Why is China hesitant to put more pressure on North Korea?

China and North Korea are actually friendly towards each other. Unlike other countries wherein North Korea would never try to coordinate with, China is known to be one of N.Korea’s allies. It has helped the country many times, especially with the crisis and problems that the country has faced in the past.

There are some changes, however, with how China deals with North Korea. Just recently, they have restricted the ability of North Koreans to open bank accounts. There is also a limit to opening businesses. Mainly, China is not too strict on North Korea because they know that the refugees will run over their borders and try to escape. This is not something that they want to deal with right now.

China has put pressure on North Korea. Here are just three examples of what China has done so far. China has voted in favor of United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions to impose economic sanctions on North Korea. However, they did not want to be prevented from selling oil to China. China has also ordered its state run banks to prevent North Korean businesses and people from opening new bank accounts, which makes it difficult for North Koreans to pay their bills. China also temporarily suspended coal, iron ore, iron, and lead imports from North Korea and fuel sales to North Korea.

However, I believe the main reason China has not put more pressure on North Korea is because they do not want a war in their backyard and even more importantly they don’t want hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring across their border.