China After North Korea's Nuclear Test

North Korea's latest nuclear test has sparked another round of discussions in China regarding the viability of its North Korean policy. China has long seen North Korea as a strategic buffer and has used its relation with Pyongyang as a tool in maneuvering relations with South Korea, Japan and the United States. But North Korea's nuclear test once again highlights Beijing's inability or unwillingness to prevent Pyongyang from taking "provocative" actions, and thus weakens China's ability to use its offer of mediation with the North in return for political concessions from its neighbors or the United States.