Posted on 04/21/2017 10:07:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
In fairness to Trump, he heard that directly from China’s president (or so he says). What was he supposed to do, be skeptical of Chinese nationalist propaganda?
If you can’t trust Xi Jinping to shoot straight with you about a western-allied country within China’s sphere of influence, who can you trust?
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week, Trump said Xi told him during a recent summit that “Korea actually used to be a part of China.” The comments sparked outrage in Seoul and became an issue in South Korea’s presidential race, prompting the foreign ministry to seek to verify what Xi actually said.
“It’s a clear fact acknowledged by the international community that, for thousands of years in history, Korea has never been part of China,” foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said at a briefing in Seoul on Thursday…
“This is clearly a distortion of history and an invasion of the Republic of Korea’s sovereignty,” conservative Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo said through a spokesman.
Politically, that’s a bit like idly observing that Crimea contains a lot of ethnic Russians. An alarming possibility, though: Maybe Xi didn’t say that to him. Maybe Trump simply misunderstood, and now, because he seems not to realize which details he should and shouldn’t share publicly about his discussions with China’s leader, South Korea’s leadership is left to wonder erroneously whether Beijing is planning to include them in its “one China” plans a few decades from now. More from the Telegraph:
“I suspect that Mr Xi said, in effect, that Korea was part of China because it was overwhelmingly under Chinese influence historically and Mr Trump bought that,” said Rah Jong-yil, a former South Korean ambassador to both London and Tokyo.
“It shows his shocking ignorance of the situation in north-east Asia,” he told The Telegraph. “That is very disturbing to us”…
There is a growing body of nationalist thought in China that ancient Korean kingdoms were part of the Chinese empire and that modern-day nation states should similarly fall within Beijing’s exclusive sphere of influence, Mr Rah said.
If the South Koreans had any sort of troll game at all, they would have responded by claiming that Mexico’s president recently reminded them that the U.S. used to be part of Mexico. That would have been an amusing phone call between Trump and Pena Nieto.
As a Twitter pal said, what would make this even more darkly funny is if Trump started reminding everyone that China used to be a part of Japan. Does he really have no sense of the nationalist sensitivities in the region or how nervous U.S. allies there are about China’s growing power, especially after the White House ditched TPP? His tough talk towards China as a candidate might have reassured them but it’s been nothing but sunshine with Beijing since that phone call with Taiwan’s president. What looked like a looming “U.S. and Russia isolate China” long-term play by the White House during the transition increasingly looks more like a “U.S. and China isolate Russia” strategy. (Neither is likely to work, but still.) Imagine watching that play out in Tokyo or Seoul and suddenly finding Trump repeating Chinese talking points about the Korean peninsula.
Ah well. So long as he has an “armada” in the vicinity to help protect South Korea from the menace to the north, they’ll forgive him. Once they’re done forgiving him for BSing them about that armada, that is.
South Korea dismisses #Trump's remark that Korea was "part of China." pic.twitter.com/DtHa4gOSHe
— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) April 20, 2017
Xi probably didn’t tell Trump about the Treaty of Shimonoseki
Article 1: China recognizes definitively the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea, and, in consequence, the payment of tribute and the performance of ceremonies and formalities by Korea to China, that are in derogation of such independence and autonomy, shall wholly cease for the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Shimonoseki
I figured since they share a land mass they must have been one people at one time if you go back far enough. I bet they were... possibly before a written record has been kept.
China is much larger, more powerful, more dangerous than either Korea. Buttering them up is not a bad thing to do.
South Korea is about to elect an anti-American leftist president. Invoking Chinese claims on Korea is a pretty good way to scare them into considering the fundamental truth, that they really have only one friend in the world, the US, and the US is much less scary than China.
South Korea needs the US far, far more than the US needs South Korea.
Maybe he can learn about it here and here.
Banned in China ...
This is a good point, the problem with that logic is that if you try to apply this rule universally.
China since 1949 has renounced and denounced all the old “unequal treaties” like this one, imposed as a consequence of all the old imperialist aggressions.
Couldn’t one make the case that during the latter phases of the Korean War NK was a defacto state of China?
“He then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you’re talking about thousands of years . . . and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China. And after listening for 10 minutes, I realized that it’s not so easy.”
— President Trump, interview with the Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2017
“If Trump said the Chinese president told him that, he’s covered.”
Not really. If the Chinese President is telling you about history the rule of thumb is to believe the exact opposite.
Koreas was never part of China.
It most definitely was part of Japan, which Xi I am sure didn’t mention.
Neither historical facts mean anything except to Chinese fascists like Xi who still think China is the rightful ruler of all Asia and other states should have vassal status.
Korea was a effectively vassal state of China for 500 years. Hotair editors need to learn some basic history here,
“Xi is more right than wrong.
He, or Trump, are both absolutely correct.”
Utter nonsense.
Your own recitation of vassal state status refutes your initial statement.
Korea was never part of China.
Korea was, though, part of Japan for a time.
Linguistically they are very distinct.
Korean is actually very weird.
Korean is so different from Chinese and nearby languages that it constitutes its own language family, an isolate with only very tenuous connections to any other. One theory for instance connects it with Dravidian languages (Tamil, etc.) of Southern India. Thats how far people have looked.
I am a big fan of Korean dramas, and it includes MANY historical series about various and sundry Korean heroes who either stood up to, or rebelled against, Chinese occupiers of Korean territory.
“Korea was never part of China.”
Sure it was. Goes back to the Han dynasty, and over and over since. Look it up.
You can start here -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Commanderies_of_Han
So?
Commies always do stuff like that. Renege on agreements.
你五毛對不對？
Figured you out, fifty cent.
There are a huge number of historical facts.
There is no need to lie, for a man like Xi, merely to select the facts that serve his purposes and ignore some others.
China DID control Korea directly or indirectly, for long periods at various times. Korean monarchs kowtowed to many Emperors of China. China had to reconquer Korea occasionally, but that didn’t change the long terms facts.
The United States used to be part of England. And other places. But it’s obvious that Trump has pre-surrendered to Jinping.
All of Asia cares. (facepalm)
For modern China to even sniff in that direction is completely unacceptable. It was a really stupid gaffe.
"China DID control Korea directly or indirectly, for long periods"
Does not support a claim that Korea "was part of China."
In fact, it proves just the opposite.
Merely pointing out that China rejected all these old treaties, so no-one in his right mind would consider this one enforceable.
And China DOES ignore treaties all the time, new or old. The International Law of the Sea for one. What is going to be done about that, never mind something from 1895?
Its all about power. If you have it and they don’t, then you have a treaty. If not, not.
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