The latest secret diplomatic documents to be published by Wikileaks seem to suggest that the Chinese leadership is prepared to abandoned its ally, North Korea.

"If it were true, then probably these leaks have scuppered that," Mike Magan, a former adviser to President Bush, told the programme, although he said that he thought the move was unlikely.

But former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said the leak may have signalled "the beginnings of a shift" on Chinese policy towards North Korea.

"This premature revelation will have put that back by years... China will be very, very angry," he said.

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