Rather than serving as a pretext for engagement, Warmbier’s return to the U.S. and subsequent death is yet another nail in the coffin for already imperiled U.S.-North Korea relations. Warmbier’s passing merits a strong response from the U.S. government, but will also likely require a coordinated response from other regional actors, including China and South Korea. Two significant events, the Diplomatic and Security Dialogue (D&SD) between the U.S. and China, and the upcoming summit between President Trump and newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in may be defining moments for developing a more coordinated regional strategy to address North Korea.

The future of China-US relations will to a large extent be determined by the intentions of the two countries and their views of each other. For quite some time, the US side has complained about China’s ‘lack of transparency in strategic intentions’. But as some American scholars argue, if you regard the other party as an enemy, hostility may well become a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’.

Despite US remarks that have energized supporters of Taiwan “independence”, the US is in no position to abandon the one-China policy and has no real plan to do so. For the sake of the healthy development of Sino-US relations, the US should stop all its official contacts and exchanges with Taiwan, reducing its arms sales to Taiwan, and move toward a final resolution of this lingering sore spot.

Expecting the People’s Republic of China to destroy its ally while the U.S. was busy elsewhere in the region seeking to contain Chinese military power, and to do so without receiving anything in return, never was realistic. Unspecified trade concessions simply weren’t enough to make a deal. Washington should revive the North’s proposal for a freeze on its activities in return for an end to annual military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea.

It should be clear to all stakeholders in Northeast Asia that China alone cannot solve the North Korean nuclear issue because it has never been a Beijing-Pyongyang issue. It was created by Pyongyang and Washington in the first place, and now it is the US that holds the key to a final solution.

Chinese Foreign Ministry published a list of "consensus" reached during the first round of China-U.S. Diplomatic and Security Dialogue on May 21 in Washington D.C.

During a week when the world has again been reminded of the depravity of the North Korean regime, given its likely role in the death of Otto Warmbier, it is important nonetheless to evaluate any possible opportunity for capping and ultimately dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and long-range missile forces with an open mind.

US President Donald Trump’s signature Asia policy – his pledge to stop North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons – should be a clear-cut example of American military resolve. Unfortunately for the region, it has proved to be anything but that.

The two Koreas and other relevant parties should focus their concern on peninsular, Asian and global peace and return to the negotiation table to create a new peace regime on “dual tracks”. This will help the peninsula, Northeast Asia and the whole Asian region realize permanent stability and peaceful development.

Tillerson and Mattis hold press availability to discuss the inaugural U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue in Washington D.C. on June 21.