[Brave-Steak]

> China would never get rid of such a powerful way to annoy everyone else

It's not just this. China doesn't want a unified, Western-friendly Korea directly on its border. They also don't want the mass refugees if NK fails.

[kbenson]

I don't think they were necessarily referring to getting rid of NK as much as NK's tactic of firing missiles. China could presumably influence to NK to not launch missiles at neighbors while still supporting it as a separate state, it's just not in their interest to do that either.

[pasabagi]

>China could presumably influence to NK to not launch missiles at neighbors.

Very questionable. If you read about the Rangoon bombing[0] the short of it is the Chinese passed on a note from the NKs to the Americans requesting trilateral talks, essentially vouching for them, just prior to the bombing. Apparently, Deng Xaiping said afterwards he'd never let 'that motherfucker' (Kim Jong Il) set foot on chinese soil as long as he lived, and apparently, KJI never did.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoon_bombing

[lumost]

NK is a wildcard that China doesn't have a great way to get out of. They're just as likely to annoy China for more aid as they are to annoy other countries to remove sanctions.

All of the pathways to a rational NK have outcomes that China would not like including both collapse of the North Korean state, hostility between China and NK or variations on unification between SK and NK. The only stable option is to work with NK too slowly migrate towards a modern Chinese communism approach over the span of decades through the use of aid money, advisors, economic exchange, and educational programs. This only risks periodic regression via purges within North Korea.

[michael1999]

A guard dog needs teeth.

[Y_Y]

Maybe that influence could take the form of not supplying them with fuel and materials and technology?