I just think you’re struggling for an excuse to avoid doing what needs to be done. You know if the idea is to get China to do something (which I think is a fools errand) then the most likely way to make that happen is to convince them that the next step is military. They won’t want a war in their backyard particularly one waged by the US. If sanctions on NK didn’t work then sanctions on China certainly won’t.
Well you can’t bluff on military action. If you make a threat, you have to be prepared to carry it out.
What would you do?