Tony Abbott remarked recently that Australia’s policy towards China was driven by “fear and greed”. Those instinctive drives are at least possible to understand.

For the perfect contrast, look no further than North Korea, the nuclear-armed problem child of Asia. Despite needing Beijing more than anyone else, North Korea has frozen out its only real friend.

China’s new ambassador, the high-flying diplomat Li Jinjun, was appointed in mid-March yet has not met North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un nor had his credentials accepted.

… The regime needs the nuclear program to preserve its legitimacy internally, said Michael Raska, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“Everything that is tied to the Kim family is tied basically to that nuclear program,” he said.