reedak
02-25-2018, 01:00 AM
1. According to https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-japan-south-korea-might-need-nuclear-weapons/
(Begin excerpts)
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday night defended his assertion that more countries, such as Japan, South Korea or even Saudi Arabia, may need to develop their own nuclear weapons.
"You have so many countries already -- China, Pakistan, you have so many countries, Russia -- you have so many countries right now that have them," Trump said in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin town hall televised by CNN. "Now, wouldn't you rather, in a certain sense, have Japan have nuclear weapons when North Korea has nuclear weapons?"....
Trump said he's in favor of potentially seeing countries like Japan develop nuclear weapons because "it's going to happen anyway."
"It's only a question of time," he said. "They're going to start having them or we have to get rid of them entirely." (End excerpts)
2. According to https://www.voanews.com/a/china-reacts-angrily-new-united-states-sanctions-against-north-korea/4269141.html
(Begin excerpts)
China's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Beijing "resolutely opposes" the U.S. for "enacting unilateral sanctions" and vowed to "seriously handle" the issue in accordance with the law. The ministry also demanded that the U.S. immediately lift the sanctions "to avoid harming bilateral cooperation in the relevant area." (End excerpts)
3. Summary:
During the Warring States period in Ancient Chinese history, the kings of various warring states were anxious to seek the advice and expertise of thinkers and talented people to be one up on the other states in order to ensure the survival of their own kingdoms and people. Freedom of expression and speech was greatly encouraged and flourished in all the Chinese states. As a result, Chinese culture reached its peak with the emergence of famous thinkers and philosophers like Confucius, Laozi, Mengzi (Mencius) and Sunzi.
After the unification of China, the emperor of every dynasty considered himself as the sole wise man in the country and saw no need for a second opinion. Any official who disagreed with the emperor would get into trouble or even executed. As a result, there was a gradual “mental degradation” among Chinese rulers or emperors, with the exception of Emperor Wu of Han. Henceforth the country was governed by downright pathetic politicians who were out of touch with reality.
The outcome was tragic for China. The West progressed by leaps and bounds with new discoveries and inventions from the Renaissance to the modern age while China was mired in centuries of cultural/intellectual stagnation. Historically, China had been conquered twice by smaller states, and was divided like a pie between imperialist powers in the late 19th century.
The contemporary rulers of China are no better than the emperors of the post-Warring States period. Many years ago, I came across an article in a Chinese newspaper saying that Kim Jong-il despised the intelligence of Chinese communist leaders, regarding them as dotards even when he was a student.
At a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump told reporters: "If the sanctions don't work, we will have to go to phase two, and phase two may be a very rough thing, may be very, very unfortunate for the world."
What is "phase two"? Is it war? If not, is there a "phase three" when war comes finally? Does "phase two" mean naval blockade or something nastier? Chinese leaders may wish for America to mind its own business and withdraw totally from Asia. However, it is shortsightedness for them to wish for US withdrawal which may turn out to be “phase two". There are two possible scenarios following US withdrawal from Asia, both equally disastrous for China.
(a) In the wake of US withdrawal, the majority of South Koreans would prefer waving the white flag than perishing in a "sea of fire" when North Korean tanks rolled southward across the border. China should have learned from the bitter lesson of the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War that the so-called friends could turn into real enemies overnight after the departure of a common foe. Fortunately for China, Vietnam was/is a non-nuclear state, otherwise the consequences would be much worse. Facing a nuclear-armed unified Korea with ancient territorial claims on large parts of China's northeastern region, China should reckon with the potential disastrous conflicts with its warlike neighbour after a possible US withdrawal from Asia.
(b) In a second likely scenario, Uncle Sam may not pack up and leave Asia without a trace. Japanophobia would be skyrocketing in Chna when Chinese leaders wake up one fine morning to find Uncle Sam leave some "faeces" (nuclear-armed Japan, South Korea or even Taiwan) behind at their doorsteps after his departure.
Due to strict news censorship in China, it won't come as a surprise that very few people in the country, even among the top leadership, know that Trump had suggested during the 2016 election campaign that Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons to shoulder their own defence burden. Hence Chinese leaders should pray very hard for the US to succeed in its sanctions to denuclearise North Korea instead of sabotaging its efforts.
