As tensions have risen in Asia, Establishment voices are coming to China's defense. Writing for The New Republic Dec. 2, Joshua Kurlantzick, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, argued that "China can't fix North Korea, so don't ask it to try."  Beijing's leverage over Pyongyang is  "far more limited than it often appears." The Kim Jong-Il regime has not adopted economic reforms, ceased its provocations, nor halted its nuclear program. Yet, Kurlantzick lays out what Beijing has done to support Kim,  While prodding Kim, China has taken pains not to push too hard. It pointedly did not criticize North Korea for sinking a South Korean naval vessel earlier this year, which killed more than 40 sailors. And it has tried to water down U.N. resolutions sanctioning Pyongyang, while deflecting criticism of the North by highlighting Washington and Seoul's military maneuvers off the coast of Korea. Beijing has also continued to deliver...(Read Full Post)