China keeps pressure off North Korea

Thanks, China.

a South Korean victory would bring to China’s threshold a U.S. ally that hosts American military forces.

Another example how US's hegemony prevents positive development in the region.

The world needs to put China in a position where their own economy, trade, global influence is put at stake and let China decide if North Korea is worth it. It's that or we have to seriously consider the possibility of removing the North Korean regime by force, a option which China most certainly would not want. If China claims that they can't control North Korea's actions, well no one can control South Korea's either and I wouldn't put it past them at this stage to retaliate in a big way if the North attacks them again. How many South Koreans must be killed by North Korea for China to stop protecting the aggressor and claiming that "both sides need to calm down"?

Iforgot: "Another example how US's hegemony prevents positive development in the region"

I would say unbelievable but these days on JT nothing really surprises me anymore.

I guess "uforgot" to read the rest of the article and just jump to the parts you like

“Even if China tried to tell North Korea what to do, it’s unlikely they would easily listen,”

Now if this is true then China must be now wondering what the hell to do with a nuclear armed nut case country that will now just keep blackmailing it for more aid and if so all I can say is WELCOME China to everyone else's nightmare you created.

As for this little piece of crap "Worse, a South Korean victory would bring to China’s threshold a U.S. ally that hosts American military forces."

One of the biggest BS things I have ever read, because if SK were to ever take the entire peninsula be it by force or peacefully once stability has been reached one of the first things a unified Korea would do away with are most if not all the USA bases and forces seeing without the NK threat there would be little need, China would not be a real threat because it does not take on well armed enemies and at that point a unified Korea would inherit the nukes that are now owned by the North so it is really a moot point.

Fareed Zakaria of CNN analyzed the situation with China with razor sharp insight. He stated that China will be unwilling to rein in North Korea for fears the peninsula will unite with the South Korean government and they'll suddenly have a pro-US and nuke-capable neighbor at their border. Imagine if Mexico had nukes at the US and was an ally of China guess how the US would react. The best way to convince China to play ball is to assure them through high level talks that a united Korea will not be nuclear and more US military bases will not be established in the new North Korean area threatening Chinese sovereignty. It's misguided to believe any country in China's position would react otherwise.

Chinan should consider taking over NK. They could really fix it up.

goddog, i know you meant that in jest but they basically control nk right now. what they need to do is be reassured by washington nk will denuclearize in the event of a successful military campaign, and that washington wont set up bases in nk. maybe give china a base in the dominican republic in turn lol j/k either way i can see why so many koreans have so much attitude if youve ever run into one

Chinese can do all sorts of things, but they need to think about the consequence. How about cutting off the trade with NK and angry Kim lobbed couple of nuke tipped missiles to Japan? Can Japan even stand a dirty bomb?

If the end result is war anyway, you really don't need Chinese to start it. SK and Japan can simply go ahead without the need of Chinese approval.

For American and Europeans, they don't care much about a big East Asia war, may even welcome it in private - since they will benefit from it due to getting the panic money and the market share.

But Chinese care a lot since the chance is pretty high that 3 neighbors may get nuked at the end of it, even China itself sits in idle and does nothing.

i'm surprised how restrained south korea has been considering that the north is always the aggressor and considering the loss of south korean lives comparatively.

limboinjapan at 07:50 AM JST - 25th November Now if this is true then China must be now wondering what the hell to do with a nuclear armed nut case country that will now just keep blackmailing it for more aid and if so all I can say is WELCOME China to everyone else's nightmare you created. As for this little piece of crap "Worse, a South Korean victory would bring to China’s threshold a U.S. ally that hosts American military forces." One of the biggest BS things I have ever read, because if SK were to ever take the entire peninsula be it by force or peacefully once stability has been reached one of the first things a unified Korea would do away with are most if not all the USA bases and forces seeing without the NK threat there would be little need, China would not be a real threat because it does not take on well armed enemies and at that point a unified Korea would inherit the nukes that are now owned by the North so it is really a moot point.

