, said the Cheonan incident could push Beijing to rethink its close ties with Pyongyang, exemplified by Kim's visit to China earlier this month.

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