Abstract: China’s current approach towards the Korean peninsula, especially in the security dimension, is the product of a combination of long-standing Chinese historical concerns and Xi Jinping’s calculations of China’s political and security interests. Of particular importance, from the Chinese perspective, is the need for South Korea to accede to Chinese concerns, even if that requires subordinating South Korean interests to Chinese ones. China therefore sees the Korean peninsula mostly with reference to its own needs, and only marginally in terms of what are the interests and needs of either North or South Korea.
