Officially, Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing have vowed to keep in close contact over North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, but critics don't expect China to join other countries in adopting a United Nations resolution against Pyongyang.
During their summit Monday in Tokyo, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that North Korea should be "strongly condemned" in line with international rules, a senior Japanese diplomat said.
Wen's actual response was not immediately known because Japanese diplomats refused to divulge any comments from the Chinese side. But at any rate Tokyo apparently failed to get Beijing to send a joint message against North Korea.