Are the Chinese, finally, getting a little nervous?
China's President Xi Jinping has called for a "peaceful" resolution to tensions over North Korea, in a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, Chinese state media said.
On Tuesday Mr Trump tweeted that the US was not afraid of acting alone on North Korea if China would not help.
Tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula after the dispatch of US warships to the region.
North Korea reacted with anger, saying it would defend itself "powerfully".
North Korea always reacts with anger. Virulent diatribes against the US imperialists and the despicable colonial puppets in South Korea are absolutely standard. In fact, apart from the regular reports of the latest Supreme Leader activities (visiting the Pyongyang mushroom farm), and singing the praises of the great Kim dynasty, that's about all there is.
There is no chance that Kim Jong-un will abandon his nuclear weapons. From the official Rodong Sinmun, after the Syrian attack:
What happened in Syria once again taught a bitter lesson that no one should have an illusion about the imperialists and one can defend oneself from the imperialist aggression only when one has one's strength.
Our tremendous military muscle with a nuclear force as its pivot serves as a treasured sword of justice for foiling the U.S. shameless high-handed and arbitrary practices and aggression moves and protecting the sovereignty of the country and the right of the nation to existence.
The reality today goes to prove that any aggression should be countered with force only and that the DPRK's choice is entirely just as it has bolstered up its nuclear force remarkably.
The DPRK will increase in every way its military capability for self-defence to cope with the U.S. evermore reckless moves for a war and will defend itself with its own force.
Couldn't be clearer. Negotiations are a complete waste of time.
China is the only country with any real leverage over Pyongyang. And they've shown, to date, no interest whatsoever in reining in their wayward neighbour.
Who knows, perhaps a bit of sabre-rattling may succeed where cautious diplomatic moves have failed. In which case, the unpredictability of Donald Trump may work to his advantage. After the Syrian surprise, the Chinese and the North Koreans really don't know how far he's prepared to go. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo is reporting that the US has put Australia and other allies on alert, warning that it's fully prepared to shoot down any rockets launched by the North Koreans, and that they're confident they can deal with any North Korean attack. And let's face it: despite all the rhetoric, though North Korea has nukes sure enough, its ability to deliver them with any kind of accuracy is very much open to doubt.
There's the feeling too that, given a push, the whole Pyongyang house of cards will collapse. How much loyalty do the starved over-worked cadres really have to the appalling Kim dynasty? And that's the last thing the Chinese want - a broken North Korea, and the US-backed South Korea stepping in to seal the unification deal.
So now, just for the moment, we can perhaps enjoy the sense that, for once, it's the Chinese who have reason to be nervous.
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