Kim Jong Il is dead. One of the planet’s most cold-hearted dictators, a man who had a vice-like grip on his people, a virulent hatred for the United States and a rogue nuclear weapons program, is gone. Moreover, he left behind an inexperienced heir, potentially debilitating political uncertainty, and a deprived, dejected and desperate nation.

In geopolitics, this is called opportunity.

Sure, exploiting Pyongyang’s leadership crisis to usher in a more moderate, pro-Western government would not be easy. It would take courage and hard work, barrows of cash, and endless hours of strategizing followed up with deft politicking. But if ever there was an opportunity for regime change, this is it. Kim’s son, 27-year-old Kim Jong Un, is inexperienced and untested, and nowhere near the cult-like figure his father was. North Korea, a nation with millions of impoverished citizens, hasn’t been this vulnerable since the Korean War.

But don’t expect Washington to act on this.

When news broke of Kim’s death, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney stated that the U.S. was monitoring the situation. “We remain committed to stability on the Korean Peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies,” he stated. Since then, America’s president has spoken with the leaders of Japan and North Korea and reiterated Washington’s goal of preserving peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

So far, there has been nothing to indicate the White House might seize the opportunity to create a friendlier North Korea. Why the reticence?

In a word: China.

It’s hard to exaggerate how much China has at stake in North Korea. Geographically, it shares almost 900 miles of border with the impoverished state, which makes north China the default refugee camp for tens of thousands of North Koreans in the event of any humanitarian crisis. Strategically, North Korea’s nuclear launch sites are closer to Beijing than to Tokyo. Moreover, hundreds of millions of Chinese live well within range of Pyongyang’s short-range missiles, while China’s entire population is in striking distance of its long-range Taepodong-2 missile. Additionally, North Korea provides a territorial buffer between South Korea and Japan (and the U.S.).

All this partially explains China’s extensive, pivotal support of North Korea. Why it supplies Pyongyang with about 90 percent of its oil, 80 percent of its consumer goods and roughly 40 percent of its food. And why it is North Korea’s largest military supplier, its closest friend and strongest defender in the United Nations Security Council and other international organizations.

“China has deep concerns over the kind of chaos in North Korea that could send a surge of starving, desperate refugees across its border,” reported Associated Press yesterday. “But it also fears any eventual Korean unification dominated by South Korea, which would put a pro-Western government on China’s northeast border, and end its near-total dominance of the North Korean economy.”

Doesn’t China’s concern scream opportunity for the West? Not to simply salvage North Korea from its status as a political pariah, and possibly improve the livelihood of millions of North Koreans. But for America—in concert with South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and others—it is also an opportunity to improve its strategic position relative to China.

There’s another reason China deeply values North Korea: Being on good terms with a widely maligned, intensely anti-American nuclear rogue is powerful leverage.

China’s modern relationship with North Korea began at the beginning of the Cold War, when, in 1950, Communist China dispatched soldiers to the Korean Peninsula to fight alongside their North Korean comrades against South Korea and its ally America. Ever since, Beijing has maintained its Cold War policy of defending North Korea from the U.S. and the international community. The Beijing-Pyongyang relationship was conceived in mutual opposition to America. The existence of an unpredictable, highly volatile nuclear power is a distraction to China’s competitors in the region.

China employs North Korea in Asia in much the same way Iran employs Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon: as an instrument to push, pry and distract Western-aligned governments, thereby undermining and countering U.S. interests in Asia. Perhaps the primary reason Beijing keeps North Korea afloat is that the ideologies and ambitions Kim Jong Il held align perfectly with China’s goal of undermining the United States!

A lot of people can see that China is increasingly competing with the U.S. It’s evident that Beijing is eviscerating the U.S. financial system; that it is expanding its military capacities, especially its navy, and solidifying military and strategic partnerships to counter America; that it is competing with the U.S. in space, as well as in cyberspace. We all see that China has forged relationships with anti-American regimes in Africa and Latin America, and how it consistently handicaps America’s diplomatic ventures around the world, particularly in sensitive places like Iran.

North Korea is another instrument with which China opposes America!

Here’s another question more people should be asking amid the uncertainty in the wake of Kim Jong Il’s death: What will happen to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program?

For years, Pyongyang has been developing a surprisingly advanced nuclear program and has acquired a growing arsenal of nuclear weapons. Worse still, it has made itself the nucleus of the global black market trade in nuclear technology. North Korea’s fingerprints were all over the nuclear facility in Syria bombed by Israel in September 2007, and strong evidence indicates that it has been connected to nuclear activities in Pakistan and Iran. And remember, all this has happened with China’s blessing.

Will China exploit the fledgling government in Pyongyang and use its leverage over North Korea to gain influence over its nuclear program, effectively incorporating North Korea’s nuclear program into its own?

Whatever happens, China will not easily relinquish its leverage over North Korea to anyone, especially the U.S.! This doesn’t mean America is without options, or power. If it had the willpower and the political acumen, Kim Jong Il’s death could be a prime opportunity. But America’s willpower, its resolve, its ability to act with decisive power, has been taken away. God says in Leviticus 26:19, “I will break the pride of your power”—and He has! Just look at America’s weak response to the opportunity created by Kim Jong Il’s death.