Chinese leaders may still view North Korea as a strategic buffer state, but China’s status as a global power is pushing them to view the North in a new way. Former State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan was even reported to have said recently that denuclearization is now a higher priority for China than stabilization of the Korean Peninsula.
习近平对朝鲜和野心的批评反常地公开且尖锐。中国领导人或许仍把朝鲜视为战略缓冲国，但中国作为国际大国的地位使其以新视角看待朝鲜。据报道，前国务委员唐家璇最近甚至表示如今对中国来说朝鲜半岛的去核化比朝鲜半岛的稳定更加重要。