YES, AUSTIN BAY HAS BEEN POINTING THIS OUT FOR A WHILE: ‘Rhetoric’ on North Korean nukes a message to China, not Pyongyang, says David Petraeus.

David Petraeus interprets all of the “rhetoric” about the North Korea nuclear threat as being directed at China, rather than Pyongyang, to convince Beijing to get tough in negotiations as it could have the ability to strike a U.S. city “on this president’s watch.”

“I think there’s still an opportunity here,” Petreaus said Sunday morning on CNN, responding to a fellow former CIA director’s warning that there is a 20 to 25 percent chance of an armed conflict with North Korea.

Comments like these, Petraeus said, are aimed at getting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s attention. China “has the ability to bring North Korea to its senses but doesn’t want to bring it to its knees,” the former Army general added.

Asked if China is unable to sway a belligerent North Korea, Petraeus said Beijing needs to understand “the new strategic reality that would result, which is very uncomfortable to them,” and listed off number of consequences, including the possibility of returning nuclear weapons to South Korea.

Maybe Taiwan, too.