China is key influence on Kim Jong-un in ‘freeze-for-freeze’ deal

President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, is never less than pugnacious, but on this particular count she was adamant.

“When a rogue regime has a nuclear weapon and an ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] pointed at you, you do not take steps to lower your guard,” she told the UN security council last September. “No one would do that. We certainly won’t.”

She was reacting to a Chinese proposal, supported by Russia, for a solution to the military tensions embroiling the US and North Korea, something called “dual suspension” or “freeze-for-freeze”. North Korea, the idea was, would stop testing ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads; the US and South Korea, in return, would suspend their joint military exercises.

“We will defend our allies and our territory,” Ms Haley insisted. “The idea that some have suggested a so-called freeze for freeze is insulting.”

Nine months later, it has become a reality, and no one can feel more satisfaction than the government of China…

“We would not accept a so-called freeze-for-freeze agreement, like those that have consistently failed in the past,” Mr Trump said November. In Singapore last week, he was embracing the idea, insisting that the exercises were “very provocative”.

The presence in Beijing today and tomorrow of Mr Kim confirms what has become increasingly clear since last week’s summit in Singapore: that, however else the other participants in the diplomatic process may feel, China has come out of it remarkably well, and its ideas are influential.