How China and the U.S. relationship benefits from the provocative behavior from North Korea remains to be seen. Yet in a meeting between John Kerry and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, an agreement was reached on finding a peaceful way to ensure a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

North Korea’s third nuclear test has dealt a death blow to any remaining illusions that Pyongyang can be persuaded to give up its fledgling nuclear weapons capability. J. Stapleton Roy writes that both Beijing and Washington need to rethink their policies in the face of this reality.

The world’s task in addressing North Korea’s saber rattling is made no easier by the fact that it confronts an impoverished and effectively defeated country.

North Korea’s satellite launch and subsequent nuclear test has greatly increased concerns that conflict could quickly spread across the Korean peninsula. Ted Galen Carpenter writes that without meaningful concessions by the United States, China will continue to give Kim Jong-un a free pass and limit the enforcement of UN sanctions.

Bilateral cooperation on Resolution 2094 ushered in a good start for the relationship under the new Chinese leadership and the start of President Obama’s second term.

Following North Korea’s third nuclear test, Dr. Andrei Lankov writes that China’s strategic goals for its rogue ally are defined by “three no’s.” Unfortunately for the international community, a nuclear North Korea rests at the bottom of this list.

North Korea's third nuclear test is a game changer not only for the United States and Japan, but also for the regime’s last ally, China. The official Chinese reaction to North Korea’s latest provocation was stern: China is “strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed” to the test, and it is calling for the resumption of international talks.

North does not threaten America geographically as two nations do not share a land border, but President Trump apparently is certain that Pyongyang’s weapons programs are Washington’s problem. This prospect has pushed the Trump administration into frenetic if not necessarily productive activity.

China must reconsider its approach to the DPRK nuclear issue, reverse its passive strategic position, and not equate the security of North Korea with the security of the Kim regime. Beijing should openly state that it will neither allow a war in North Korea, nor merely look on while North Korea becomes Northeast Asia’s “Middle East”.

Trump spoke publicly of progress on a range of issues in his first U.S.-China summit.