The Guardian argues in its editorial titled North Koreas rocket launch: China holds the key that any hope of a diplomatic settlement rests fundamentally on China, North Koreas key ally.
The firing of a rocket does not mean that North Korea is on the brink of having an invulnerable and reliable nuclear weapons system in place. But the launch leaves little to the imagination about the direction Pyongyang has chosen. Its aim is to put its totalitarian regime inside a nuclear bunker, whatever the costs for its own population and whatever the consequences for the region.
North Korea is in effect threatening its own suicide, promising to take down others in the event of an escalating confrontation.
Any hope of a diplomatic settlement rests fundamentally on China, North Koreas key ally and its main economic and commercial support. Chinas responsibility is hard to exaggerate. It could have acted long ago to push the North Korean regime into a more cooperative stance when the nuclear danger was less intense. That it chose not to points to long-held Chinese fears that the result of any demilitarisation of North Korea would eventually be a reunification of the peninsula on South Korean terms.
On Sunday, China said it regretted North Koreas use of ballistic missile technology, and urged a calm response. Optimists will hope this may mark a first step towards reining in its unruly ally. If so, it is high time.
