Both China and the US have begun to deliberate on ways of dealing with each other in the next few decades, and are willing to set a positive course for the future development of bilateral ties over the long term.

One of the primary responsibilities as president is to ensure the security of the United States as well as stability on a global level. To serve as a “threat minimizer” if you will. However, in the last five months, Trump’s clear disregard for these responsibilities only serves to further validate concerns about his qualifications to lead.

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’.

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.

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.

Moon needs practical and operational measurements and outcomes, as well as ambition and determination to tackle the challenges of inter-Korean relations. And yes, there surely are opportunities and advantages for the South Korea to take. But the government has to be very careful to turn them into positive forces, so that a revival of “Sunshine” isn’t weakened to mere “Moonlight” as the pessimists have predicted.