[maui_hawaii]

China also knows N. Korea cannot have a good economy without US assistance.

Or US complacency...

[maui_hawaii]

CHINA DEBATES the FUTURE SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

[Kaiwen]

Very true. I think the Chinese made a major mistake by arresting N. Korea's pick (whose name espaces me--Chinese guy, Dutch citizenship?) to run the North's experimental special economic zone. That would have given the Chinese more influence on the North's economic development than either the South or the US. Instead, they got pissed beause they weren't informed beforehand, and blew it. Their loss.

With North Korea getting craizer by the day, I'm just glad Beijing is upwind of any fallout from the Korean Peninsula...