There is a Chinese saying, "Borrow somebody's knife to kill others." If Emperor Wu of Han is alive today, he would be glad to make use of Uncle Sam to get rid of North Korea's nuclear threat once and for all without firing a bullet himself. If Uncle Sam can't do it alone, Emperor Wu may even join America by sending troops into North Korea to dismantle all the nuclear weapons, just like US-led Allied forces and the Soviet Union attacking Nazi Germany on two warfronts in the final days of Second War World.
Instead of protesting to the US for "enacting unilateral sanctions", China should take the right action by punishing any individual or company that breaches the sanctions. It should not regard the denuclearisation of North Korea as an affair between the US and the rogue state, but a life-and-death struggle for itself instead. Hence it should double its effort to impose more and harsher sanctions on North Korea.
In fact, North Korea poses the greatest threat to China now. Long before the North Korean missiles can hit the American mainland, the whole of China is now within range. North Korea’s nuclear missiles are too close for comfort to China. It is just like a gun pointing at the forehead. It is questionable whether major Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin can escape total destruction from a surprise attack by North Korean nuclear missiles.
In dealing with the North Korean regime, China must not be foolish to repeat its tragic romance of the Korean War, otherwise it may return to the tragic era of the past two centuries. It must not let the rogue state drag it to the point of no return, just like the foolish man risked plunging into the deep gorge with his pet dog when he allowed himself to be walked by the beast on a narrow bridge as narrated in my political satire at http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?59517-Political-Satire-The-Old-Man-of-the-Mountain-(4)
https://www.libraryofsocialscience.com/books/nationalism-war-and-sacrifice/
http://historian-hut-did-you-know.blogspot.sg/2017/03/in-late-19th-century-china-was-divided.html
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/10/24/commentary/world-commentary/idea-buds-u-s-japan-go-nuclear/#.WpHI3rpuLIU
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/world/what-is-donald-trumps-foreign-policy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-il
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Wu_of_Han
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance
(Begin excerpts)
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday night defended his assertion that more countries, such as Japan, South Korea or even Saudi Arabia, may need to develop their own nuclear weapons.
"You have so many countries already -- China, Pakistan, you have so many countries, Russia -- you have so many countries right now that have them," Trump said in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin town hall televised by CNN. "Now, wouldn't you rather, in a certain sense, have Japan have nuclear weapons when North Korea has nuclear weapons?"....
Trump said he's in favor of potentially seeing countries like Japan develop nuclear weapons because "it's going to happen anyway."
"It's only a question of time," he said. "They're going to start having them or we have to get rid of them entirely." (End excerpts)
2. According to https://www.voanews.com/a/china-reacts-angrily-new-united-states-sanctions-against-north-korea/4269141.html
(Begin excerpts)
China's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Beijing "resolutely opposes" the U.S. for "enacting unilateral sanctions" and vowed to "seriously handle" the issue in accordance with the law. The ministry also demanded that the U.S. immediately lift the sanctions "to avoid harming bilateral cooperation in the relevant area." (End excerpts)
3. Summary:
During the Warring States period in Ancient Chinese history, the kings of various warring states were anxious to seek the advice and expertise of thinkers and talented people to be one up on the other states in order to ensure the survival of their own kingdoms and people. Freedom of expression and speech was greatly encouraged and flourished in all the Chinese states. As a result, Chinese culture reached its peak with the emergence of famous thinkers and philosophers like Confucius, Laozi, Mengzi (Mencius) and Sunzi.
After the unification of China, the emperor of every dynasty considered himself as the sole wise man in the country and saw no need for a second opinion. Any official who disagreed with the emperor would get into trouble or even executed. As a result, there was a gradual “mental degradation” among Chinese rulers or emperors, with the exception of Emperor Wu of Han. Henceforth the country was governed by downright pathetic politicians who were out of touch with reality.
