12-07-2019, 07:51 PM
** 07-Dec-2019 World View: China - North Korea vassal relationship
"Puppet" really isn't the right word. Neither is "ally." For
centuries, Korea has had a vassal or tributary relationship with
China. This means that Korea paid China a great deal of money,
usually gold and slaves, in return for guarantees of defense from
outsiders (i.e., Japan). Although China does not directly govern the
vassal, China expects the vassal to do as it's told, and will not
hesitate to punish a vassal that disobeys.
North Korea today pays tribute to China not in the form of gold and
slaves, but in the form of massive amounts of coal and "workers," both
of which are also used to provide financial aid to North Korea.
Relations between China and North Korea took a hostile turn in October
2006, when North Korea began testing nuclear weapons. North Korea did
not do as it was told, and China punished North Korea by agreeing to
United Nations sanctions targeting North Korea.
However, China cannot punish North Korea too severely. If, as you
suggest, China tries to starve North Korea, the result could be a
massive refugee flow from North Korea, across the Yalu River, into
northeast China, which would be an economic disaster for China.
The reason that China does not want North Korea testing nuclear
weapons is simply because such tests provide the US with an excuse to
increase its military presence in the area.
The Chinese were particularly infuriated in 2016 when North Korean
tests provoked South Korea to reverse a previous policy and agree to
deploy the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD), supplied by the
United States military, to protect itself from North Korean missile
attacks. The THAAD does not do a very good job at protecting South
Korea from North Korean short-range missiles. But what the THAAD
system does, through its sophisticated long-range "over the horizon"
radar capabilities, is provide early warning to the American military
of a missile attack from China.
What China would like is for America to reduce its military presence
in the region, which a North Korean missile test would certainly
make less likely.
Guest Wrote:> Shouldn't it be easy for China to control NK? They feed
> it. Couldn't NK just be their puppet?
"Puppet" really isn't the right word. Neither is "ally." For
centuries, Korea has had a vassal or tributary relationship with
China. This means that Korea paid China a great deal of money,
usually gold and slaves, in return for guarantees of defense from
outsiders (i.e., Japan). Although China does not directly govern the
vassal, China expects the vassal to do as it's told, and will not
hesitate to punish a vassal that disobeys.
North Korea today pays tribute to China not in the form of gold and
slaves, but in the form of massive amounts of coal and "workers," both
of which are also used to provide financial aid to North Korea.
Relations between China and North Korea took a hostile turn in October
2006, when North Korea began testing nuclear weapons. North Korea did
not do as it was told, and China punished North Korea by agreeing to
United Nations sanctions targeting North Korea.
However, China cannot punish North Korea too severely. If, as you
suggest, China tries to starve North Korea, the result could be a
massive refugee flow from North Korea, across the Yalu River, into
northeast China, which would be an economic disaster for China.
The reason that China does not want North Korea testing nuclear
weapons is simply because such tests provide the US with an excuse to
increase its military presence in the area.
The Chinese were particularly infuriated in 2016 when North Korean
tests provoked South Korea to reverse a previous policy and agree to
deploy the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD), supplied by the
United States military, to protect itself from North Korean missile
attacks. The THAAD does not do a very good job at protecting South
Korea from North Korean short-range missiles. But what the THAAD
system does, through its sophisticated long-range "over the horizon"
radar capabilities, is provide early warning to the American military
of a missile attack from China.
What China would like is for America to reduce its military presence
in the region, which a North Korean missile test would certainly
make less likely.
