Seoul (AsiaNews) - China's role in taming Pyongyang has been "overestimated," a Chinese expert said Wednesday.
Pyongyang will respond with even more provocative ways if China takes a "tough stance," Jin Qiangyi, director of the Asia Studies Centre at Yanbian University, told China's state-run Global Times.
According to South Korean and US intelligence sources, North Korea is preparing a fourth nuclear test against the wishes of the international community.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told United Nations diplomats that the North is ready for a new test "whenever they make the necessary political decision."
China, North Korea's last remaining economic partner and political ally, seems to be growing more and more distant from its embarrassing ally.
Still, even though it has criticised its military provocations, Beijing remains the North's largest supplier of food and energy, and virtually all of North Korea's foreign trade goes through Chinese companies.
For Jin, China is not prepared to cut off relations with North Korea because the latter's reaction would be unpredictable. In fact, "As long as Pyongyang is determined to develop nuclear weapons, it will not be obedient to any other country including China," he said.
