International concerns over North Korea’s nuclear programme have again been quelled by another round of UN Security Council sanctions. China and the other four permanent members have agreed to restrict oil imports, ban textile exports and prohibit new permits for North Korean workers to starve the nation of fuel and cash for its weapons systems. But previous such measures have repeatedly been ignored by Pyongyang and there is no reason to believe that this will not again be the case; there has been talk of more missile launches since the claimed recent hydrogen bomb blast. Hope in the decision therefore most lies in a call to seek a peaceful resolution through diplomacy.

The US had been pushing tougher measures, among them a total oil ban. That was opposed by Beijing and Moscow; it could cause the collapse of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime, with destabilising consequences for Northeast Asia. China would be worst affected should civil unrest break out and spill across its border. A proposed asset freeze and travel ban on Kim were dropped.

The resolution on Monday was the ninth since North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006. Kim has thumbed his nose at each of the last few rounds of sanctions, responding to each with either another nuclear blast or by launching a missile. Room remains to further tighten the fuel or economic screws, but there are limits to how far China and Russia, the North’s closest allies, are willing to go. Far better, as they stated after the latest measures, for the US and South Korea to stop provocations through staging joint military drills, scrap a controversial missile shield system and talk with Pyongyang.