Exactly one year ago I wrote an opinion column for Newsmax entitled “China Must Step Up on North Korea.” In that column I warned that without the U.S. and the world community putting pressure on North Korea through China, things could get out of hand — and they have.
The president should have dealt with China aggressively about the rising tensions by North Korea directed towards the U.S. South Korea and our allies.
The main mission of leaders is to avoid crisis and not merely respond to it.
China made a huge mistake in 1953 by allowing its ally North Korea to agree to an armistice. By not ending the conflict legally it allowed U.S. forces to remain indefinitely in South Korea. Had there been a definitive end, chances are the Americans would have not had the presence it does today and since 1953.
China is the only nation that has the power to reign in North Korea. North Korea could not survive without the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PRC provides as much as 90 percent of North Korea’s energy imports, 80 percent of its consumer goods, and 45 percent of their food needs, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
The PRC could bring North Korea to its knees in a week. And if they did there is not a single nation who would come to the aid of North Korea.
This past week China President Xi Jinping said at an international gathering, “No one should be allowed to throw the region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains.” Ok, that is nice rhetoric but now what is China going to do about it?
President Obama needs to telegraph to China that any act of aggression by North Korea against the U.S., South Korea, or any of our allies will be considered an act of aggression by the PRC. China needs to know that there will be no “6 party” talks. There will only be 2-party actions — that being taken by China and North Korea to de-escalate tensions in the region.
If China does not respond and take affirmative and swift action against North Korea, then President Obama together with South Korea, Japan, and others should call an immediate U.N. Security Council Meeting to make their case against China and North Korea.
The world needs to gang up on China. They have allowed North Korea for far too long to act out in ways that are not only internally irresponsible but now have serious consequences to stability and peace in the Pacific Rim and beyond.
The facts are clear. There is no way China would allow U.S. boots on the ground should North Korea make good on any of their threats of attack. If North Korea were to act out beyond its borders it would immediately cause China to become involved.
The U.S. wrongfully has allowed it to be put in the middle of a conflict they cannot possibly solve while China sat back and laughed up their sleeve.
The joke should be on them — China. No longer will the U.S. be the “monkey in the middle.” We need to make it crystal clear that China is responsible for North Korea in every respect.
The world’s policy toward North Korea should be that it would no longer be shook down by Kim acting out only to back down after successfully extorting goods and resources from targeted nations.
The world could have prevented this latest aggression by placing the blame at the feet of the most culpable — China.
Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion. Read more reports from Bradley Blakeman — Click Here Now.
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