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In a sign of China’s exasperation with its rogue ally, North Korea, newly installed Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday condemned nations that throw the “world into chaos.”
Without mentioning North Korea by name, Xi told delegates at an international forum in Boao, southern Hainan province: “No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains.’’
China is North Korea's most important ally, biggest trading partner, and main source of food, arms, and fuel. China has helped sustain what is now Kim Jong-un's regime, and has historically opposed harsh international economic sanctions in the hope of avoiding regime collapse and an uncontrolled influx of refugees across its eight hundred-mile border with North Korea. But after Pyongyang's third nuclear test in February 2013, experts say that China's patience with its ally may be wearing thin. This latest nuclear test, following one in 2006 and another in May 2009, has complicated North Korea's relationship with Beijing, which has played a central role in the Six Party Talks, the multilateral framework aimed at denuclearizing North Korea.
Originally posted by MrSpad
Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by Panic2k11
I hear ya, you could be right but even if so, China's influence would be more than enough to stop any real aggression from NoKo. So either way you look at it, China should be able to stop any action via talks. If NoKo actually attempts an act of aggression I can't help but think China allowed it to happen.
Agreed. North Korea has made it plain that it will not play a subservient role to China. The NK mob are very much like an annoying younger brother who deliberately makes trouble, in the knowledge that his big brother will probably be forced to fight for his honor. China is in a difficult position with regards to NK in that the country plays a vital role as a buffer against what most Chinese analysts perceive as an attempt on the part of the United States to isolate them and limit their influence in the Asia Pacific region. So regardless of China's exasperation with NK's current antics, they have to make a decision as to whether to risk total alienation with an admittedly unpredictable regime, or to walk the tightrope of potential conflict.
I am minded that both the Chinese and the North Koreans have been playing war games for centuries. One of their greatest military figures, Sun Tsu, advocated the use of deception and misdirection - to strike where your enemy does not expect you to be. Given that not long before his death, the dear leader Kim Jongil paid no fewer than four visits to China in a year, I'd be interested to know the nature of his discussions with them. Given that that Comrade Chubby Jong un was presented as the heir apparent at around the same time, I cannot help but think that China may well have been enlisted in a plan of support for the new regime to be, after Jong il's death. One that is being implemented right now by the generals and by the puppet masters (Jong il's brother) behind Chubby.
If any missiles fly, I'd want to check whether they have Chinese fingerprints on them, and I'd be interested to check for Chinese input into the NK recently launched satellite. Remember the tunnels being delved in NK for the last sixty years. Remember that China has also been digging massive underground railway lines as well in the last few years. How easy would it be to transport a missile or twenty, ones with greater range than those we think the NKoreans actually possess? While we're focussing on the two missiles that have been re-located to the east coast of NK, there could be dozens of others being quietly prepared to deal a definitive blow, if things turn pear-shaped. Ones with considerably greater range than Hawaii or Guam.
This is a conspiracy site, so I offer the above conjecture in the spirit of examining all options. This is a nasty situation, one where the sanctions being applied to NK have only a short to medium term chance of working. In a "military first" state such as NK, as soon as the sanctions are lifted, money and resources flow straight back to the military, enabling further buildup. This whole situation, is I fear, just the preliminary round.
Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by Panic2k11
I hear ya, you could be right but even if so, China's influence would be more than enough to stop any real aggression from NoKo. So either way you look at it, China should be able to stop any action via talks. If NoKo actually attempts an act of aggression I can't help but think China allowed it to happen.
Meanwhile, observers in Dand ong watched North Korean paratroopers in a parachute jump exercise from helicopters in Sinuiju for about two hours on Wednesday morning, Japan's Kyodo News reported. According to Kyodo, at least 50 North Korean soldiers jumped from the helicopters.