DPRK bids for attention or ?

A bit of a buzz on Twitter as the DPRK has shelled Yeonpyeong island off northwest South Korea. According to a report on MSN Japan (in Japanese), ROK's president believes the shelling may be in response to an exercise the ROK military was holding. The ROK has reportedly returned fire. One South Korean soldier was killed, but I would be surprised if there were not more fatalities after seeing videos on TV (a photo here/a video here). Well, the short 10 or so minute report I saw on NHK before they returned to sumo. I suppose it is understandable that there is more TV coverage of a DPRK test missile that drops into the sea near Japan than an actual artillery attack on the ROK.

No one really knows what the North will do---at least no one in a position to be writing a blog post about it---but we have to remember what the North has done in the post Korean War period. Dozens of attacks around the DMZ, particularly heavy from 1968-69 in which 75 US military were killed/111 wounded while the ROK suffered 299 killed/550 wounded*, the Tree Incident in the DMZ, the seizure of the USS Pueblo, the attack on the Blue House and attempted assassination of President Park Chung-hi, the numerous killings of South Koreans by DPRK agents (gotta be a little careful here, as some of the killings which occurred under Park and his early successors may have only been blamed on the DPRK), the 1983 bombing in Burma in an attempt to assassinate the ROK president, killing 21 and injuring 46, the kidnappings of Japanese citizens from Japan, the recent sinking of a South Korea warship by a DPRK torpedo, the nuclear provocations, now an artillery barrage on what appears to be a civilian area, and....maybe the list can go on forever.

I have heard it said that the DPRK leaders are not crazy and know that they would lose any war with the ROK/US, but the fact that there has been no 2nd war (yet) is due to the restraint of South Korea and the US, not to anything the North has done.

It will be interesting to see China's reaction...

Remain calm. Now, back to sumo. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....

*Not sure about the time period the figures covers, but I believe they are the 1968-69 period as I understand the linked article.

1815 edited to add: Interestingly---or not---in 1989 or 90, I had a TA from China who argued that the US and ROK had started the Korea War from that vicinity of Korea. As I recall, she believed that we started it from the area on the peninsula just above Yeonpyeong Island.

7pm: edited yet again.

Ahhhh. Finally something like autumn has arrived. No frost on the pumpkin, but except for Sunday night when I was hunting mosquitoes in the mansion, it has cooled enough and enough leaves have turned to make it seem like October back home.

Luckily for me, autumn brings learning opportunities and I needn't go to school to experience them. Why just yesterday a fellow as telling me about how Japanese enjoyed walking under under the canopy of ginkgo trees. Then he moved on to maples and how Japanese like the red leaves of those trees. I was both happy and confused as since I enjoy those things too, I am apparently turning Japanese. Except that I also enjoyed them before I came to Japan----as do most folks I've ever known. Except my for wife who often responds with something like, "It's just trees." I was worried that I might have confused my friend too, for when he mentioned Japanese liking maple leaves, I thought of the Canadian flag and said, "Oh, Japanese are like Canadians."

Then this morning I read some learned (?) discussion concerning the internationalization (or lack of) of Japan. I discovered that in addition to the many famous entertainers and athletes of non-Japanese background, there are also a lot of restaurants serving foreign cuisine in Japan. Now if that does not show internationalization, I don't know what does.

I was also educated that the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism who wrote the UN report about discrimination in Japan was apparently some sort of lackey for minority interest groups in Japan. These sneaky devils led him around for 9 days or so showing him only what they wanted him to see, and they, unlike some fellow from the government or perhaps even academia, had political interests at heart. Even worse, the Special Rapporteur could not speak Japanese and had to rely on his deceitful escorts. I am not sure if that is unusual, for I doubt that the fellow could speak Swahili if he went there on an investigation, but then again, this is Japan and we must apply different rules and standards here. Always.

I can not be sure what I should think of this until I consult an unbiased, unfettered by personal day-to-day experience person of letters who can explain everything to me in an abstract moonbeam sort of way that seems to have no connection to reality. I certainly cannot trust my own lying eyes as I am a member of a minority group with a vested interest in not being discriminated against.

But best of all, Diane Sawyer took ABC and Hot Stud Reporter David Muir to China investigate just how China is poised to overcome the US in every possible way pretty darn soon if we don't take hints from ABC news. ABC promised to have several of these reports on what China does differently than the US and what we should learn from it to keep from being surpassed in the next few weeks. Wonder if Diane and babe-magnet Dave took a listen to Joseph Nye below (or did any relevant research) before they flew over to China to give us the latest version of the 1980s Japan threat. Doesn't the ABC interview with Thomas Friedman sound almost word-for-word like what was being said about Japan 20-25 years ago?

