from this..... As an amateur pundit who can neither read or speak Chinese or Korean, apart from knowing a Korean folk song about a rabbit, I will fearlessly weigh in on a recent Daily Beast editorial that asked, Will China Colonize North Korea?
No, I don't think so. The Chinese may be forced to temporarily occupy parts of North Korea, however.
The Daily Beast editorial glosses over the creation of the two Koreas like this: The Allies ejected Japan from Korea but temporarily divided the peninsula at the end of World War II. The division into a Soviet-dominated state, now the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and an American-supported one, the Republic of Korea, hardened into the two-state system that exists today.
No, I don't think so. The Chinese may be forced to temporarily occupy parts of North Korea, however.
The Daily Beast editorial glosses over the creation of the two Koreas like this: The Allies ejected Japan from Korea but temporarily divided the peninsula at the end of World War II. The division into a Soviet-dominated state, now the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and an American-supported one, the Republic of Korea, hardened into the two-state system that exists today.
.... to this The collapse of the North Korean regime seems inevitable. But I'm old enough to remember when Kim Jong Il took power and the editorials back then were asking, can the son carry on the ramshackle regime the father started? The answer we now know, was yes he could and he could die in his bed instead of hanging upside down and naked from a lamppost, which is what he deserved. But let's assume that one day we wake up and -- miracle of miracles -- the grandson, who appears to be a reincarnation of Caligula, is overthrown. The first thing that would happen is a mad rush of almost every citizen of North Korea to their northern or southern border, in search of food and freedom.
In case you hadn't heard, desperate North Koreans have been sneaking across the river separating North Korea from China for some time. Some women are kidnapped and sold as brides to Chinese men who can't find Chinese women to marry as a result of China's lop-sided demographics. Many are exploited for their labor. Some make it across the country, to Thailand and are given refugee status in South Korea. But from what I've read, they are deeply emotionally and psychologically scarred by the misery and confusion of escaping from a place where failure to worship the Kim family is a capital offence.
We know that the West would respond with generosity and concern if the North Korean regime falls and private citizens will give unstintingly to charities offering assistance. The world expects philanthropy from both the American government and its people. These overtures may be met with suspicion in North Korea because the Kim family regime has obliterated all conceptions of kindness, mercy and generosity for generations of North Koreans. (Once upon a time, by the way, Pyongyang had so many churches it was known as the "Jerusalem of the East.")
The Chinese don't enjoy a reputation for disinterested philanthropy. The government and military have contingency plans in place for the collapse of the North Korean regime, as well they should. But will they do more than block off the border to prevent the deluge of refugees? Will they colonize under the guise of bringing much needed-aid to the NoKos?
In case you hadn't heard, desperate North Koreans have been sneaking across the river separating North Korea from China for some time. Some women are kidnapped and sold as brides to Chinese men who can't find Chinese women to marry as a result of China's lop-sided demographics. Many are exploited for their labor. Some make it across the country, to Thailand and are given refugee status in South Korea. But from what I've read, they are deeply emotionally and psychologically scarred by the misery and confusion of escaping from a place where failure to worship the Kim family is a capital offence.
We know that the West would respond with generosity and concern if the North Korean regime falls and private citizens will give unstintingly to charities offering assistance. The world expects philanthropy from both the American government and its people. These overtures may be met with suspicion in North Korea because the Kim family regime has obliterated all conceptions of kindness, mercy and generosity for generations of North Koreans. (Once upon a time, by the way, Pyongyang had so many churches it was known as the "Jerusalem of the East.")
The Chinese don't enjoy a reputation for disinterested philanthropy. The government and military have contingency plans in place for the collapse of the North Korean regime, as well they should. But will they do more than block off the border to prevent the deluge of refugees? Will they colonize under the guise of bringing much needed-aid to the NoKos?
I don't think so. For one thing, they could have done taken over the country at any time over the last 50 years, or the last 50 centuries, if they had enough reason to do so. (Korea has sometimes been a suzerainty of China and they have occasionally warred with each other.) North Korea and the Kim family have been a nuisance at best to the Chinese Communists for some time now. Why would China take over direct administration of North Korea if they haven't done it yet?
Over two million Chinese soldiers were deployed to Korea, fighting the UN forces. (Starving and freezing to death, btw, but they were there). Why didn't China take over North Korea then, and populate it with Chinese people, as it has done in Tibet?
Over two million Chinese soldiers were deployed to Korea, fighting the UN forces. (Starving and freezing to death, btw, but they were there). Why didn't China take over North Korea then, and populate it with Chinese people, as it has done in Tibet?
Secondly, hark to what President Xi Jinping said during the recent 70th anniversary of the end of the Japanese occupation of China: In the interest of peace, China will remain committed to peaceful development. We Chinese love peace. No matter how much stronger it may become, China will never seek hegemony or expansion. It will never inflict its past suffering on any other nation.
He didn't have to say anything of the kind. He could have confined his remarks to revisiting what rat bastards the Japanese were. But the centerpiece of his speech was this pledge to the world that China would never visit upon another nation what had been endured by the Chinese. Xi wants China to be respected by the world and that is worth more to the Chinese leadership than whatever miserable resources they could exploit out of North Korea. Which leads to the next point.....
He didn't have to say anything of the kind. He could have confined his remarks to revisiting what rat bastards the Japanese were. But the centerpiece of his speech was this pledge to the world that China would never visit upon another nation what had been endured by the Chinese. Xi wants China to be respected by the world and that is worth more to the Chinese leadership than whatever miserable resources they could exploit out of North Korea. Which leads to the next point.....
North Korea's people will need prolonged aid and assistance to get on their feet. There could be savage reprisals of the victimized upon their victimizers. Many South Koreans dread the fall of the regime, even though they know how much their relatives in the North are suffering.
North Korea may have some natural resources, but otherwise it's such a basket case that surely it would be a net loss for China, just as it will be an enormously costly burden for South Korea.
Although all North Koreans are relentlessly propagandized to be vigilant against an attack from the West, the truth is that the broken-down played-out country has nothing we could conceivably want. There's nothing to invade for. So why colonize it? Would it cost more to pay the market price for North Korea's resources, as opposed to sending your army to seize and rebuild the entire territory in the face of what would be world wide global condemnation?
North Korea may have some natural resources, but otherwise it's such a basket case that surely it would be a net loss for China, just as it will be an enormously costly burden for South Korea.
Although all North Koreans are relentlessly propagandized to be vigilant against an attack from the West, the truth is that the broken-down played-out country has nothing we could conceivably want. There's nothing to invade for. So why colonize it? Would it cost more to pay the market price for North Korea's resources, as opposed to sending your army to seize and rebuild the entire territory in the face of what would be world wide global condemnation?
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