Political pressure at critical points may lead to unexpected conflicts. With the US and the ROK consolidating their alliance, a new "Cold War" mentality may return to East Asia. With joint military drills, military cooperation among the US, the ROK and Japan is becoming a reality. The three countries' political alliance is being strengthened, too, with their intensifying coordination on foreign affairs.

In direct contrast is the souring of relations between the three countries and China.

The ROK is unhappy with China's reaction to the Cheonan incident and the exchange of fire, while the US-ROK military drill in the Yellow Sea has hurt Sino-US relations. In the mean time, the DPRK leader has visited China twice, emphasizing friendship and mutual cooperation. However, if two alliances form in East Aisa, it won't benefit any country. Especially the US and China should avoid confrontation because of some other countries' conflicts.

The possibility of a peaceful resolution to the DPRK nuclear issue has decreased with the stalling of the Six-Party Talks. Only when all the sides believe that that peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is possible can they return to the talks.

In fact, the situation began worsening in 2009, when the ROK and the DPRK adopted tough positions. After conducting the long-range missile and nuclear tests, the DPRK tried to improve relations with the other sides through active diplomacy, but the US, the ROK and Japan insisted on linking assistance with denuclearization. It became impossible to avoid a stand-off because none of them was ready to compromise.

The developments have put China in an awkward position as the host country of the Six-Party Talks. Its proposal of holding a six-party emergency meeting has been interpreted as partisan by the US, the ROK and Japan, even though all China is pursuing is peace and stability through shuttle diplomacy.

China has got impressive diplomatic achievements to boast of during its 30 years of reform and opening-up. In a sense, it is Deng Xiaoping's guideline of "hide brightness, nourish obscurity" that saved a lot of trouble for China and won it many friends. Deng believed in no alliance, no ideological group. For him, national interests and acting like a responsible country came first.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi followed that principle in his speech on Dec 1. Talking about the Korean Peninsula, he emphasized that as a responsible power, China would make judgments according to facts, instead of taking sides with any country. He was right.

China has gone to great lengths to help denuclearize and restore peace on the peninsula.

It won't be partial in its foreign policy. But still it has not won the trust of all sides, which it needed to help ease tensions. The task for China now is to decide what steps it should take to ensure that its efforts are no longer misunderstood.

The author is a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China .