This!

China's excuses not to act on NK are lame! China is just arrogant willing to risk almost anything to keep their rising economy flow upwards. They make their political game very easy for themselves at the cost of others suffering. About time US and SK stops listening to China's pacifying BS and takes over this joke of a country called North Korea.

Yes, we need to boycott stupid China, not buy all the cheap junk made in China, then the Chinese will understand, gosh, no good to support little runt trouble making North Korea.

limboinjapan: "if SK were to ever take the entire peninsula be it by force or peacefully once stability has been reached one of the first things a unified Korea would do away with are most if not all the USA bases and forces" actually this seems to by far surpass any amount of BS you claim to have detected in the article. Getting rid of US bases, may they be willing to go or not, takes a long time. Also, for all the "government change" guys here, what is the collective memory for those events? Seems it is tried every 5 to 10 years somewhere, always fails miserably, leaves the respective countries in bigger messes, and empowers neighboring rogue states; yet in the next crisis, it seems like government change must be THE way to go.

I guess "uforgot" to read the rest of the article and just jump to the parts you like

What you'r saying?

I am surprised (maybe I shouldn't be) that no one here has trid to understand why NK started the shelling in the first place. It was SK and US's endless military exercises and firing in the disputed sea areas that provoked NK. It's like two bigger kids constantly bully this little guy by flexing muscles right at his door step. So the weak kid decided to throw a punch: you want to fight? let's fight. You know what happened: the two bigger kids have been proven a "paper tiger".

melikewine:"I am surprised (maybe I shouldn't be) that no one here has trid to understand why NK started the shelling in the first place. It was SK and US's endless military exercises and firing in the disputed sea areas that provoked NK."

It seems that many here have selective memories.

It wasn't that long ago that NK was having it's own military drills right of the coast of SK not to mention the the warning that ships should avoid a certain area because of missile test including firing right over Japan.

Now tell me how NK would have reacted if anyone had fired a missile over their territory.

Why when NK test fires missiles toward their neighbors and hold their own military exercises their neighbors don't go firing bombs at them but for some reason all you pro-NK or is it just anti USA/Japan group seem to think it is all just SK, USA that are at fault for provoking poor little NK.

The unelected Chinese despots are hardly likely to criticise other unelected despots are they? These cruel people don't care if civilians are killed; they probably enjoy it.

I am surprised (maybe I shouldn't be) that no one here has trid to understand why NK started the shelling in the first place.

I'm pretty sure everybody has thought about why NK had started the shelling in the first place. I can't come up with a logical explanation, except pure stupidity. As a matter of fact, anything they do doesn't have logic.

"Hey, why dont we go out and sink a SK ship" You got any good theories on why they did this?

Everybody knows China doesn't want US troops on its border and that is what would happen if NKorea fell. China can use NKorea as a little dagger tool.

Worse, a South Korean victory would bring to China’s threshold a U.S. ally that hosts American military forces.

............... If S. Korea won and re-unified Korea ,then the " korean war/ceasefire " of the 50's becomes a moot point. There is no longer any excuse for the US 8th Army to be stationed in korea since N. Korea does not exist.

NK's capricious behaviors sometimes are without control of China.

sheetu at 10:54 PM JST - 26th November NK's capricious behaviors sometimes are without control of China.

Nobody believes this.

I believe it as DPRK has shown over last few months a tendency to test the wayers of going aaginst Chinas line. Then again i do not think negative about everything China.

............... If S. Korea won and re-unified Korea ,then the " korean war/ceasefire " of the 50's becomes a moot point. There is no longer any excuse for the US 8th Army to be stationed in korea since N. Korea does not exist.>

A US military base at CHINA's threshold is what the US wants if a re-unified Korea happened or maybe more.

The threat was no US aircraft carrier exercises in the Yellow Sea (ie, just off China) or North Korea will start a war.

