North Korea sees nuclear weapons as a path to its own security. China, Pyongyang’s closest (and almost only) ally, wants regional stability. But as Kim Jong-un moves ever closer to being able to deliver a nuclear bomb to Japan or the United States, fear over instability is rising.

At the United Nations on Monday, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korea is "begging for war." China’s UN envoy responded: "China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula."

If that’s true, then what is Beijing waiting for?

At the Monitor’s news meeting today, we discussed how China sees its pugnacious neighbor. If 85 percent of Pyongyang’s trade is with China, why isn’t it using that trade to curb North Korea’s quest for nukes? Our Beijing reporter looks at where North Korea fits among China’s priorities today (below).

Perhaps China’s leaders calculate that the US is all bark and no bite, that it won’t risk war, and will eventually negotiate. Or maybe China sees harsher sanctions as more destabilizing than North Korean nukes. Meanwhile, there are reports that Mr. Kim will launch another intercontinental ballistic missile later this week.  

Still, one Monitor editor raises this question: If China has ambitions as a “Great Power,” when will Beijing show world leadership on this issue?