Can China Stop North Korea?  Why Beijing has less leverage over
its troublesome neighbor than you think.  After a brief lull,
North Korea has begun acting up again: Kim Jong Un has vowed to
re-start the country's nuclear program, has declared the near-60
year-old armistice between his country and South Korea "void",
and, in his latest provocation, has prevented workers from the
South from entering the jointly-owned Kaesong Industrial Park,
once a symbol of hopeful reconciliation. And so the usual cycle
continues: Pyongyang rattles, Washington steams, and Beijing
expresses "regret" and "hope" for peace on the Korean peninsula.
China's reticence in dealing with North Korea is, in a way,
puzzling; After all, Beijing isn't shy in protecting its
national interests in the East China Sea, standing up to
countries like Japan and the Philippines. China is also North
Korea's only ally and, according to the Council on Foreign
Relations, provides 90 percent of North Korea's energy imports,
80 percent of its consumer goo