China has plan to obtain North Korea's nuclear weapons

January 9, 2008

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China has a plan to seize North Korea's nuclear weapons if it becomes necessary, says a report by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank.

CSIS experts have been talking to Chinese military researchers, who claimed that in the case of instability in neighboring North Korea, the Chinese military would be dispatched to obtain the nuclear weapons developed by North Korea over the past years. The report says that in such a case, China would try to coordinate its efforts with the international community, primarily the United Nations. However, the report goes on to state that China would intervene earlier if "the international community did not react in a timely manner as the internal order in North Korea deteriorated rapidly".

Jiang Yu, a spokeswomen for the Foreign Ministry of the People's Republic of China said she was unaware of such plans, but did not deny the existence of such a plan.

Richard Spencer of The Daily Telegraph says the plan indicates a major change in attitude of the Chinese government towards its neighbor. China is one of the five nations on the UN Security Council and a legitimate nuclear power in accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.