Symphony

Whether it’s true or not, China appears to the International community as an aggressor. For half a century, Beijing supported the Kim Dynasty of North Korea. Now, that decision is “blowing up” in Beijing’s face, so to speak. Countries are asking, “Why would Communist China support a North Korea that would do this if China truly wants peace?” Is Beijing apologetic? Of course not.

In the context of regional issues, and especially the recent earthquake and other environmental problems, the best optics for China would be to demonstrate wise priorities at home, tone down their activity in the South China sea, make concessions to India, and back off in other regions. But they don’t. Why?

Though pride is always a factor, it’s hard to say what motivates Beijing. But the Communists seem to be overreaching and this is possibly from complex psychology wars waged by the US over the last several years.  · · · →

What’s with the rhetoric, fist pounding, and war-drumming?

North Korea has a long history of making threats whenever they need food. In the past, war-talk resulted in lots of food and supplies being sent to North Korea a short time after. Maybe there were talks somewhere in that process, maybe not. But the West cow-towed to the Norks like Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler before WWII.

From this perspective, it seems that Kim Jong-un is begging for food, like the family dog who tries to convince everyone at the dinner table that he’s on the brink of starvation.

But from another perspective, East Asian cultures—Chinese, Japanese, and Korean alike—are famous for “fist shaking” in the place of actual leadership and management strategy. Someone stands up and shouts really loud, everyone within ear shot jumps in line—again, like the family dog being beat with two sheets of newspaper who thinks, with all the noise, he’s being pounded to death.  · · · →

USA’s Mixed Message to China (mp3)

If politics were a TV show, consider this season of “Pacific Antics”. The United States government has consistently sent “dual messages” to China.

On the one hand, diplomatic, military, and other foreign-related policy indicates aggressive defense posture and retaliation preparedness should a Pacific conflict break out. A new military base is under way in the northern most parts of Australia. US military forces are continually rearranged with “China” as the recurring, vague reason. Trade and visa agreements with Pacific nations, including America’s former enemy, Vietnam, won’t exactly make China feel like the biggest tiger in the jungle. And Taiwan President Ma’s recent and unusual visit to the Pope’s inauguration doesn’t resound with the same “go along with China to get along with China” rhetoric of Ma’s first term. In case you didn’t know, Chinese Communists don’t like the Vatican.

On the other hand, US domestic policies seem to invite invasion from China.  · · · →

A friend recently asked me, “Hypothetically, what would it take to tip the tables, break the silence, and move from military escalation in East Asia into either war or peace?”

It was actually quite an easy question to answer. The same event could push the tide either way, though there’s no way of knowing in advance. It’s a rather simple event. But first, we need some background…

In every war, there’s always a straw that breaks the camel’s back, as it were. In WWI it was the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915. Interestingly, also on the 7th, but in December 1941, WWII was joined by the US when the Japanese bombed the naval fleet docked at Pearl Harbor on Oahu island in Hawaii. There’s always something that tips the tide.

In the current Pacific scenario, I speculate that everything could shift, merely if Taiwan commandeered the diesel-powered Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning.  · · · →