Trouble comes knocking at the door

FRIENDLY but firm, Chinese guards were this week maintaining a diligent watch over the Beijing office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UNHCR, to keep unauthorised people from coming or going. Those blocked from entering included North Korean and South Korean diplomats who dropped by for a quick look, and a gaggle of foreign journalists who were hanging about in the lobby of the building. Kept inside the building, meanwhile, were seven North Koreans who on June 26th had presented themselves at the UN office, asking for asylum and a safe passage to South Korea.