U.S. NEWS / AP: China is trying to punish ally North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests, stepping up inspections of North Korean-bound cargo in a calibrated effort to send a message of Chinese pique without further provoking a testy Pyongyang government…
China’s change of tack with North Korea unlikely foreshadows a total end to Beijing’s support. For Beijing, North Korea remains a pivotal strategic buffer between China and a U.S.-allied South Korea, and Chinese leaders worry that too much pressure could upend an already fragile North Korean economy and cause the Kim government to collapse, leaving Beijing with a security headache and possible refugee crisis.
“We have to get away from the binary thinking that either they support North Korea or they pull the plug. That’s not the way the world works,” said Jonathan Pollack of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank. “The interesting thing is not what happens at the UN but what happens beneath the radar in terms of what Chinese provide in economic aid and energy assistance.”… (more)
