Beijing Is 'Unnerved' By North Korea's Closeness To Russia, Claims US Official

China is increasingly uncomfortable about North Korea's engagement with Russia and finds the growing cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow "unnerving", Kurt Campbell, the US deputy secretary of state, has said.

- Patrick Wintour

There is a growing debate among the US's security partners in Asia about whether China supports the decision of North Korea's Kim Jong-un to send 10,000 troops to fight on Russia's behalf in Ukraine. It is said the North Korean troops are currently inside Russia.

There are also doubts in the Japanese foreign ministry that China supports North Korea's dispatch of troops. Officials say China has largely been silent over the issue, and may be concerned that the military collusion in Ukraine will strengthen an American attempt to form a network of alliances with South Korea and Japan in east Asia.

In a rare olive branch China has told Japan it intends to remove a buoy it installed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Although the step is small, the islands are a flash-point between Japan and China, and it is seen as symbolic of an effort to encourage those inside Japan who do not want to be drawn into a US-led conflict with China.