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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (67756)	1/22/2003 4:20:25 PM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Michael, As bad as china is, it is also a country on the road to democracy. Time is on our side and Taiwans as well. They will not cash in their economy to conquer a small island, unless the US becomes a threat. If we continue to give them big power status, they will inexorably turn toward democracy and eventually peacefully settle with Taiwan. Tibet was in an earlier time, and the West had no way of helping them to defend themselves. It is a tragedy what happened there, but was out of our control. Historically one could argue that tibet is part of china just as easily as saying it should be independent. Its the brutality of the chinese that is more at question. Taiwan has the assets to prevent that. Good foreign policy is really multiple foreing policies customized for different states so we have a china policy, a korea policy, an iraq policy, a syria policy and so on. mike

To: greenspirit who wrote (67756)	1/22/2003 4:53:46 PM
From: greenspirit	Respond to of 281500

N.Korea to Test Missiles if U.N. Involved-Sources Reuters^ asia.reuters.com TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea will resume tests of ballistic missiles if the United Nations Security Council begins discussions on the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, diplomatic sources close to North Korea said Wednesday. And if the United States pushes too hard, Pyongyang could declare itself a nuclear state, they added. U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of State John Bolton, Washington's top arms control official, told a news conference in Seoul that he expected the U.N. Security Council to take up the issue by the end of the week. "The North would lift its self-imposed moratorium on missile launches if and when the issue is referred to the Security Council," said a source with close ties with North Korea, adding that an actual test launch would follow soon. "Pyongyang will never cave in to threats and will respond with an even harder line," he said. "But we have to see the true intention behind Bolton's remarks." North Korea stunned its neighbors in 1998 by firing a medium-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan. The following year, it announced a self-imposed moratorium on missile test flights to last until the beginning of this year and said last September it would extend the moratorium indefinitely. But earlier this month, North Korea became the first country to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and then suggested it was free to resume missile-firing tests. Another source said that if the United States was to take a tougher stance toward Pyongyang, the reclusive communist state could declare its intention to make nuclear weapons. "That's how the Pyongyang government believes it can protect its sovereignty and survival," he told Reuters. "No one would be able to stop it even though China and Russia -- key backers of the North -- do not want that to happen." Despite tough talk from the two sides, the sources said there was a way out of the stand-off if Washington put its promises not to attack the communist state in writing. The sources noted that then-U.S. President Bill Clinton wrote a letter to North Korea leader Kim Jong-il in 1994 when the two sides forged a deal under which Pyongyang agreed to scrap its nuclear weapons program in return for energy assistance. "Pyongyang could be convinced to accept U.S. demands if the United States agrees to issue a joint communique promising it would not attack the North, accompanied by a letter by President (George W.) Bush affirming that, and some additional assurances," the second source said. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Japanese reporters in Washington last Friday that a formal non-aggression treaty was not possible. But he said that the U.S. could provide a security guarantee by exchanging letters or official statements if Pyongyang dismantled its nuclear arms programs.

To: greenspirit who wrote (67756)	1/22/2003 10:37:50 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

<However, there has never been a time (that I can think of), where a major democratic nation built on relatively free-market based principles has attacked another one. Therefore, peaceful, civilized coexistence seems to fit best with democratic free-market ideals.> Michael, It was a minor attack, but France under Mitterrand attacked New Zealand with frogmen and woman, murdering a photographer. In the grand scheme of things, it was minor but since that's been the only attack, it looms large. Germany elected Adolf, who then set about attacking lots of countries. I suppose one could argue that by then they weren't democratic, but the Germans did vote for him. One point is that democratic countries until recent decades have been few and far between. Maybe when there are more of them, we'll see more fighting. But a key point about democracy is that it's not just a few boss monkeys who can get a war up and running and expect to keep power without public support. I agree that China would lean on Taiwan more heavily were it not for the USA selling Taiwan a lot of hardware and sailing around the place with aircraft carriers full of weapons. Mqurice