China’s anger at N Korea overcomes worry over US
3 April 2013 7:01 AM IST
The presence of U.S. forces in places like South Korea and Japan has long worried Beijing, feeding its fears that it is being surrounded and ‘contained’ by Washington and its allies, especially following the U.S. strategic pivot to Asia.
The flying of B-2 and F-22 stealth jets in joint exercises with South Korea, bringing U.S. military might virtually to China’s doorstep, has barely generated a response from Beijing except for a generic call for calm and restraint.
Last month’s announcement that the United States would strengthen its anti-missile defences due to the North’s threats also elicited only relatively mild criticism from China.
‘All these new actions from the U.S side are not targeted at China,’ said Ni Lexiong, a military expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.
‘There is no possible threat to China.’ Another well-connected Chinese military expert, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of discussing Chinese defence policy, said China believed the U.S. presence in Korea acted as a necessary restraint on troublesome Pyongyang, hence the lack of criticism from Beijing.
Chinese internet sites are resounding with criticism not of the United States but of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who is derided as ‘Fatty Kim’ or ‘Fatty The Third,’ in reference to his father and grandfather, both previous rulers of the pariah state. Blame is mostly being put on Kim for leading his country to disaster.
‘Fatty Kim, while you are playing games, your people are starving to death,’ wrote one user on microblogging website Sina Weibo.
The flying of B-2 and F-22 stealth jets in joint exercises with South Korea, bringing U.S. military might virtually to China’s doorstep, has barely generated a response from Beijing except for a generic call for calm and restraint.
Last month’s announcement that the United States would strengthen its anti-missile defences due to the North’s threats also elicited only relatively mild criticism from China.
‘All these new actions from the U.S side are not targeted at China,’ said Ni Lexiong, a military expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.
‘There is no possible threat to China.’ Another well-connected Chinese military expert, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of discussing Chinese defence policy, said China believed the U.S. presence in Korea acted as a necessary restraint on troublesome Pyongyang, hence the lack of criticism from Beijing.
Chinese internet sites are resounding with criticism not of the United States but of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who is derided as ‘Fatty Kim’ or ‘Fatty The Third,’ in reference to his father and grandfather, both previous rulers of the pariah state. Blame is mostly being put on Kim for leading his country to disaster.
‘Fatty Kim, while you are playing games, your people are starving to death,’ wrote one user on microblogging website Sina Weibo.
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