Randomly Noted

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates – traveling to Singapore for a defense conference – says China was surprised by North Korea’s test of a nuclear device earlier this week. You’ll recall the device was bigger than its first-ever such test, in 2006, and was followed by a flurry of short-range missile test fires. “Just based on what the Chinese government has said publicly, they’re clearly pretty unhappy about the nuclear test in particular, and they weren’t very happy about the missile test, either,” the WSJ’s Peter Spiegel quotes Gates as saying. This is enormously significant; one can only guess at the non-public knowledge Gates has of China’s reaction to Pyongyang’s shenanigans. What’s shaping up is a strong, united approach to the North Korean nuclear dictatorship led by the world’s two superpowers. It will be interesting to see what role Russia plays but Moscow will probably calculate there’s no upside to dissing Washington and Beijing on this particular issue. Here’s the WSJ story with additional Gates comments: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124356144592465073.htmlThe WSJ reports that China’s response to North Korea this week has indeed marked a change that could portend a tougher stance by Beijing in dealing with the Pyongyang despot. In a story headlined “China’s Anger at North Korea Test Signals Shift,” reporters Jay Solomon, Ian Johnson and Gordon Fairclough write of “a mood shift signaled in statements showing that influential Chinese thinkers are coming to see Kim Jong Il’s regime as a liability.” The story says the Obama administration hopes it means “Beijing will eventually take stronger action” to restrain Kim and his regime. Here’s the piece: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124353389041863413.html