Introducing a new column, where our China Digital Media Researcher John Petrushka examines trends in China’s official, academic and popular opinions of North Korea.

North Korea’s provocations in 2016 have met with alarm and growing outrage in Chinese opinion, mirrored in editorials published by bloggers, academics and government officials alike. The September 9 nuclear test, predictably, galvanized that sentiment, leading to criticism not only of Kim Jong Un but also of the Chinese government’s ineffective response to North Korea’s provocative actions.

But this response is only the latest in a trend, a result