Chinese President Xi Jinping recently concluded his three-day U.S. State visit. While many issues were discussed, one obvious omission was the North Korean human rights situation.

But perhaps it is better that way. Here’s why.

Discussion of North Korea’s horrific human rights record has continued to mount since the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) released the Report on the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and, in a massive step forward, has become a permanent item on the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) agenda.

Whilst the United States has been at the forefront of raising awareness of North Korean human rights abuses, through mobilising civil society and promoting the agenda at the UN, China has been reluctant to pursue further progress on the issue. China’s reluctance is not limited to neutral non-involvement but extends as far as actively voting down any resolution on this issue that has been tabled at the UN.

Despite attempts to block UN solutions, China does share a common desire to improve the state of human rights in North Korea predominantly to ensure the integrity of Chinese border sovereignty.

Due to the harsh human rights abuses that the North Korean regime inflicts on its populace, China must contend with daily influxes of refugees, illegal workers and displaced/trafficked people fleeing across the North Korea-China border. Although China maintains that these people are economic migrants (and as such cannot claim asylum under the parameters set out in the 1951 Refugee Convention), the issue remains one that China is keen to control. The situation is further compounded by the large number of unregistered children that are born to North Korean mothers and Chinese fathers and the hazy legal ramifications that this brings.

In addition to China’s direct interest in elevating the North Korean human rights situation, there is a clear reason for the United States to convince China to join multilateral efforts. Though the Sino-North Korean relationship has been strained since the execution of pro-China Jang-Sung Taek, China remains North Korea’s closest ally and largest trading partner. China provides invaluable assistance to North Korea in the form of legitimacy in international institutions such as the United Nations Security Council.

This historical relationship could prove key to any attempt by the United States, or the UN, to further pressure North Korea on its human rights issue. However, clear problems arise when raising human rights issues with China in a bilateral setting and could prove to be counter-productive to the end goal of working toward improved human rights in North Korea.

China itself has a far from stellar approach to human rights and does not appreciate lecturing from the West in this regard. Similar to joint ventures with other countries with questionable standards of human rights such as Saudi Arabia or Nigeria, the United States could focus on working with China on this issue without it impacting other aspects of the bilateral relationship.

China and the United States have both made commitments to ensuring nuclear security, most recently reaffirmed during Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, D.C., and it is this point of commonality that can be used as the foundation for further cooperation – including on the North Korean human rights issue.

The COI argued that expenditure of the country’s scarce resources on nuclear weapon had direct implications for the state of human rights in North Korea. China could indirectly influence North Korea’s human rights situation by encouraging limitations on its ongoing nuclear development programme through bilateral talks and other diplomatic pressure. The occasion of North Korea’s impending satellite launch, which is scheduled to happen on the 70^th anniversary of the formation of the Korean Workers Party (KWP), would be a good opportunity for Chinese diplomatic intervention on the issue.

Though frustrating for the West, direct United States pressure on China to encourage North Korea to uphold its human rights obligations could prove ineffective and unproductive to the end goal.

Rather, the United States should use the common platform of nuclear security to indirectly prod China to advance the human rights situation in North Korea. In doing so, the United States can cooperate with North Korea’s biggest ally to solve the problem without aggravating the situation further.

Jawoon Kim recently graduated with a Bachelor of International Studies, majoring in International Relations at UNSW. She is currently writing her honours thesis on ‘Human rights in North Korea and Responsibility to Protect’ and her research has been published in Politik at UNSW. Prior to interning with AIIA, she has been involved with other NGOs such as Amnesty International Australia and Australian Red Cross and hopes to pursue her career in the NGO sector.