海角大神

North Korea sees nuclear weapons as a path to its own security.聽China, Pyongyang鈥檚 closest (and almost only) ally, wants regional stability.聽But as Kim Jong-un moves ever closer to being able to deliver a nuclear bomb to Japan or the United States, fear over instability is rising.

At the United Nations on Monday, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korea is "begging for war."聽China鈥檚 UN envoy responded: "China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula."

If that鈥檚 true, then what is Beijing waiting for?

At the Monitor鈥檚 news meeting today, we discussed how China sees its pugnacious neighbor. If 85 percent of Pyongyang鈥檚 trade is with China, why isn鈥檛 it using that trade to curb North Korea鈥檚 quest for nukes? Our Beijing reporter looks at where North Korea fits among China鈥檚 priorities today (below).

Perhaps China鈥檚 leaders calculate that the US is all bark and no bite, that it won鈥檛 risk war, and will eventually negotiate. Or maybe China sees harsher sanctions as more destabilizing than North Korean nukes. Meanwhile, there are reports that Mr. Kim will launch another intercontinental ballistic missile later this week. 聽

Still, one Monitor editor raises this question: If China has ambitions as a 鈥淕reat Power,鈥� when will Beijing show world leadership on this issue?