[Al Gator]

Good point. I'm sure that if word got out, the entire population of NK would end up in China.

LOL, wouldn't that be a problem?

[Zhang Fei]

Good point. I'm sure that if word got out, the entire population of NK would end up in China. LOL, wouldn't that be a problem?

I think the Chinese have their eyes on the prize. Before making any military moves, you need to break your opponents' alliances.

Say in the worst case, Japan gets nukes. So what? Under the American nuclear umbrella, Japan is protected by 2,000 nuclear warheads. If Japan gets 100 nukes, how is that worse for China? In the realm of nuclear warheads, 2,000 might as well be infinity. If the US-Japan alliance holds after Japan goes nuclear, China would face 2,100 warheads. I don't see how that is materially different for China. And if the alliance breaks up, China just faces 100 warheads from Japan - without a tripwire force and a formal defense pact, Uncle Sam is unlikely to extend his nuclear umbrella to Japan. Once you get past China's self-serving statements, figuring out what it's doing isn't even all that difficult.