As Kim Yo Jong traveled to PyeongChang along with North Korean participants in the Winter Olympics, expectations for the dialogue between North and South Korea were high among Chinese observers.

Calling the developments “historic,” many painted the meetings between leaders of the North and South as a vindication of China’s efforts to encourage diplomacy. (“In the end, North and South Korea sit down to talk: ‘brinkmanship’ strategy fails,” Chu Xiao Bo, Beijing Daily, January 12)

But China’s role in future talks involving North Korea is unclear, and a recent statement by U.S. Vice