The purpose of this was not just DPRK trying to psyche out the US from risking triggering a third war, and to gain an upper had grip on the issue of the western border. It was also to undermine the US deterrence not just against Korea, but in East Asia generally.

The US being willing to join these exercises in the Yellow Sea demonstrates its willingness not just to get into a war in the region to defend South Korea. It is also a huge reassurance to the people of Taiwan of America's commitment to the region, and a sharp reminder to China that no matter how much it expands and grows its military, it still cannot expect to walk into Taiwan and displace US influence in the region without a fight.

To that extent, this "irrational" behaviour from DPRK was potentially a great favor to China if it had succeeded in getting the US to back down on the exercises. China gets to play the influential power broker, and US deterrence in the region is undermined.

Thank you America for showing you have balls and not backing down from these direct threats from NK, and veilled threats from China opposing the joint training exercise. And don't be surprised if China is more involved in this whole test of the US/SK alliance than first appears. The US presence in this region is vital to peace and prosperity, which China and NK represent a direct military threat to with their stupid obsessions over territorial disputes. I feel bad for the people of Okinawa but this is exactly why we need those bases in Okinawa. Without them, open war starts in Korea and China marches into Taiwan.

The people of North Korea and China should also be grateful to the US for being brave enough to stand up and make sure that they never have to be conscripted and sent off to die in wars started for the sake of the pride of their totalitarian leaders that they never chose. This whole drama only further highlights the illegitimacy of those two allied dictatorships.

Peace

elbudamexicano at 02:03 PM JST - 25th November. Yes, we need to boycott stupid China, not buy all the cheap junk made in China, then the Chinese will understand, gosh, no good to support little runt trouble making North Korea.

Boycott stupid China? This will not happen. Where do you think majority of the U.S. trade deficiet of $225 billion comes from? Greedy U.S. companies and executives that operate inside cheap labor of China. These companies have invested heavily on lobbyist to have as much impact on influence of trade policy. These U.S. companies do not want change because they make tons of money and they don't care about the people of U.S. Only themselves.

In each past incidents by NK, the response by U.S., South Korea and Japan has been very soft and U.S. has always been asking China as a mediator and nothing happens. Their response and negotiation has always been to reward NK of humanitarn supplies to soften the conflict. It's about time South Korea and U.S. is in charge of their own destiny by saying no to China. The problem with this Korean penisula military conflict is that NK have nothing to lose and much to gain. If there is any ICBM strike by NK to their main cities like Seoul or Pusan, there will be a major economic distruption and instability of their everyday life. This is something that South Korea is trying to avoid. China keeps talking about six party talks but, they should call it five party talk since Japan will agree with anything U.S. decides.

North Korea has always done what China has asked, the key is China rarely asked. Years ago when NK tested their nuke China brought North Korea to its knees by shutting down oil delivery for three days. It wasn't to punish NK so much as say 'that's enough' and draw the line at further escalation. For the most part China lets NK do whatever it wants though.

Of all the countries on this planet, the one with the best chance to influence the action of NK is the PRC. However, I do not believe the PRC has complete control of NK and I am certain NK and the PRC do not trust each other completely. I believe the PRC does not want a nuclear armed NK because at least one of the NK nuclear missles would be aimed at Beijing. Afterall, how could anyone or country trust or control a megalomania like Kim Jong-Il?

know this: if s. korea falls, the chinese and their wild, rabid mongrel (read: n. korea) will go after their other neighbors. namely, the japanese and anyone else who lives in japan @ that time.

SK will not fall.

If NK is dumb enough to try anything more to provoke the US, China is going to be surrounded by an increased US military presence for decades to come, effectively canning any plans China might have on expanding its own influence in the region for a generation.

THAT is the only good thing to come out of this, and why NK forcing the issue like this has actually had some positive implications for the security of Japan, and continued regional stability thanks to US hegemony.

Thanks North Korea!