One of the interesting side effects of the recent incident is that China seems to have backed down on its opposition to a US carrier operating in the Yellow Sea. Previous announcements opposed any operation in the sea, now the reference is to areas within the 200 mile exclusive economic zone, which does not cover all of the Yellow Sea. I wonder if JMA will call this a "humiliating climb down".

Realistically, of course, it's less about China and the US than about China sending a message to North Korea. It would be a huge mistake to believe that China has full control over North Korea and that the North asks permission before taking any action: the North is and has long been quite willing to take their patrons by surprise. They are dependent, but they are well aware of the reasons China keeps them afloat and they are aware that the strategic imperative will still be there even if they throw Beijing a curveball now and then. I don't suppose the Chinese are very happy with the latest performance - hence the back-down on the US exercises that the North finds so offensive - but they still aren't going to allow the North to fold up. If that happened and the North was absorbed by the south, China would have an economically potent, militarily significant US ally on their border. They don't want that and the North Koreans know it, which gives the North leverage despite their dependence.