It appears that China and N. Korea are looking for a face saving way out of this mess. I guess the actions of the 'little' people in S. Korea calling for retaliation are starting to pay off. Via Fox News.
China calls for urgent talks on North Korea
Published November 28, 2010
Associated Press
China's nuclear envoy is calling for an emergency meeting of North Korean disarmament talks to discuss the tensions on the Korean peninsula. Wu Dawei says chief negotiators at the six-nation nuclear talks are being asked to come to Beijing in early December for the emergency session. He said in a statement Sunday that the international community, particularly members of the six-party talks, are deeply concerned about recent developments on the peninsula. China was slow at first to react after ally North Korea pummeled a South Korean island with an artillery barrage on Tuesday, but has quickened its diplomatic intervention in recent days.
Looks like relations with China will be entering a new phase. First, this attempt by China and N. Korea to achieve a face saving way out will probably fail. Public passions in the South are running too high. Second, China was unable to 'enforce' their verbal blockade of the Yellow Sea. And lastly, China has buckled to US demands that they become involved.
All in all a bad week for the Communist.