Actually, I think you're misreading China on this matter.
Think of it this way: your country has been improving by leaps and bounds lately - economically, militarily, politically... and you got a hold-over from the Cold War sitting on your shoulder, plotting and scheming the take-over of not only their own geopolitical area, but that of your neighboring, glaring-at-you-but-not-inclined-to-do-anything, archipelago-nation. They already have primitive WMDs, and are working on even bigger ones. Full-blown nukes are very high on their list of things to do.
You are China. You got a pretty good thing going right now, and these nutjobs are threatening to blow it for you. Worst of all they are your next-door neighbors, and are also next-door neighbors with Russia, who will also get pissed off on general principal.
How would you, as China, really feel about N. Korea?
I would be on the phone just about every day, telling them to knock it off. This has actually happened several times and China has made it a point that everyone knows this.
Really, the most China will probably do if it came down to it is kindly ask that no ordnance or assets wind up on their side of the border. If that occurs, they'll probably demand restitution, which they'll probably get. We may not exactly be allies (we're still pretty peeved that they had spies trying to steal US military tech)... however, we are trade-partners. And, as a general rule, you try not to piss with your trading partners too much.
That's also part of the reason why we're dealing with N. Korea with something more of a wait-and-see attitude. However, I'm pretty sure that if they ever launched missiles at S. Korea or Japan (especially Japan) that China is simply going to throw their hands up in frustration and say, "By all means, take care of this. Just mind the fence!"
Just as a side-note, I don't really have much against China, in case you haven't noticed. I can even sympathize a bit with them for wanting a top-notch phased array radar - because with that comes the ability to mount an effective ballistic missile defense system. Now, they aren't really worried about the US nuking them these days - that would destroy our own economy as our businesses do quite a bit of trade with China. They're somewhat more concerned with the more unstable powers that either A) already have a nuclear arsenal (Pakistan, India), or are working towards obtaining them (Iran, N. Korea).
Why would they have to worry about the Middle East if you are China? Simple. They have Muslims, too. And the Chinese Government doesn't have a very good track record with minorities.
Think of it this way: your country has been improving by leaps and bounds lately - economically, militarily, politically... and you got a hold-over from the Cold War sitting on your shoulder, plotting and scheming the take-over of not only their own geopolitical area, but that of your neighboring, glaring-at-you-but-not-inclined-to-do-anything, archipelago-nation. They already have primitive WMDs, and are working on even bigger ones. Full-blown nukes are very high on their list of things to do.
You are China. You got a pretty good thing going right now, and these nutjobs are threatening to blow it for you. Worst of all they are your next-door neighbors, and are also next-door neighbors with Russia, who will also get pissed off on general principal.
How would you, as China, really feel about N. Korea?
I would be on the phone just about every day, telling them to knock it off. This has actually happened several times and China has made it a point that everyone knows this.
Really, the most China will probably do if it came down to it is kindly ask that no ordnance or assets wind up on their side of the border. If that occurs, they'll probably demand restitution, which they'll probably get. We may not exactly be allies (we're still pretty peeved that they had spies trying to steal US military tech)... however, we are trade-partners. And, as a general rule, you try not to piss with your trading partners too much.
That's also part of the reason why we're dealing with N. Korea with something more of a wait-and-see attitude. However, I'm pretty sure that if they ever launched missiles at S. Korea or Japan (especially Japan) that China is simply going to throw their hands up in frustration and say, "By all means, take care of this. Just mind the fence!"
Just as a side-note, I don't really have much against China, in case you haven't noticed. I can even sympathize a bit with them for wanting a top-notch phased array radar - because with that comes the ability to mount an effective ballistic missile defense system. Now, they aren't really worried about the US nuking them these days - that would destroy our own economy as our businesses do quite a bit of trade with China. They're somewhat more concerned with the more unstable powers that either A) already have a nuclear arsenal (Pakistan, India), or are working towards obtaining them (Iran, N. Korea).
Why would they have to worry about the Middle East if you are China? Simple. They have Muslims, too. And the Chinese Government doesn't have a very good track record with minorities.