China Not N.Korea's Savior, Ex-General Says

A retired Chinese general says Beijing will not step in to save ally North Korea if the regime collapses or incites a war.

"China is not a savior," wrote Wang Hongguang, a former general at a military base in Nanjing in the official Global Times. "Should North Korea really collapse, not even China can save it."

It is rare for such a senior Chinese figure to publicly distance the country from the North.

"China cannot influence the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Wang said. It "has no need to light a fire and get burnt. Whoever provokes a conflagration bears responsibility."

Wang explained that a North Korean regime collapse now would impact only Northeast Asia. The North is no longer in the care of China, and there can be no fear of Pyongyang aligning itself with another superpower should Beijing abandon it, he added.

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