I’m pretty knowledgeable and I have no idea whether Korea was ever part of China’s empire. If I had studied Korean history, I would know, but it’s not something that even students of history and foreign affairs know off hand. Who cares if he got it wrong?
Yes it was.
Both under direct rule and, more usually, as a tributary or client-state, making formal obeisance and paying tribute.
Agreed, I wouldn’t know either.
And by quoting the Chinese President, now Xi must explain his remarks.
All of Asia cares. (facepalm)
For modern China to even sniff in that direction is completely unacceptable. It was a really stupid gaffe.
According to a fellow officer of Korean descent with whom I work, China did conquer Korea at some point in its history. Probably what Xi (and by extension Trump) was referring to. He wasn’t happy with Trump’s statement at all, but he grudgingly admitted as much to me.
Back when education was worth a damn everyone knew that Korea was a part of China’s empire. Koreans have wanted to rewrite history to make it look like they were so tough that no one could ever beat or conquer them. Much like the crap that is said about Afghanistan.
History I’ve studied always seemed to state that China basically had a say in it for a long time, though they allowed Korea to maintain their own court. They were basically a vassal state for a large number of years.
I’m sure the Chinese feel that this means it was there territory, while the Koreans feel it means they were always independent. Eye of the beholder.
Plan was to do the same with Japan, but TWICE typhoons disrupted the effort. Which is where the original term kamikaze or divine wind came from.