China and North Korea: Tough Talk Puts Allies ‘at a Crossroads’

 

by Alexander Smith

North Korea is notorious for its outlandish and apocalyptic threats against the U.S., but it has now delivered a rare verbal salvo against China, a country seen as one of its only allies on the planet.

Kim Jong Un's regime scolded Beijing, alleging it acted with "insincerity and betrayal" in comments about Pyongyang's burgeoning nuclear and ballistic-missile program. 

The neighbors — one a vast, economic juggernaut, the other an impoverished, isolated pariah — have long been locked in an uneasy balancing act.

But last week's comments may be an indication that this six-decade symbiosis is in danger of falling apart.

As Jia Qingguo, dean of the Department of Diplomacy at China's Peking University, put it: "China and North Korea's relationship is at a crossroads." 

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC News