Is there a point at which China will finally tire of the antics of its North Korean neighbor and put its foot down? Barbara Demick of the LA Times offers up a modest data point today:
North Korea’s latest nuclear test raises the question of just how long the bonds forged between old communist allies will endure….Increasingly, China itself is questioning whether the relationship is worth the effort.
Within the Chinese intelligentsia there is a deep divide over how to handle North Korea. The Global Times, a newspaper with close party ties, Tuesday published a survey of 20 of the country’s top foreign policy experts. It found them split down the middle — 10 arguing for tough sanctions against North Korea, 10 opposed.
It’s not much. Just a blip. But I’ll bet that even five years ago opinion wouldn’t have been split much at all, and if it had it wouldn’t have made it into the pages of a newspaper close to the party. The times may be — slowly, subtly, silently — changing.