Joseph Nye: Return of Asia

During and after the G-20 this week, much of the media has attributed the US inability to get its way on every issue as a sign of the decline of the US. Naturally, one has to view this sort of quickie analysis with a skeptical eye.

Last July, Joseph Nye made a presentation at TED discussing global power shifts in two aspects: the shifting power of states from west to east (i.e. US-China), and what he calls the diffusion of power---the shift of power from states to non-state actors. Rather than calling the shift of power "the Rise of Asia," he calls it the "Return of Asia."

"...this metaphor of [US] decline is often very misleading ..." ..."cycles of belief in American decline come and go every 10-15 years or so..."

"Why does it matter? Who cares?... ...It matters quite a lot, because if you believe in decline and you get the answers wrong on this, the facts, not the myths, you may have policies which are very dangerous... Joseph Nye

Remember the late 80s/early 90s when Japan was going to surpass the US and the fear, fear-mongering, and overreaction? Oops. Slight miscalculation. (apx 18 minutes):

Coast Guard crew member caught leaking

After being hunted for the better part of a week, the culprit who leaked the videos of the Chinese fishing vessel/Japanese Coast Guard collision to YouTube has confessed. The government is now able to breathe a sigh of relief that the person who made it look like the country was being run by the Three Stooges will possibly suffer the consequences of violating relevant laws and regulations.

There is still the worrying feeling that the apparent public support for this scoundrel may in some way resemble that of the 5/15 Incident* and that this is an attempt by the bureaucracy/military (Coast Guard) to undermine the elected government by, well, making people wonder why the tapes were being kept secret to begin with. (Not definitive enough? Didn't want problems with China?) The government will now have to explain itself in a way that does not cause people to laugh and throw rocks at the spokesperson. That may take awhile. Or forever.

"The fact that the video was leaked is a big mistake for the government," Hiroshi Kawauchi, a legislator of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said last week. "It is totally different from presenting it to the public in an official manner, and it leads the people's further erosion of faith in Japan's government." CNN World

You just know that someone, somewhere in the government, at some point has had the following conversation since the beginning of the Senkaku mess:

CIA Boss: So what did we learn, Palmer?

CIA Agent Palmer: I don't know, sir.

CIA Boss: I don't fucking know either. I guess we learned not to do it again.
CIA Agent Palmer: Yes, sir.
CIA Boss: I'm fucked if I know what we did.
CIA Agent Palmer: Yes sir, it's, uh, hard to say.
CIA Boss: Jesus fucking Christ.

*OK, I only read of one person who admitted to sensing such a resemblance.

Edited 1010pm and again at 1155pm.

Senkaku collision video

From Japanese patrol point of view. Collision at about 1:20:



More distant view from second ship:



Hmmm...who is fibbing? Not hard to tell from those videos.

More at Japan Probe

A word of warning: It has been reported that the government did not want these videos released as they might cast doubt on China's version of the incident, thereby making China look bad and causing a pissy fit. Thus it is possible that these videos could be removed from Youtube in order to prevent them to falling into civilian hands. Foreign policy is for bureaucrats, politicians, and experts, not for armchair amateurs. What would happen if a bunch of non-professionals had been handling the Senkaku dispute in the beginning? You might have had some local yokel (supposedly) deciding on his own to release the arrested ship captain or something.

Therefore, under no circumstances should anyone download these videos using readily available free software such as Download Helper for Firefox or similar and save it to their computer. It would be undemocratic.

Rambling about Senkaku

While we wait to see just how the release of the Chinese captain in the Senkaku dispute plays out in domestic politics, it interesting to read the readers' comments* on US news reports on the subject. I have noticed this pattern since the problem began---lots of folks with your typical American name like "Johnson" from Nebraska who show an unusual grasp of the history---generally backing China's views or more extreme---supporting China in this argument. Those comments which support China seem to get "recommended" much more than others no matter how extreme or absurd they are.

I am impressed. I never dreamed that your average American was so interested in East Asia, not even the Asian-Americans who live there.

Somewhere over the past week I read about the power of nationalist bloggers and their ability to pressure the Chinese government. Wonder if some of those folk speak and write English well enough to post all over the Internet. (Answer: Yes)

We can hope that China overplayed it this time, by showing how far they are willing to push, and how much they are willing to go outside of what much of the world would consider a reasonable reaction.

In June, PBS News Hour produced a report on the growing dependency of the US on Chinese production of rare earths and how a few companies were trying to get government assistance in reopening some of the mines which had been closed earlier due to environmental concerns** and low-priced Chinese competition. Maybe China's cute little ploy of threatening to cut off? (or to have actually cut off?) rare earth shipments to Japan will give those efforts a much needed boost. If the US continues being distracted by such things as whether or not masturbation is a sin, then it will have to worry about a China that now produce 95% of the world's supply and obviously has little hesitation about using that for leverage.

