Under threat of military action from an unpredictable US President Donald Trump, China appears to be stepping up efforts to prevent North Korea from conducting a major military provocation.
According to a US official familiar with intelligence reports, it is believed behind-the-scenes efforts by Beijing have so far staved off North Korea’s planned sixth underground nuclear test. Any Chinese strategy and tactics used to avert the test are not known.
China was prepared for a test in mid-April. On April 14, the Environmental Protection Bureau for Dalian, a port city across the Yellow Sea from North Korea, published an internal government bulletin that warned of a coming nuclear test by Pyongyang. The bureau ordered a state of emergency over "the danger of a sudden North Korean nuclear or chemical emergency" affecting environmental safety or public health.
Read the entire article at Asia Times.