Chose these 3 paragraphs from this article to comment on;
1. "Anything that saps US strength and isolates the US diplomatically is a victory for China and North Korea. If the US is prompted to provide more aid to North Korea and to accept conditions raised by Beijing that amount to selling out Taiwan, then Beijing will enjoy an even greater victory."
Comment1 Nothing could be further from the truth, Chinas success in the world economy is directly related to it's comparative advantage relating to labor costs, labor costs savings attracted foriegn capital, that capital funded Chinas boom, and now, much of the rhetoric swirlling around the China subject forgets these important points. The future Success of China is directly related to sustaining labor and Investment cost advantages,as it relates to export demand for goods made under the terms of this advantage. should Beijing choose to ignore these truths the interdependency of the economies breaks down and Chinas gains will evaporate.
2."Although Beijing has repeatedly assured the US of its support in fighting terrorism, North Korea -a nation closer to China than any other -has been showing its evil face more and more blatantly. In the past two months, they have done everything from withdrawing from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, starting up a mothballed nuclear reactor, indulging in clown like provocations in the Demilitarised Zone and invading South Korean airspace with their MiG-19 fighter aircraft.
Most recently, while US Secretary of State Colin Powell was visiting Beijing, they tested a Chinese-made Silkworm missile by firing it into the Sea of Japan and thereby rattled financial markets around the globe."
Comment 2 Financial Markets should Know better, the same market hosts companies that knowledgeable Military analysts consider defensive technology suppliers who coexist with the threat from silkworms as publicly traded companies, therefore the knowledge of the threats can be discounted, but apparently it is more important to just let the excuse of fearing a silkworm be the popular prevailing metric in the markets.
3 "Without the support of a strong backer like China, it is hard to imagine North Korea would dare act this way because, after all, it would certainly be destroyed in another Korean War. Similarly, without Chinese economic aid (which currently accounts for about 80 percent of all foreign aid to North Korea), especially grain and the oil necessary for war, they couldn’t maintain a minimum standard of living for their people or a standing army of 1.1 million men, nearly 5 percent of the country’s population."
Comment 3 N Korea cant live on it's stipends from it's props, this escallation appears to be more of a way to show its minders how it can be USED at key moments in international affairs, that it NK provides its value added, and that it is worthy of receiving more than it currently does. The question becomes will the extorion work? And even more important, who will fit the bill? |
