Japanese and South Korean officials on Saturday called on China to do more to help resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and lamented the lack of progress so far.
Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama, speaking in Singapore at Asia's premier security forum, the Shangri-La Dialogue, said "something must be done to change Pyongyang's policy."
"Of course, we very much would like China to do something further," he said, noting China's leverage over North Korea as its main trading partner.
Yoon Soon-ju, a director-general in the South Korean Defense Ministry, said China, having played a "passive" role so far, could play a "more constructive role to contain North Korea's nuclear gamble."
"China wants to be a responsible regional power, but they provide huge amount of oil and food to North Korea . . . serving as a lifeline for the North Korean regime's survival," Yoon said.
He said many experts feel that "China still is preoccupied with the notion that North Korea should serve as a kind of buffer. They are preoccupied with thinking of balance of power."
Yoon said the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council have not brought enough pain to instigate change in North Korea and are "nothing more than a slap on the wrist."
"The international community must punish North Korea to the extent that internal discussions regarding its strategic choices may be sparked," he said.
China's Col. Lu Yin, an associate researcher at its National Defense University, defended her government's position on the North Korean nuclear issue, saying "China's influence . . . is limited." Since North Korea is a sovereign state, she said, "China can only persuade instead of coerce."