North Korea continues to raise the stakes in its game of nuclear poker, conducting a second nuclear test in as many days on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a South Korean newspaper has reported that U.S. spy satellites have detected signs that North Korea has started up its nuclear plant again. The international community has condemned Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. But the only country with real clout over North Korea is China: the nation is North Korea’s neighbor and main trading partner. To find out China's take on the North Korea situation, The Takeaway talks to John Pomfret, author of Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China. He writes the blog Pomfret’s China on the Newsweek/Washington Post website.

Today, China announced that it's GDP grew at a much slower rate in the first quarter of 2009, down almost 4% since this time last year and the weakest growth since quarterly records began in 1992. China says it's determined to achieve annual growth of 8 percent. So, what does this say about China's place in the shaky financial world? And what implications does China's growth have for the U.S.? To help answer those questions, The Takeaway is joined by John Pomfret. He is the author of Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China and writes the blog Pomfret's China on the Newsweek Washington Post website.