BEIJING — Commentators around the world are warning of a potential crisis on the Korean Peninsula. But in China, where the state controls much of the news media, the headlines have been subdued.

Over the past two weeks, as North Korea has tested missiles and the United States has threatened to send warships to the region, there was just one fleeting front page reference to the tensions in People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.

Experts say Beijing’s relative silence may be an attempt to placate both Kim Jong-un of North Korea and President Trump, as well as to prevent the Chinese public from panicking.

Here is a look at the themes dominating coverage of North Korea in the Chinese media, and what they reveal about Beijing’s attitude toward Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump.