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China suspends North Korean coal imports, striking at regime’s financial lifelineBy Simon Denyer February 18 at 1:38 PMBEIJING — China will suspend all imports of coal from North Korea until the end of the year, the Commerce Ministry announced Saturday, in a surprise move that would cut off a major financial lifeline for Pyongyang and significantly enhance the effectiveness of U.N. sanctions.Coal is North Korea’s largest export item, and also China’s greatest point of leverage over the regime.The ministry said the ban would come into force Sunday and be effective until Dec. 31.Read More At: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/china-suspends-north-koreas-coal-imports-striking-at-regimes-financial-lifeline/2017/02/18/8390b0e6-f5df-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_nkoreacoal-925am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.4e62b036bd61
We should send them some of our coal.
Ruh Roh!
Ruh roh is right. I imagine Kim Jon-Un is feeling a bit ronery right now.Seriously though, China's not stupid. They know they're putting the squeeze on NK by doing this, and know NK gets squirrely when they get cut off. So what's the chess move here?
Force an incident with South Korea which will enable China's plans for territory. China will claim certain territory as a security measure to "prevent" war and then never relinquish that claim.
Force an incident, sure. But China has invaded Korea before. Only stopping short of the DMZ will prevent a bigger conflict.
I don't mean China invading North Korea. I mean North Korea doing something they were manipulated into with South Korea by the Chinese. With China's endgame being able to solidify territory claims in the South China Sea.11 billion Estimated barrels of oil in the South China Sea190 trillion Estimated number of cubic feet of natural gas in the South China Sea$5.3 trillion Total annual trade passing through the South China Seahttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjpnq7lkpzSAhUJ1GMKHeFsCdEQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cfr.org%2Fglobal%2Fglobal-conflict-tracker%2Fp32137%23!%2Fconflict%2Fterritorial-disputes-in-the-south-china-sea&usg=AFQjCNFtzATDZhWV_e-WEu9ZUtAEIOTO9w&sig2=VCZ9IMhRuxV_SXxDYeshlg
The Chinese intervened on behalf or the PRK during the Korean War, otherwise, Korea would have been forcefully unified and not as a Communist country. That gave the Chinese some degree of hegemony there. That war hasn't ended, only a cease fire agreement exists, not a treaty. One of the reasons we have troops there to this day is that cease-fire. If China were to invade North Korea, we would likely not intervene. We have no agreement with the PRK to defend them. Were China to take over the PRK, but not go past the DMZ, likely we would do nothing, but if they re-invaded the South and crossed the line, the war could go 'hot' again. Then the US would have to decide whether to back South Korea or withdraw, leaving the Chinese within spitting distance of Japan. You are right in that whatever they decide the control of the South China sea and the Resources there is their aim. The question is one of how far they are willing to go to achieve what ends.
That could be. It is, after all, an economic sanction and not an act of war.
You see it that way. I see it that way. The Chinese see it that way.Will Lil Kim see it that way?An act of war is in the eye of the beholder. And the beholder in this case has a very tenuous grip on reality.
