probably refrains from taking unilateral actions that would escalate tensions on the korean peninsula. now one reason some analysts say beijing has been fairly quiet so far is because they don't view this as a threat to the region as a whole but rather they view this as a call for attention from the new trump administration and the ouu.s. a well as a warning shot to japan. you're right about china as the only major ally north korea has on the global stage and provides an economic and political lifeline to the regime in pyongyang. but the two sides haven't been seeing eye to eye on the issue for some time. one telltale sign is xi jinping has yet to meet with kim jong un since he took power a few years ago. on the other hand, of course, china does feel the need of having north korea as a security buffer between itself and south korea, which has a large u.s. military presence, and also