Dong Ryul Lee, Chair of the EAI China Research Center, asserts that although China generally follows a restrained approach aimed at maintaining regional stability in Northeast Asia, it adopts a more proactive stance when it perceives an imminent crisis in the DPRK regime or a significant decline in its influence on the Korean Peninsula affairs, particularly within the broader context of intensifying U.S.-China rivalry. Lee argues that China's current lack of reaction to North Korea's deepening ties with Russia reflects Beijing's confidence in its retaining its substantial strategic leverage. Anticipating that China will closely monitor the U.S. presidential election while bolstering peripheral diplomacy, Lee recommends that South Korea should engage in strategic communication and consensus-building with China to mitigate potential instability on the Peninsula.