Posted on 02/21/2016 7:22:15 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
China's mishandling of North Korea's nuclear ambitions may come back to haunt it
Emanuele Scimia says Beijing's unwillingness or inability to rein in Pyongyang has brought it the unwelcome consequence of greater US vigilance
The US and its allies in East Asia have always been suspicious of China's attitude to North Korea's military adventures. Recent events, such as Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket and testing of an alleged hydrogen bomb, have contributed to this climate of mistrust towards Beijing.
China is often blamed for not pressuring Pyongyang enough, but now its ability to contain North Korea's nuclear and ballistic ambitions is also being questioned.
If China cannot rein in North Korea, which is in economic disarray and almost totally dependent on trade with Beijing, then its much-trumpeted economic diplomacy does not go beyond empty rhetoric
In the face of the latest North Korean actions, Chinese leaders and officials have remarked that Beijing has no control over Pyongyang. Its diplomacy seems in a bind.
In fact, if China cannot rein in North Korea, which is in economic disarray and almost totally dependent on trade with Beijing, then its much-trumpeted economic diplomacy does not go beyond empty rhetoric. If this is the case, China's search for a new type of international relations, based on win-win cooperation, could be questioned beyond the Pacific region.
Conversely, if Beijing can indeed influence Pyongyang, its inertia or unwillingness to rein in Pyongyang's military programmes has produced unintended consequences, such as the probable deployment in South Korea of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) battery, Washington's ballistic missile interceptor system, and the arrival there of four US F-22 stealth jets for patrol missions.
(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160220000098
China sinks deeper into ‘mire’ of N. Korea's nuke gambit: state media
Published : 2016-02-20 13:49
Updated : 2016-02-20 13:49
North Korea's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons has pulled China “deeper into the mire,” a newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party said Saturday, as Beijing is under pressure to do more to curb Pyongyang's aggression.
North Korea's Jan. 6 nuclear test and Feb. 7 launch of a long-range rocket have drawn international condemnations and fanned fears that the isolated country is moving ahead with the advance of its nuclear and missile programs.
China is North Korea's top trading partner and supplies almost all of the North's energy needs, but Beijing has been reluctant to approve a new U.N. resolution that would make Pyongyang feel pain because of worries about a sudden collapse of the North's regime.
To better cope with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, South Korea decided to start formal talks with the U.S. to adopt an advanced American anti-missile system known as a THAAD battery.
“The problem is, Pyongyang made a mistake in its first step in developing nuclear weapons. Now the nuclear issue has been pulling China deeper into the mire,” the state-run Global Times newspaper said in an editorial.
“We must determine which scenario hurts China more - either North Korea successfully develops nuclear weapons and prompts a strong reaction from the U.S., Japan and South Korea, or China has a showdown with North Korea by agreeing to the strictest sanctions, but that may lead to other geopolitical consequences,” the editorial reads.
The editorial stopped short of giving an answer to the questions.
Chinese officials and media have reacted more seriously to the possible deployment of the THAAD battery in South Korea than North Korea's nuclear test and rocket launch.
South Korean and U.S. officials say the THAAD battery is not aimed at targeting a third country, but China has claimed the U.S.missile shield would undermine its national security interests.
South Korea's defense ministry has refuted the Chinese argument, blaming Beijing for trying to undermine Seoul's sovereignty. (Yonhap)
Obama wouldn't do it. Bernie wouldn't do it. Hillary wouldn't do it.
Trump is going to be president, and the power in the world will re-align because of it.
Oh please, they've supplied the Norks with precursor chemicals for nuclear weapons development.
Where pray tell is the money going to come from?
So the military will be beefed up. Unless Hillary wins. And she won't.
If we grow the economy, have a smarter tax policy, and lessen entitlements, the money for the military will not be a problem.
I am not a nation builder. I do not seek foreign entanglements. But crazy countries like North Korea and Iran cannot get nuclear weapons and then turn aggressive with them. Somebody has to stop them.
If you'll remember, Bush ran on those premises.
But crazy countries like North Korea and Iran cannot get nuclear weapons and then turn aggressive with them. Somebody has to stop them.
The Russians are crazy. The Chinese are crazy. We are crazy (witness the disgusting adulation for an airhead like Bernie, or a sleazy flake like Trump), but unlike the muzzies, none of the above have a death wish. But we take it farther than that.
All of these rogue regimes use our humanity against us. Our biggest problem is the impotence of overwhelming power, nuclear or conventional, in that we are so demonstrably unwilling to use it. If we'd used a tactical neutron warhead to make an empty shell out of central Baghdad in return for Saddam's espionage arm backing the OKC bombing, none of the silliness in Iraq would have happened. Similarly, if we'd bombed the Kaaba with pig guts and left it a smoking hole with a MOAB after Saudi sponsorship of Mohammed Atta et al., we wouldn't see ISIS.
'Oh, you wouldn't do THAT!' No, we wouldn't. That leaves us effectively without them. It costs WAY more money to fight a conventional war.
If we assume that there are several factions in the Chinese leadership with their own agendas it is possible to explain their lack of decisions. The lower level Chinese decision makers are hesitant to push for decisions as the old Communists still have a say with respect to NK. The question is how negative the NK asset has to be for Xi to allocate time to do something.
I think Chia Chub is China Pit bull that got out of control they need put that beast to sleep
They can reign in Kim. But they are afraid to do so because he has the bomb and the are within easy strike distance. So they keep feeding the beast in the hopes that he would not dare bite the hand that feeds him.
The Norks do nothing without China signing off on it.
That’s right; this nonsense is all theater for the uninformed, and it began when we stopped referring to China as “Red China” - so we can now pretend Red China and North Korea are separate entities. North Korea is no more independent of Red China than Scotland is of the United Kingdom.
It seems that China is accepting THAAD in SK: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/25/thaad-china-says-it-might-accept-us-missile-shield/
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