4th February, 2012 |
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I wanted to let you all know that I am moving to a new blog http://chinajapanusrelations.blogspot.com/ Please join me there for my continued discussion on China, Japan and U.S. relations and geopolitics in the Asian-Pacific region.
After the 9/11 tragedy, the CIA (Central Intelligent Agency) came under heavy criticism because it failed to share information that could have prevented the attacks in 2001. As a result, officials across government agencies began to share information; this provided more analysts wider access to government secrets. As WikiLeaks began to post some documents from over 250,000 cables on the internet (http://213.251.145.96/cablegate.html) in December, the US government, including Hillary Clinton, is furious. According to WikiLeaks the cables there are 133,887 unclassified, 101,748 confidential, and 15,652 secret documents which has embarrassed the American diplomats, treating other countries’ diplomats with non-respect. It is good for scholars who can analyze international politics, and foreign diplomats who will not going to trust the Americans again in the future. Some Americans and media became “mad dogs” by blaming the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange. Well, the “mad dogs” should blame themselves first because inside of the US began to fail into parts – someone inside the US government is willing to going to the jail by providing the information. This indicates that the US government has not done the “right” things for its people or anyone else including “so-called” allies. If the US government can spend billions dollars to collects its diplomatic “gasps” globally, why has Obama not invested inside the US by creating job for its people? No country on the earth is doing what the US has done to the other countries by using money and man power for spying.
After the South Korean Navy patrol craft Cheonan broke down on 26 March 2010, US and South Korea scheduled a joint naval drill in the Yellow Sea, China’s doorstep at the end of June. On 24 June 2010, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) suddenly announced that the PLA’s army of 91,765 would hold military exercise from June 30 to July 5 in the East China Sea to the east of Zhejiang Province. The Chinese military staged a live military fire drill according to the China Daily. As part of the drill, all ships were instructed to “follow [the] orders of the Chinese navy to ensure safety.” On 28 June 2010, the South Korea Navy announced that their joint military drill was postponed to July. Some Chinese experts claim that the Chinese naval drill is clearly related to the presence of the 97,000-ton class aircraft carrier, the UUS George Washington near China’s shores. Some Chinese nationalists began to blog and attack the U.S. navel web site in reaction to the US-South naval drills (Japan Times).
Since the Cheonan incident, the US has undergone military exercises in the Yellow Sea or East China Sea almost every month. Unfortunately, the US strategy has never worked in North Korea. This became evident on 23 November 2010 when Yeonpyeong Island was attacked by North Korea. Yeonpyeong Island lies south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) claimed by South Korea. But, the NLL has no legal standing because it was arbitrarily imposed by the US (lead UN) command in 1953 at the end of the Korean War. Like the civil war in the US a century earlier, the North Korea and South Korea is in civil war today. The North Koreans never recognized and claimed their own maritime military demarcation. There have been tow battles, including one in 1999 at sea, over the disputed area. As Australian diplomat Gregory Clark states in the Japan Times, “North Korea had just as much right to attack into the South as the South was claiming for its own planned attack against the North.” According to the South Korean government North Korea was the attacker, killing two civilians and two solders. North Korea insists the attaches were the result of South Korean military exercises. Probably, we will never know who attack whom first. However, we know one thing. That is, most western media and western governments condemned the North Korea’s actions. Yeonpyeong Island will not be attacked,
If the US would talk to the North Korea bilaterally;
If the US would sign “non-aggressive treaty” with Kim Jong Il as he has requested for years;
If the US would promises not to invade North Korea, guaranteeing Kim’s security;
If the US would withdraw its troops (stationed since 1953) from the South Korea;
If the US would normalize relations with North Korea;
If the US would return to the “six party talk” by negotiating with the Kim regime.
In fact, Obama has not done any of these above items in the last two years because he does not care. As long as the North Korean missiles cannot reach the White House, why should the president of the United Sates even think about the North Korean case, right? Only asking China to do something to Kim Jong Il is not the solution because the US needs to sincerely and seriously to negotiate with North Korea first, whether the Americans like Kim Jong Il or not. By now, the White House does not have much choice whether or not to deal with North Korea. Déjàve again, the joint 4-days military exercise with South Korea by using the UUS George Washington in the Yellow Sea starting November 28. Has the White House realized any fundamental problems of Korean issues? That is, just talk to Kim’s family.
