The People's Republic of China (PRC) plays a key role in U.S. policy toward North Korea. The PRC is North Korea's closest ally, largest provider of food, fuel, and industrial machinery, and arguably the country most able to wield influence in Pyongyang. This close bilateral relationship is of interest to U.S. policymakers because China plays a pivotal role in the success of U.S. efforts to halt the DPRK's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, to prevent nuclear proliferation, to enforce economic sanctions, to keep the peace on the Korean Peninsula, and to ensure that North Korean refugees that cross into China receive humane treatment. As North Korea's main trading partner and benefactor, China can play the role as an intermediary or may even exercise leverage with Pyongyang in times of crisis, particularly following a military provocation by North Korea when the United States or South Korea have little direct communication with DPRK leaders. China's actions also are key in reforming the DPRK's dysfunctional economy and meeting the basic human needs of the North Korean people. China hosts the Six Party Talks (6PT) on denuclearization, is able to provide credible advice to Pyongyang on issues such as economic reform, and plays an important role on the United Nations Security Council and other international organizations that deal with the DPRK. In general, the Obama Administration—as was true of the Bush Administration—has emphasized common interests rather than differences in its policy toward China regarding North Korea. Although China is prominent in U.S. policy toward North Korea, North Korea is only one of numerous items on the Sino-U.S. agenda. In deciding whether to criticize China when its actions toward North Korea are at odds with U.S. interests, Obama Administration officials must weigh the possible spillover into these other areas, some of which appear to have a higher priority to the White House than North Korea. China has become a major player on the world stage, and cooperation with China increasingly is becoming essential in tackling a variety of global issues. China is now the second largest economy in the world after the United States and in 2010 surpassed Japan. (It is number three if the European Union is counted as one economy.) Together, the United States and China account for more than half of global energy imports and emit over 30% of global greenhouse gases. The U.S. trade deficit and reliance on capital inflows are unlikely to be resolved without cooperation from China, since it has a $227 billion surplus in merchandise trade with the United States and holds $880 billion in U.S. Treasury securities. This intersection of interests on the world stage influences how the United States and China deal with the DPRK. In other respects, conflicts of interests between the United States and China also drive relations between the two countries and spill over into each country's relations with North Korea. U.S. relations with China are increasingly becoming strained over issues such as U.S.-South Korean naval exercises near China's exclusive economic zone, the undervaluation of the Chinese currency, Chinese territorial claims, U.S. sales of weapons to Taiwan, China's indigenous innovation policy, Chinese cyberattacks on American computer systems, tighter regulation of foreign businesses in China, and competition for influence in Asia. China's primary interest of stability on the Korean peninsula is often at odds with U.S. interest in denuclearization and the provision of basic human rights for the North Korean people. In 2010, Beijing and Pyongyang were going through a period of fairly amicable diplomatic and economic relations following the negative response by Beijing to the DPRK's nuclear and missile tests in 2009 and China's support of new United Nations Security Council sanctions directed at North Korea. China's enforcement of the U.N. sanctions, however, is still unclear. China has implemented some aspects of the sanctions that relate directly to North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs, but Beijing has been less strict on controlling exports of dual use products. Some observers also have charged that Beijing has not made a concerted effort to stop suspicious air traffic between North Korea and Iran. Chinese shipments of banned luxury goods to the DPRK continue to increase. North Korea has entered a phase in its strategic planning that poses particular challenges to both China and the United States. While Pyongyang's goals and tactics remain somewhat murky, the DPRK has entered into a particularly delicate time with a confluence of forces pulling the Pyongyang government in different directions. The measures by Kim Jong-il to ensure a smooth succession by his son Kim Jong-un requires a purity of ideology and credibility with the leaders of the Korean People's Army. Yet a smooth succession requires that sufficient food be available for the non-elite in society and that members of the Kim regime support the dynastic succession. This support was being engendered partly with luxury and other goods distributed to their families. However, U.N. and U.S. sanctions arising from the North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs have banned shipments of luxury goods to North Korea, and trade with South Korea, Japan, and the United States has virtually stopped. The world view of the Kim regime also seems highly distorted. Pyongyang sees the world, particularly the United States, as increasingly hostile. Its belligerent rhetoric often leads to military provocations. As part of its national goals, the DPRK is seeking to become recognized as a nuclear power and is trying to convince the world to "learn to live in peace" with such a nuclear-armed North Korea." The country also has embarked on a program to become a strong and prosperous nation by 2012, the 100 th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder, even though such a goal is almost impossible to achieve without more trade and investment from other countries. North Korea follows what appears to be a carefully choreographed cycle of provocations and bluster, followed by a charm offensive and requests for aid, and then a return to provocations. In 2010, it entered into the provocation phase by precipitating three events that are directly counter to Chinese national interests. In March 2010, North Korea allegedly torpedoed the South Korean naval ship, the Choenan , killing nearly 50 crew members. In November 2010, Pyongyang revealed the existence of a sophisticated complex of centrifuges to enrich uranium, a program that was long denied, then followed that with the shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island, killing at least four South Koreans. The provocations phase usually is followed by a diplomatic offensive in which the DPRK engages in negotiations that give the appearance of progress but in reality buy time for Pyongyang to further refine its offensive nuclear capabilities while ostensibly seeking cooperation and a warming of relations. The diplomatic offensive often results in deliveries of economic and humanitarian assistance. In late 2009, under such an offensive," North Korea released two American journalists and a South Korean captive; restarted high-level diplomatic exchanges with the United States, South Korea, and China; hinted that it may return to the Six Party Talks; and proposed to conclude a peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended the Korean War. U.S. government officials generally praise the PRC for its role as an active member in multilateral efforts to address and halt North Korea's nuclear weapons program. But the exact nature of China's security concerns, its political objectives, and the extent of its influence on North Korean actions has remained elusive to many observers of PRC-North Korean relations. Much of the reportage on PRC-North Korea interaction has appeared contradictory. On the one hand, PRC officials often put the lion's share of the responsibility on the United States to be "flexible" and "patient" with North Korea. On the other hand, China has declared North Korea to be in breach of U.N. nuclear safeguards and has been willing to be critical of North Korean pronouncements and actions that it finds unacceptable. China voted for U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1718 (2006) and 1874 (2009) imposing sanctions on the DPRK following its missile and nuclear tests. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that some PRC officials have grown increasingly perturbed at North Korean intransigence on the nuclear issue. Beijing has permitted harsh criticisms of North Korea in authoritative journals and newspapers that would not have been permitted in the past. Chinese pundits have been allowed to write contemptuously of the DPRK and how its actions have threatened Chinese interests. In 2010, some newspapers reported that a view has been gaining traction in Beijing that China could accept Korean unification under Seoul's control. Such a view seems to be coming from the younger generation of Chinese Communist party leaders, in particular those not associated with the military. However, senior PRC officials continue to visit Pyongyang and receive warm welcomes, even though in 2010, Kim Jong-il returned from China with no additional promises of economic assistance. Beijing has stressed that a nuclear-free Korean peninsula is one of its priorities, but it also has supported North Korea as it has built, started, stopped, and restarted its nuclear plant. In the international effort to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, PRC officials are presumed to have substantial leverage with North Korea; yet Beijing was unable to prevent Pyongyang from conducting its first test of a nuclear weapon on October 9, 2006, nor its second test on May 25, 2009. China also has been unable or unwilling to curtail North Korea's uranium enrichment program. As for concerns over proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Beijing generally discounts the threat of nuclear proliferation by the DPRK to non-state terrorist groups. China also seems less concerned about nuclear cooperation between the DPRK and countries friendly to China such as Iran and Myanmar/Burma.