By Kamil Zwolski, Politics & International Relations

I was asked on Friday by BBC Radio Solent to comment on the North Korean crisis. It is very difficult to make informed comments, given the degree of secrecy surrounding Pyongyang’s military and nuclear programme. What we can observe, however, is a geopolitical game involving North Korea on the one hand, the US, Japan and South Korea on the other hand, and China… well, China remains a bit of a question mark. In a short term, Beijing will probably want to appear a responsible member of the international community. In a longer term, however, China watches very closely the position and influence of the US and its allies in the Pacific area. It would be interesting to know whether John Kerry, during his first visit to China as a Secretary of State, will be successful in reassuring Beijing that its geopolitical position will not be in jeopardy even if Washington, Tokyo and Seoul step up their defence efforts.