Methinks (along with many, many others) that China is at least a temporary loser, exactly because it did play the unreasonable bully so well. Obama spoke of the importance of the US-Japan alliance in a way which was obviously a warning---or at least a strong hint to China---and Sec of State Clinton assured Foreign Minister Maehara that the Senkaku Islands were included in the US treaty obligations. And then we even had Obama bring up the continuing problems with the renminbi with the Chinese prime minister. Any plans by China to exploit a DPJ/Futenma rift in US-Japan relations certainly fell flat.

Unfortunately, China does not yet view things that way as it continues to force the issue by demanding an apology and compensation from Japan.

Of course I am biased, and I have no idea how things will play out. I do have an idea, however, that although there may have been a number of very good reasons for Japan to have let the captain go, that the DPJ is going to (already is) be seen as giving in to China. Maybe I just hang out with a strange group of people, but I can almost guarantee to a person that they will view it as caving in to China. The Oz Lady will gain more evidence for her theories about the naturalized citizens Kan & Ozawa as handing the country over to China. A few other fellows will view it as a failure to show the world Japan's "will" without regard to potential consequences.


*Not all of these NYT comments are, of course. But a read through them should reveal plenty.

**Rare earth mining is reported to be a huge environmental problem in China too.

Edited: 6:20PM

blogger spell check does not recognize the words: bloggers, renminbi.

Never say no to Panda

Via Twitter Hiroko Tabuchi of NYT. Never say no to Panda. This (release of the ship captain involved in the Senkaku dispute) does not look good domestically for the government....Or for anyone else, I would guess without knowing any better.



Replaced after the original went private. Censorship always fails, you know....

Twitter reports

that Japan has released the captain of the Chinese boat involved in the Senkaku dispute. Ohh, this does not look good for domestic politics, I fear.

And Obama has called the US-Japan alliance "a cornerstone of world peace and security." Perhaps it means a bit more than Blinky's pout in the Senkaku dispute---the non-existent dispute which just may exist after all.

The gloves come off

China has gone too far. It may take a month of research and a specialist's knowledge* of The Law of the Sea to determine who is correct in the-territorial-dispute-which-does-not-exist-except-that-it-does** concerning the Senkaku Islands and to figure out why China has decided to escalate the incident to the (increasingly risky) level that it has, but men-of-more-words-than-action like our hero Shintaro "Blinky" Ishihara have no time for such wimpy school-marmish nonsense.

Earlier this week, Ishihara, upon learning of China's cancellation of a visit of 1,000 young Japanese to the Shanghai Expo, issued this bone-chilling response: "Even if they ask me to come, I will not go." (Japan Times)

OH. MY. GOD. We have gone beyond the point of war now. We have gone Blinky. Imagine the fear and regret that such a comment from a novelist-turned-politician must have struck in the hearts of the Chinese leadership!

Just suppose you were holding a party in your home, and Blinky, who has spent decades insulting you and your family, refused to come if for some reason you suddenly decided to invite the crusty old bigot. How would you feel?

I call for calm.

*Another Futenma?

**Newly appointed Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara has stated: "There is no territorial dispute in the East China Sea....The Senkaku Islands are an integral part of Japan's sovereign territory." Japan Times

Let a hundred flowers bloom

I always enjoy it when someone from the right-wing (I do not mean merely conservative as it is often used in the US*) expresses their views and thoughts in a public forum. I especially love it when they do so in English for it is important for people to know these thoughts and opinions. It is especially valuable for those people in the US as we need to know who our friends are.

Recently, I was fortunate have had an opportunity to read the comments of an anonymous commenter here, who if not a member of the far (?) right is certainly a convincing actor able to explain exactly why Japan cannot build a relationship with China, and who even had something nice to say about the people of the US. Now I get it.

*Not that we don't have a right wing there.

Edited to add: Oh, good grief. Should I explain the post heading? I use it in the sense of allowing folks to come out and freely express their opinion so that we know may who our friends are. And aren't.

China 3

For more on the Krugman (and C. Fred. Bergsten) stand on China and its undervalued currency see The Political Economy of Pressuring China, plenty of links there to Krugman's argument and follow ups and rebuttals by others.

And the un-shut-upable Peter Schiff has posted his YouTube response to Krugman. (Again, I'd advise avoiding the comments.) I never thought Paul could create such entertainment.

We all know C. Fred Bergsten, don't we? For about a gadzillion years he pushed a theory that the Japan-US trade imbalance was a result of an undervalued yen. I once had to transcribe one of his speeches for translators, leaving in all the hmm, huh, eh, and everything else. I lost any urge to read/hear any thing more by C. after that. Krugman/Bergsten video here.

