Bush warns North Korea not to pursue nuclear testing

Yahoo News via AFP ^ | 08/18/2006 | AFP

[garbageseeker]

Plus, without Japan as a counterweight to China, the PRC will become as dangerous as Imperial Japan ever was. They are natural competitors, and will help balance out the region, rather than make it an attractive target for Chinese aggression.

I agree with you. Things have changed since WWII. Japan is one of best allies in the world. Having Japan allowed to rearm ,it It would also free up U.S. troops who are still in Okinawa and deploy them somewhere else. The Japanese have the money,technical aptitude and the industrial base to build a very impressive military. But, I think that there should be a clause in any rearmament agreement between the U.S. and Japan that the U.S. still remain to be consulted on any operation. Too many people in Asia still have bitter memories of the brutality of the Imerial Japanese Army.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #57

I once heard that nuke-testing is China's red line, more specifically, PLA's red line. Still, they may also have shifted their red line, since I heard about this info.

Anyway, I am really interested in how Chinese would react. This is a big deal, but would they really act to counter it? We will see. It depends a lot on how Japan responds.

If Japan looks really angry, China will do something about it.

S. Korean gov would be in a tailspin. Their almost decade-long appeasement policy would be shattered for good. The government would like to find a way to shift blame to Japan or U.S. or even domestic opposition. Or they may claim what is done is really done, accept the reality and move on, which will outrage many in S. Korea.