Asked Friday about North Korea's barrage of more than ten ballistic missiles, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said his government had "noted the relevant reports" and had "no new comment." [1] That has been the entire answer since early summer.

After President Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang in June, Beijing has responded to every missile launch with the same formula — declining to say whether the firings violate U.N. Security Council resolutions and repeating that peninsula disputes should be settled through dialogue. [1][2] The May launch drew the same phrase, plus a note that the parties held differing views on what the projectile even was. [1]

The timing around Thursday's volley was pointed. Reports emerged roughly ninety minutes after Foreign Minister Wang Yi left Seoul, where he had met President Lee Jae Myung. [1] It was North Korea's twelfth ballistic launch event of the year and its third this month — Aug. 6, Aug. 12 and Thursday — a cadence Beijing has met with the same phrase every time. [1]

Seoul condemned the launch and urged Pyongyang to stop violating Security Council resolutions; Washington pressed both tracks at once, courtship and censure. [3] Beijing chose neither. The silence is calibrated: condemning Pyongyang costs influence in Pyongyang, endorsing it costs nothing Beijing values. Repetition is policy, and policy this consistent is aimed at both capitals at once.

-- DAVID CHEN, Beijing