Newly leaked document proves China is jerking the Trump administration around; Beijing promises new missiles, aid to North Korea

Since taking office, President Donald J. Trump has said repeatedly that China could be, and should be, doing more to rein in its unruly neighbor North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.

Turns out the president was more right than even he could have imagined.

Long before Trump took office, the U.S. intelligence community was well aware that China, as North Korea’s sole recognized ally, provided the regime with much of what it needed to sustain itself. There are a number of reasons for Beijing’s assistance, the first and foremost being that it’s in China’s best interests to keep the North Korean regime intact and in control. Besides, a collapse of North Korea would create a flood of refugees into China and set up a U.S. ally on its borders — neither of which is acceptable to the ruling Communist Party.

But a newly disclosed document drawn up by the party shows that China, while publicly claiming to support U.N.-imposed, U.S.-backed economic sanctions against Pyongyang, is secretly aiding the North Koreans big time.

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the document — a Chinese Community Party (CCP) directive — warns Pyongyang that another nuclear test could lead to war with the United States, while promising major aid and assistance with weapons programs and in other sectors in exchange for a temporary testing ban.

Adopted in September, the “top secret” directive was dated 10 days after the North’s latest nuclear blast, suggesting that party officials had been considering what to do about Pyongyang’s repeated tests and growing U.S. agitation for some time.

The directive states that Beijing is willing to allow Pyongyang to retain its nuclear arsenal, which is in contrast to China’s public stance that it seeks a denuclearized Korean peninsula.

The Free Beacon reported further:

Chinese leaders also agreed to offer new assurances that the North Korean government will not be allowed to collapse, and that Beijing plans to apply sanctions “symbolically” to avoid punishing the regime of leader Kim Jong Un under a recent U.N. resolution requiring a halt to oil and gas shipments into North Korea.

The site reported that it obtained the four-page document, written in Chinese, from a source with former ties to the Chinese intelligence and security communities.

The document comes to light amid recent reports that Chinese vessels were caught transferring oil to North Korean ships in international waters, in violation of U.N. sanctions. U.S. reconnaissance satellites managed to capture a recent transfer with enough clarity to view the name on the North Korean ship, the Reysonggang 1.

Upon publication of the report, Trump tweeted last week that China was caught “red-handed” providing assistance to North Korea it claimed it would no longer provide.

“There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korean problem if this continues to happen,” Trump said on Dec. 28. (Related: Would China invade North Korea if war broke out on the peninsula?)

According to the Chinese directive:

— CCP officials have concluded that international pressure will never lead to North Korea voluntarily abandoning its nuclear arsenal, estimated to be at about 20 warheads;

— As such, the CCP directed its International Liaison Department to let Pyongyang know of Beijing’s continued support;

— The CCP will not move to restrict North Korean and Chinese firms from conducting business;

— The document authorizes a one-time increase in foreign aid to North Korea in 2018 for “daily life and infrastructure building,” with aid to be increased annually from 2019 through 2023 by “no less than 10 percent over the previous year”;

— The document also offers military support including “defensive military construction,” “high level military science and technology,” and “more advanced mid- and short-range ballistic missiles, cluster munitions, etc.”

The directive instructs the liaison department to “warn the Korean authority not to overdo things on the nuclear issue,” meaning Pyongyang should “maintain restraint” on additional nuclear testing. Then, “after some years when the conditions are ripe, to apply gradual reforms” and eventually get rid of all nuclear weapons.