China set for North Korea invasion: Pentagon report
DHARAMSALA, August, 24: China is prepared to invade North Korea according to Pentagon’s latest annual report on China’s military.
In a first of its kind, The Pentagon’s annual report on China’s military has revealed contingency plans by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to intervene in North Korea, reports The Washington Times.
Last year, the relationship between the two communist countries nosedived and hit the rock bottom in decades, the Pentagon report said.
“In 2017, China’s relationship with North Korea reached the lowest level in decades,” the report said and added that in response to North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile tests, Beijing has supported series of sanctions on the North Korea at the UN Security Council resolutions to impose additional sanctions on its neighbour.
According to the report, China fears that North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests will provoke a conflict on the peninsula that would involve U.S. forces being stationed near the Chinese border, something the communist country dreads.
“China’s objectives for the Korean Peninsula include stability, denuclearization, and no U.S. forces near China’s border. China’s priority is maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula, which includes preventing a DPRK collapse and preventing a military conflict on the Peninsula,” the report added.
The report further said that China has long been concerned about stability along its border with North Korea.
“China’s rhetoric towards North Korea also became more strident, including suggestions that the PLA could respond to a crisis on the Korean Peninsula,” Pentagon said in its 130-page annual report.