China-U.S. Accord Sets UN Vote on North Korea Sanctions

An accord hammered out between the U.S. and China sets the stage for the United Nations Security Council to vote as soon as today to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea for conducting a nuclear test explosion.

Agreement on the sanctions may signal a new level of cooperation between the U.S. and China under incoming President Xi Jinping, who’s looking for a stable relationship with the U.S. as China’s economic and political power grows in Asia, said Patrick Cronin, director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.