Much has been made of Tillerson’s decision to limit press access during his trip to Asia. Some of that can be attributed to a degree of natural caution, given his lack of experience as a major player on the diplomatic stage, but I think there is more than that going on here. I strongly suspect that he is giving the Chinese the message that they have x number of days to get their North Korean client under control or military action will ensue, and he quite understandably doesn’t want to read that in the newspaper.
Assuming that I’m right, how will the Chinese react? Will they view it purely as standard negotiating tactic from “The Art of the Deal,” and disregard it? Even if they take it seriously, do they have either the will or the practical ability to bring North Korea to heel? I’m not optimistic on either score.