BOTH Russia and China would like to see the United States withdraw its forces from the east Asia-Pacific zone. China particularly has ambitions to be the controlling force in that area. Could it be that China is using North Korea as a pawn in a political struggle to oust US forces from that part of the pacific?
China could cripple the North Korean economy immediately by turning off its oil and gas supplies. This is not going to happen. The Chinese, can say that would cause a humanitarian crisis, so they are prepared to indirectly encourage North Korea to take a particularly bold stance against the US in the expectation that they, the Chinese, would offer to indirectly mediate a settlement that would save both sides’ faces.
China could then expect to achieve its ambition to be the controlling power in that area without having to confront the strongest power in the world. A fantasy? I wonder.
John Macmillan,
40 Ferry Road, Monifieth.
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