This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Ukraine – Russia crisis presents problems for China
- Relations between Ukraine and China
- China: ‘There is no room for compromise’
- Libya in chaos, war threatened over North Korean tanker
Ukraine – Russia crisis presents problems for China
Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovich and China’s president Xi Jinping in December, signing a military and nuclear pact. (AFP)
Some commentators have said that China will face a difficult decisionin the United Nations Security Council when it has to decide whetherto side with Russia in its military intervention Ukraine’s Crimearegion. China always takes the moral high ground by declaring that nocountry should interfere internally with another country (which itignores when it comes to interfering in African countries). Thus, nooutsider should interfere with China’s mass slaughtering of Tibetans,for example, since that’s an internal matter. So now China wants toside with Russia, but has the dilemma of dealing with its “moral”position of non-interference.
According to one report that I’ve heard, China has resolved this moraldilemma by blaming the United States. According to China, it was theencouraging the original Maidan anti-government protesters to continueprotesting peacefully. Thus, according to this reasoning, it’s OKwith China for Russia to invade Ukraine, because of theU.S. interference in Ukraine’s affairs. VOA and Want China Times
Relations between Ukraine and China
Oddly enough, China has close relations with Ukraine, with military,trade and agricultural partnerships. In 2012 Ukraine became thefourth-largest arms exporter in the world, with many of those exportsgoing to China. Beijing’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, wasbuilt in Ukraine.
Perhaps even more surprising is that China has a nuclear pact withUkraine. On December 5, President Viktor Yanukovich signed an accordwith a clause that says that in the event of a nuclear attack or somuch as the threat of one, China would offer Kiev military support.
This pact is seen as sending a message to China’s Asian neighborsthat China is a nuclear power and a growing military power and,unlike the United States, is not afraid to use its military powerto get what it wants.
What it wants is a great deal of territory in the South China Sea, theEast China Sea, and Asia, including regions that have belonged toother countries for centuries, that it would take immediately wereit not for the United States. Speaking to the National People’sCongress on Saturday, China’s foreign minister Wang Yisaid:
“We will not take anything that is not ours, but wewill defend every inch of territory that belongs to us. We willnever bully smaller countries, yet we will not accept unreasonabledenunciation from smaller countries.
There will not be any change to this position. We will moreactively practice our neighborhood diplomacy guideline of amity,sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness. …
We are also willing to listen to the voices from our neighboringcountries and respond to the doubts about China’s neighborhooddiplomacy. … [With regard to the disputes with Japan,] on thetwo issues of principle, history and territory, there is no roomfor compromise.”
China: ‘There is no room for compromise’
I’m not sure what Wang Yi means by “We will never bully smallercountries.” China has been bullying smaller countries in the SouthChina Sea for years, and has already used its military might to annexterritories that have historically belonged to the Philippines andVietnam. It has clearly stated that it intends to use its militarypower to annex multiple regions belonging to other countries in theSouth China Sea, as well as the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands governed byJapan. China has also made repeated military incursions into India,threatening to confiscate regions along their common border.
It would seem that China and Russia are completely on the same page.Russia has invaded Ukraine’s Crimea and will probably annex it toRussia, and China plans to invade numerous neighboring regions andannex them.
In fact, China is also threatening Russia’s Far East. Population inthe Far East has fallen 50% since the 1990s, while China has sent aflood of illegal migrants to repopulate the region, and take advantageof the rich natural resources. ( “22-Mar-11 News — Russian offer of Japanese resettlement in Siberia raises xenophobic tensions”)
This is consistent with what Generational Dynamics has been predictingfor years — that in the approaching Clash of Civilization world war,China, Pakistan and other countries will be allied against the U.S.,India, Russia, and other countries. So the current relationshipbetween Russia and China is a friendship of convenience. Russiaand China were close to thermonuclear war in the 1960s, and theywill be at war again.
American commentators and politicians constantly worry about thedanger of war between Russia and the West, when there’s actuallylittle chance of that. In the meantime, China is spending billions ofdollars every year developing and deploying new weapons systems thathave absolutely no purpose other than to permit a preemptive nuclearmissile attack on America’s cities, aircraft carries, and militaryinstallations. Indian Express
Libya in chaos, war threatened over North Korean tanker
Historically, the eastern and western regions of Libya havebeen in conflict, and during the 2011 revolution that overthrewMuammar Gaddafi, eastern and western rebels fought with eachother, as well as against Gaddafi forces. Now the easternregion, formerly known as Cyrenaica and now calledthe Barqa Region, are the rebels against the new governmentin Tripoli in western Libya.
On Saturday, a North Korean tanker, the Morning Glory, docked inAs-Sidra in eastern Libya, and has been loaded with $38 million worthof crude oil from Libya’s wells. Tripoli is saying that the sale isillegal, and has threatened to bomb the ship if it leaves port withthe oil. The rebel government says that if any harm comes to thetanker, it would be “a declaration of war.” Reuters and CNN
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