Yesterday I was talking with a senior official from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These people don't give out much beyond boilerplate, not to conservative American hacks anyway, but there was one moment when the mask slipped a little. I asked: "Tell me something honestly. Do you think Kim Jong-il is crazy?" The official's face twitched, there was a moment of pained silence, then: "We think he is... very difficult." Everybody laughed (including the official).
