It’s first diplomatic and security challenge for China’s Communist Party leader Xi Jinping who is expected to be officially appointed President at the National People’s Congress next month. 

Many expect Xi to begin a new chapter in China’s relationship with North Korea by distancing Beijing from its troubling and increasingly aggressive neighbor.  The nuclear test was very close to North Korea’s border with China, and set off a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that startled people on the Chinese side.  The hermit kingdom’s quest for international clout via nuclear grandeur has been a thorn in China’s international relations.

Xi cannot simply accept the Nuclear Test for fear of South Korea and Japan starting their own weapons programs, something that professional saber-rattlers in both countries have already begun pushing.  A Chinese state-run newspaper already said that Beijing would stop treating North Korea as an ally, but not as an enemy, either.