Friday, April 14, 2017

China fears North Korea/US conflict 'at any moment'


North Korea as of late has been increasing its number of missile tests as well as its ramping up of the research and development of nuclear weapons. China seems to be finding itself in a very precarious situation surrounding this issue as it is one of North Koreas only allies, and is at times worrying about the effects any weapons developments could mean for the rest of the world. While China is currently an ally they seem to think they may have to intervene should North Korean leadership decide to continue causing trouble in the region. As is stated in the article the Chinese people are not looking for any type of military escalation as in prime minister, Wang Yi's, own words, ''We call on all parties to refrain from provoking and threatening each other, whether in words or actions, and not let the situation get to an irreversible and unmanageable stage." President Trump on the other hand is seeming to take a hard line on the subject at this point and while this doesn't currently mean military actions, the president seems to be determined in dealing with this problem. With there being aircraft carriers heading to the area around the Korean peninsula there is no telling whether there will be an escalation or if the North Koreans will finally submit to diplomatic sanctions and discontinue its missile tests. What might be the best policy when dealing with a situation such as this? Do you think that problems could arise simply because we are sending naval ships to monitor the situation?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39600426

4 comments:

  1. I don't know if a 'best' policy exists in this situation but I agree that everyone should remain vigilant. President's Trump's words may have not been the smartest as you can see that the North Korean military responded on Friday by saying it would "mercilessly foil" any US provocation. The problem here is that no one wants to concede, it is a display of who is more powerful. I do not think ships in the area will create a problem but parties involved need to be careful of their rhetoric.

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  2. I think we should use military force to overthrow their government and replace it with something a little more democratic.

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  3. I like how this situation is in the hands of leaders (like Trump and Kim Jong-Un) who behave like angry, "troubled" teenagers. Military power should not be used to boost your ego. When governments say they are using aircraft carriers/naval ships to "monitor the situation," it's pretty obvious that they are just trying to make their presence and power known. It is absolutely ridiculous. National defense R&D has been beneficial in many ways, but this passive aggressive talk with weapons is kind of embarrassing. I wish nations would see that money could be spent in many different ways. The whole world is joining the cold war for no reason.
    As for Nick's comment about overthrowing governments. The number of times the US has tried to influence governments and structures in other countries (ex. Bay of Pigs, rise of Taliban) and miserably failed should be reason enough to not repeat such behaviour.

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  4. I think it is really difficult to have a single policy for this situation. The relationships between the US and North Korea, and between North Korea and China, are both very complex. Sending naval ships to "monitor" could lead to more trouble, but times of heightened tensions have occurred in the past that have not lead to full scale conflict.

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