China is starting to pressure North Korea again...

Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi. UPI/EPA.

China has warned North Korea to not conduct any other ballistic missile tests. UPI. The Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi delivered the message to North Korea at the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations meeting right after the UN security council unanimously agreed to further sanctions on North Korea. China voted for the resolution and Minster Yi said that the goal was to bring North Korea back to the negotiation table to get rid of their nuclear weapons. 

My Comment:

The pressure is really starting to build on North Korea. Having their only international ally turn on them at this meeting has to be a bitter pill for the North Koreans to swallow. It's pretty clear that the North Koreans are all out of friends. The unanimous agreement for new sanctions is proof enough of that. 

I wonder how much of this is because Donald Trump has been publicly shaming China on Twitter. Conventional wisdom says that it probably doesn't matter but I am not so sure myself. China has a very prominent cultural aversion to losing "face". Having the president of the United States shame them publicly to the entire world probably did have an effect. 

Still, what Trump said about China is basically true. If they really wanted to they could pressure North Korea into giving up their nukes. China is powerful enough they could just shut down North Korea's economy in one fell swoop. They are doing some things to pressure North Korea but they could be doing so much more. 

So why don't they? Probably because they are at more of a risk from North Korea than anyone else. Unlike the United States, the Chinese know that the North Koreans have weapons that can reach their population centers. Though North Korea's ballistic missile program isn't advanced, it is a huge threat to China in a way it just isn't to America. If war comes they can expect some of their cities to be hit with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. 

They also have a vested interest in propping up the North Korean regime. A war in North Korea would create a huge refugee problem that would greatly damage the Chinese economy, which is already week. They also want a buffer state between them and South Korea, a major ally of the United States. 

Unfortunately war is getting more and more likely. It's another case of an immovable object versus an unstoppable force. North Korea needs it's nuclear weapons and ballistic weapons program both as a deterrence and as a matter of national pride. The United States can't tolerate a nuclear armed North Korea with the ability to destroy major US cities. Neither side is likely to back down but unless one side does, war is increasingly inevitable...