Will China Lower the Boom on Pyongyang?

China is not happy with North Korea. Semi-official views are coming from Chinese scholars, and now there are some official statements from the Chinese government.

Don’t be particularly encouraged by any of this. What China (and Russia) want is the status quo ante, with North Korea keeping up its churlish behavior and tying down part of the U.S. military in Northeast Asia. Neither Russia nor China wants to face the threat of a unified, democratic, and economically resurgent Korea that competes for influence in Northeast Asia.

It goes without saying that neither Russia nor China would bat an eyelash if their preferred strategic option cost another two million North Korean lives. That the same applies to South Korea is harder to explain.