After three decades¡¦ steady and tremendously economic growth, China has reemerged on the center stage of the world as an aspiring great power. Its historically unprecedented leapfrogging in the global economic share levels up its comprehensive national power exponentially, and becomes the main driving force in Asia in the context of global interdependence. In the restive North East Asia, the North Korea Nuclear Crisis facilitated the United States strategic overhaul in western Pacific. For great powers, the Korea Peninsula has been a major power struggle theater since the late eighteen century, because of its geographic location. Therefore, the balance of power in the peninsular is a matter of caution in the world leaders¡¦ calculation. The United States, Russia, Japan, China, and South Korea are the major players in the subregion, all of whom are six-party talks participants. The six-party talks was originally convened to settle the hermit kingdom¡¦s nuclear ambition. Ostensibly, it was. But, when examined from the theory of the balance of power, it has multi-pronged goals---the most realistic one is to manage the structural power transition now happening in the region. Even in the late 2007 North Korea launched a series of missile and nuclear weapon test, the function of being an adjusting and preventive agent still works in the framework. Still more explicitly, the United States treats the dialogue mechanism as a litmus test to see if or not China operates in the international system as a ¡§responsible stakeholder¡¨ as it expects. Because of compound issues involved in the issue(proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear armament domino effect in North East Asia, and the miserable living conditions and humanitarian crisis in North Korea), the real mindset of China¡¦s position on dealing with it which is top on its national interest calculations could be clearly read. Moreover, North Korea stands as a buffer state in the North East Asia, its collapsing and integration with South Korea means a lot to the great powers---China is the immediate benefactor in this matter. That¡¦s why China has been voicing its concern on the basing relocation and military interoperability exercises among the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Then, the discourse, or authenticity, of ¡§peaceful development¡¨ will be given credence to or not. Given the scenario, the thesis is focused on studying the policy of China on dealing with North Korea nuclear dispute and its impacts on the Northeast Asia, trying to understand and figure out the real face of China¡¦s strategic ambitions.

MA (Political Science) / Department of Development Studies / The 21st century has witnessed intensified ties between China and South Africa both bilaterally and multilaterally under BRICS. South Africa-China relations have been amplified by the quest to strengthen South-South cooperation as opposed to depending on the West for everything. In this research the focus is on examining the political and economic relations between South Africa and China. The sustainability of the China-South Africa engagement in the areas of economy and politics will be examined. Since South Africa is the weaker partner economically in her relationship with China, will the relationship leave South Africa disadvantaged or will the South African economy benefit from the bilateral relations? On the political level, China’s policy on Tibet and the One-China policy may have a bearing on South Africa’s image in the world. The research is designed to explore the political and economic dimensions of the relationship. The study derives insights from the interdependence theory which argues that we live in a world of interdependence which has altered the concept of power which is at the heart of the realist theory. Interdependence is also defined as mutual dependence among nations and reciprocal effects among states. The study utilizes a qualitative approach where desk research involving primary and secondary sources are used. Fundamentally the study argues that the relationship is mutually beneficial albeit unequal. China is a major power with the second largest economy in the world and South Africa is a regional power with a stagnating economy. China needs South Africa in her Africa strategy due to the fact that South Africa boasts the largest and most advanced economy on the African continent and this makes the country a convenient doorway into Africa. South Africa on the other hand needs Chinese Foreign Direct Investment and trade to speed up growth and grow the black middle class which was disadvantaged during the apartheid years. In 2015 the two countries signed 26 agreements worth 94 billion rand when the Chinese President Xi Jinping paid an official visit to South Africa which will be mutually beneficial to both parties.