ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It used to be said the relationship between China and North Korea was as close as 1lips and teeth. China has always been North Korea`s 2staunchest 3ally since Kim Jong-Un`s grandfather Kim Il-Sung established the 4totalitarian state back in 1948. It has provided economic life support, ideological backing and support for North Korea on the international stage. 5In return, communist North Korea has served Beijing as a buffer between China and South Korea saving China from the prospect of U.S. troops on its land border.
But the relationship has been 6fraying since Kim Jong-Un 7assumed power in 2011. He has repeatedly angered Beijing with nuclear bomb and ballistic missile tests that led to a dangerous potentially 8military confrontation with the United States. Beijing`s calls for 9restraint and dialogue were largely ignored by Kim. Indeed some of North Korea`s tests looked like they were 10deliberately 11provocative to Beijing but the recent frosty relations are starting to thaw.
12Diplomacy is now 13front and center on the Korean Peninsula. The isolated Kim needs the support of Beijing and reportedly says he`s ready to put 14denuclearization on the table. His country has been hit hard by international sanctions and with more than 90 percent of North Koreans foreign trade including its lifeblood oil going through China. Kim needs their backing. For China, it wants to assert its role in any future negotiations on the Korean Peninsula.
Beijing`s bottom line remains denuclearization but it also wants to see Kim`s regime stay 15intact. The 16alternative is 17unthinkable. A collapse North Korea with millions of 18refugees flooding into the country or a reunified Korea with U.S. influence stretching right up to its border.
There`s too much at stake for either side to 19walk away from each other.
