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Beijing Sends Envoy to Washington over North Korea

Following it`s erstwhile ally North Korea`s claim of a nuclear test at the beginning of the week, the People`s Reoublic of China has taken a sharper tone than ever before with the regime of Kim Jong-Il, and as part of its diplomatic efforts after North Korea`s nuclear testing Beijing has sent an envoy - Tang Jiaxuan - to the United States. A State Councilor and former Chinese Foreign mMnister, Tang will also go to Moscow, another North Korean ally. Tang`s Washington trip comes after a telephone conversation between Chinese President Hu Jintao and George W. Bush.

China shares a 1,400 kilometer-long (roughly 870 miles) border with North Korea, and while the Communist regime has said it will support "appropriate" sanctions against Pyongyang, Beijing is worried about the potential for U.S. efforts to effect a destabilization and fall of the North Korean government, which could lead to a situation where millions of refugees flood into China. China has stated it sees the probability of military strikes against North Korea as "unimaginable."

The Chinese Foreign Minister, Li Zhaoxing, has since the North Korean tests on Monday also spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett. North Korea has declared that any sanctions levied against it will be seen as an act of war, and has also threatened to detonate a second nuclear device and warned about the possibilities of a nuclear warhead-tipped missile being fired.