The outcome was tragic for China. The West progressed by leaps and bounds with new discoveries and inventions from the Renaissance to the modern age while China was mired in centuries of cultural/intellectual stagnation. Historically, China had been conquered twice by smaller states, and was divided like a pie between imperialist powers in the late 19th century.
The contemporary rulers of China are no better than the emperors of the post-Warring States period. Many years ago, I came across an article in a Chinese newspaper saying that Kim Jong-il despised the intelligence of Chinese communist leaders, regarding them as dotards even when he was a student.
At a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump told reporters: "If the sanctions don't work, we will have to go to phase two, and phase two may be a very rough thing, may be very, very unfortunate for the world."
What is "phase two"? Is it war? If not, is there a "phase three" when war comes finally? Does "phase two" mean naval blockade or something nastier? Chinese leaders may wish for America to mind its own business and withdraw totally from Asia. However, it is shortsightedness for them to wish for US withdrawal which may turn out to be “phase two". There are two possible scenarios following US withdrawal from Asia, both equally disastrous for China.
(a) In the wake of US withdrawal, the majority of South Koreans would prefer waving the white flag than perishing in a "sea of fire" when North Korean tanks rolled southward across the border. China should have learned from the bitter lesson of the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War that the so-called friends could turn into real enemies overnight after the departure of a common foe. Fortunately for China, Vietnam was/is a non-nuclear state, otherwise the consequences would be much worse. Facing a nuclear-armed unified Korea with ancient territorial claims on large parts of China's northeastern region, China should reckon with the potential disastrous conflicts with its warlike neighbour after a possible US withdrawal from Asia.
(b) In a second likely scenario, Uncle Sam may not pack up and leave Asia without a trace. Japanophobia would be skyrocketing in Chna when Chinese leaders wake up one fine morning to find Uncle Sam leave some "faeces" (nuclear-armed Japan, South Korea or even Taiwan) behind at their doorsteps after his departure.
Due to strict news censorship in China, it won't come as a surprise that very few people in the country, even among the top leadership, know that Trump had suggested during the 2016 election campaign that Japan and South Korea should develop nuclear weapons to shoulder their own defence burden. Hence Chinese leaders should pray very hard for the US to succeed in its sanctions to denuclearise North Korea instead of sabotaging its efforts.
There is a Chinese saying, "Borrow somebody's knife to kill others." If Emperor Wu of Han is alive today, he would be glad to make use of Uncle Sam to get rid of North Korea's nuclear threat once and for all without firing a bullet himself. If Uncle Sam can't do it alone, Emperor Wu may even join America by sending troops into North Korea to dismantle all the nuclear weapons, just like US-led Allied forces and the Soviet Union attacking Nazi Germany on two warfronts in the final days of Second War World.
Instead of protesting to the US for "enacting unilateral sanctions", China should take the right action by punishing any individual or company that breaches the sanctions. It should not regard the denuclearisation of North Korea as an affair between the US and the rogue state, but a life-and-death struggle for itself instead. Hence it should double its effort to impose more and harsher sanctions on North Korea.
In fact, North Korea poses the greatest threat to China now. Long before the North Korean missiles can hit the American mainland, the whole of China is now within range. North Korea’s nuclear missiles are too close for comfort to China. It is just like a gun pointing at the forehead. It is questionable whether major Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin can escape total destruction from a surprise attack by North Korean nuclear missiles.
In dealing with the North Korean regime, China must not be foolish to repeat its tragic romance of the Korean War, otherwise it may return to the tragic era of the past two centuries. It must not let the rogue state drag it to the point of no return, just like the foolish man risked plunging into the deep gorge with his pet dog when he allowed himself to be walked by the beast on a narrow bridge as narrated in my political satire at http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?59517-Political-Satire-The-Old-Man-of-the-Mountain-(4)
https://www.libraryofsocialscience.com/books/nationalism-war-and-sacrifice/
http://historian-hut-did-you-know.blogspot.sg/2017/03/in-late-19th-century-china-was-divided.html
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/10/24/commentary/world-commentary/idea-buds-u-s-japan-go-nuclear/#.WpHI3rpuLIU
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/world/what-is-donald-trumps-foreign-policy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-il
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Wu_of_Han
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance