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Trump’s International “Syria Message” Worked
The Global Times, an English-language Chinese site under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, wrote an editorial in favor of China imposing major restrictions on North Korea if they continue to carry out nuclear tests.
They acknowledge that the United States, under President Trump’s leadership, is not to be trifled with.
Washington’s latest threat to Pyongyang is more credible given its just launched missile attack at an air base in Syria. The Korean Peninsula has never been so close to a military clash since the North conducted its first nuclear test in 2006.
If Pyongyang conducts its sixth nuclear test in the near future, the possibility of US military action against it will be higher than ever. Not only Washington brimming with confidence and arrogance following the missile attacks on Syria, but Trump is also willing to be regarded as a man who honors his promises.
The Global Times also argues that the onus is on North Korea, not the United States, to avoid conflict.
A new nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile test, if conducted by Pyongyang at this time, will be a slap in the face of the US government and will intensify the confrontation between North Korea and the US.
The Chinese paper urges against conflict, but also supports a solution to the “North Korean nuclear issue.”
The editorial ends with:
Pyongyang should avoid making mistakes at this time.
After the missile strike in Syria, it’s clear to China, and presumably to the rest of the world, that the era of the U.S. leading from behind is over.
Published in Foreign Policy
Is The Global Times an official publication of the Chinese Communist Party?
@TG: I believe it is under the “People’s Daily”, which seems to be under the Chinese Communist Party.
Ah, I see that the post has been edited – good move!
@tg: Yep, thanks for pointing it out. It’s a good point.
Scott Adams has a similar take on this:
News alert – Massive bomb dropped on ISIS holdouts in Afghanistan:
http://drudgereport.com/
Jinping? Vladimir Vladimirovich? I get why you want your psychotic pit bulls. They serve your respective regional foreign policies well. But ya gotta keep them chained up. No more dead little kids, no more endangering the neighbors. You want ’em? They’re yours. They screw up again? That’s yours too.
Strong actions can have salutary secondary effects.
Reagan’s firing of the air traffic controllers signaled to the Soviet Union that he was not to be trifled with.
Obama’s disregarding his own “red line” signaled that he was to be trifled with.
Come to think of it, pretty much everything he did, except eliminating Osama bin Laden, sent that signal. (And, it should be noted, killing OBL was not a controversial or gutsy call – almost any American holding the presidential office would have done it.)
Joe Biden counseled against the killing. That says an awful lot.