US short on N.Korea options with China reluctant to act

Those efforts so far have been short on returns, with Trump acknowledging the uphill battle he faces.

"I am very disappointed in China," the self-proclaimed dealmaker fumed on Twitter on July 29, one day after the North carried out a second Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) test within a month.

"Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!"

Since Trump expressed "great confidence" that Chinese President Xi Jinping will be able to "properly deal" with North Korea in April, the North has carried out nine ballistic missile tests.

Those are in addition to four other missile tests since Trump assumed office in January.

The U.S. has maintained that China has unique ways in which it can apply pressure to Pyongyang due primarily to its hefty economic footprint in the North.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said China accounts for 90 percent of economic activity with North Korea.So far, Beijing has been reluctant to leverage that influence to stave off future ballistic missile or nuclear tests.

Key to understanding why China has not taken a more assertive stance against its neighbor is acknowledging the worst-case scenario for Beijing in North Korea is very different than the one feared by U.S. officials.

The status quo on the Korean Peninsula is better than "just about anything the Chinese can contemplate", James Clad, a former top Pentagon official for Asia Pacific security told Anadolu Agency.

"The collapse of the regime is not something China wants," he said. "Reunification under the South, who would inherit the nuclear weapons capability, and perhaps retain American forces there, that would not be something China would want."