North Korea's "diplomatic offensive" this year, including a visit by a special envoy of the North's leader Kim Jong-un to Russia, is unlikely to help Pyongyang escape isolation unless it changes course on nuclear weapons, a Chinese expert said Monday. 
   
Zhang Liangui, a professor of Korean studies at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, told the state-run Beijing News that Russia is also unlikely to compete with China in providing economic support to North Korea. 
   
The comments from Zhang come as Kim's special envoy, Choe Ryong-hae, is wrapping up a week-long visit to Moscow. Choe met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time when the international community is moving to censure the pariah regime for its human rights record. 
   
In protest against a United Nations resolution condemning its grave human rights violations, North Korea has threatened to conduct a new nuclear test, claiming that the U.N. move is part of a U.S.-led plot to topple its regime.
   
"North Korea is committed to the development of nuclear weapons, while China adheres to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Zhang told the Chinese newspaper. 
  
"No one can accept a nuclear North Korea. From this point of view, the effect of North Korea's diplomatic offensive is zero,"
Zhang said. 
   
North Korea is China's only formal treaty ally, but a series of provocations by the North, including last year's third nuclear test, have strained political ties between the two nations. 
   
Still, many analysts believe that Beijing will not put strong pressure on Pyongyang due to the risk of aggravating the current situation. (Yonhap)