The Thailand media (The Nation) published an article “Dollar Tsunami Will Threaten Asian Economies” on 5 November 2010. According to the article, “US banks and US funds are getting almost free money from the Fed to speculate in global assets. Fundamentally speaking, the US dollar does not have any intrinsic value because it is not backed by any assets. The Fed just prints more and more dollars out of thin air. As a result of this second round of printing, we can expect to see bubbles in equities, commodities, oil prices and other hard assets.” During the first round of quantitative easing by the Fed, it spent $1.7 trillion to purchase US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in 2009. Yet, it has failed to jump-start the American economy. Many countries including China, Australia, India, South Korea, and Thailand are vulnerable to the inflation, it might create hyperinflation in the future. As the Nation asks, “how can the Fed expect the second round to have the intended effect? If this second round also fails, will the Fed continue to introduce further rounds into infinity?” Will the Fed keep a shadow account or engage in off-balance-sheet transactions? The US government should learn from Thailand’s experience and mistakes during the 1997 as the country defended its baht off-the-balance-sheet.
After the West failed to use its “currency card” to pressure the Chinese government to appreciate the Renminbi, the West began to use another card – the “human right card.” Since Liu Xiaobo received the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, almost all western media has begun to pressure Beijingto release Liu from imprisonment. In pressuring China, it is important that the West look at their own actions. When Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (5 times) during the British colonization of India, where were the Western governments and Western media? Instead, the British government wanted to make sure Gandhi did not receive the prize by pressuring the Norwegian government between 1937 and 1948. Why? When will the West begin to learn from history and stop applying its “double-standard?”
When the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visited European countries including Greece, Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Germany (a surprise visit) in October, he came bearing gifts: billions of dollars worth of business deals and a wave of favorable attention from a crucial foreign investor. This month, the Chinese president Hu Jintao visited Portugal and France. President Hu ordered airplanes worth billions of dollars from France creating thousands of new jobs. The Chinese message is clear: do not follow the US which is pressuring China regarding the Renminbi’s appreciation. Many other European countries, such as Ireland and Hungary, are ready to open their hands to ask China to investment their countries. Ultimately, “Beijing hopes to achieve not just more business for its own companies, but also greater influence over the economic policies set in the power corridors of Brussels and Germany (1 November 2010 New York Times).”
It is unusually when North Korea convenes the second parliamentary session in early June. The announcement by the North Korean media after supreme leader Kim Jong Il’s trip to China after three days later the Chinese President Hu Jintao talked with President Lee Myung-bak who attended the opening ceremony of the World Expo in Shanghai on 30 April 2010. There must have been urgent matters that were discussed as North Korea just had its parliament session in April. In fact, Kim Jong Il got rid of the whole cabinet by imposing a new prime minister. According to the Japanese media, Kim Jong Il did not get a “special package” from China during his meeting with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, because Beijing cannot offer excessive financial support as the result of the restrictive framework of the UN sanctions. According to the South Korean media, Kim asked for new fight planes from China from free, but Hu rejected the proposal (17 June 2010). Therefore, Kim shortened his trip and returned to North Korea. According to Hong Kong TV, Hu also rejected Kim’s request for free grant of J-10 Fight Jets (23 June 2010).
On 19 June 2010, North Korean TV announced that the ruling Worker’s Party will convene its conference in early September to elect “its highest leading body (Japan Times).” Many Asian media, including Xinhua Newsreport that Kim Jong Il might be willing to transfer power to his son, Jong Un. Kim Jong Il succeeded from his father, Kim Il Song in 1974. After 44 years, The Worker’s Party convened in the capital on September 28-30. Kim Jong Un, the third son of Kim Jong Il, promoted to four-star general, along with Kim’s sister, Kim Kyong Hui. The Kim family transferred its political dynasty certainly (Washington Post27 September 2010). After the party meeting, the North Korea dispatched its delegation headed by Choe Tae Bok to meet the Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on 2 October 2010. After more than 60 years sactions by the U.S., North Korea will unlikely be bankrupted by the West anytime soon.