Oops. I found a 1991 C. Fred B./James Fallows spat over his yen theory and more:

Virtually every speech on economics by a Japanese government official or Keidanren (big-business alliance) representative quoted Bergsten or Cline. The purpose of the quotation was to show that the strong dollar was the real cause of US-Japan economic problems, so Americans shouldn't waste their breath talking about other issues, such as trade barriers or deep structural differences between the US and Japanese versions of capitalism. Anyone who has met Japanese economic officials in the last five years has heard Bergsten's work referred to in this way... nybooks.com (Note that Fallows was not questioning Bergsten's integrity. You have to read the full article to understand the argument.)

Natsukashii....

Back to the 80s

Only it's a different country and a different dispute, but very similar to the type of rhetoric that we heard back then. This time, it is China and the US, instead of Japan and the US:

....we’ve been reasoning with China [insert 1980s Japan] for years, as its surplus ballooned, and gotten nowhere: on Sunday Wen Jiabao [insert, oh say Nakasone or later PM Miyazawa], the Chinese prime minister, declared — absurdly — that his nation’s currency is not undervalued [insert "Japan's PM declared---absurdly---that the country does not have a closed market and does not discriminate against US/foreign goods. It's because foreigners don't understand Japan and don't try hard enough. Besides, Japan cannot let some foreign products in because its consumers won't buy them and their intestines are not long enough or whatever.]... ....And Mr. Wen accused other nations of doing what China [insert Japan] actually does, seeking to weaken their currencies “just for the purposes of increasing their own exports.” Italicized portion from Paul Krugman NYT

Despite all the hot air of the time, and several attempts to right a trade imbalance with a country that did not adhere to the free market religion that the US rather absurdly seemed/seems to take as gospel, in the end it never succeeded. Nobody can deny that Japanese markets are more open than they were back then, but "free" they ain't. Japan and Japanese companies come first. Then again, name a market that is free using a definition of free that means free.

The US is now (finally) making a little more noise about China's currency manipulation and hypocrisy, but in the end, I kind of suspect it will be a lot of nudging from the US with some gradual, grudging changes by China. To me, the most interesting part about Krugman's column is his explanation on why the US need not fear China suddenly unloading all its dollar reserves:

...It’s true that if China dumped its U.S. assets the value of the dollar would fall against other major currencies, such as the euro. But that would be a good thing for the United States, since it would make our goods more competitive and reduce our trade deficit. On the other hand, it would be a bad thing for China...Paul Krugman, NYT

It's not the usual economic version of M.A.D.---Whoever shoots first, dies second---in which both countries are damaged, but seems to indicate that it would do little real harm to the US. Krugman has hinted at this in the past, but it's the first time I have seen his rational.

1600: An opposing view---(well, it is economics so no two economists agree on anything anyway)---Krugman's Reminbi Fantasy. Thanks to soma for the link.

Fads, The Setting Sun, Old Media

Back in the late 80s/very early 90s when Japan was believed to be an economic "threat," many in the US began to panic and read such trash as Japan as #1, Theory Z, and From Bonsai to Levis in misguided hopes of imitating Japan. It was common knowledge that people needed to study Japan and its language for the 21st century would belong to Japan and "the East."

Back then many folk who believed such media inspired myths majored in Japan Studies, East Asian Studies, and so on, thus suffering the cruel fate of being naturally selected out of the desirable-employees-with-useful-skills pool. Smarter, more mature people would often ask, "What are you going to do with that?"---a question that some of us are still trying to answer 20 years later.

Now we seem to be discovering a new area of must-have knowledge: China. This is the first country/area specific requirement for success since the dire need for people with Middle Eastern language skills just after 9/11. Wonder how folks with those degrees are doing?

One of the smart moves China is making is that it is actually assisting US public schools to teach Chinese:

The Chinese government is sending teachers from China to schools all over the world — and paying part of their salaries. At a time of tight budgets, many American schools are finding that offer too good to refuse. NYT

Clever use of soft power on the part of China and something that I cannot recall Japan doing during its 15 minutes of fame. Japan did fund a lot of Japan-related university chairs and promote other important things such as tea-ceremony demonstrations, but did nothing similar that I can recall for anyone outside universities. Oh, wait, I forgot---Toyotas! About all I can remember is taking the Japanese exam for the Monbusho scholarship* at the Japanese consulate in Seattle in 1990 or 91. After the written test, I had an oral interview with your stereotypical unbelievably arrogant bureaucrats, one of whom who asked if the test had been difficult. I foolishly and honestly answered yes, to which one of the expert test-takers replied "Do you know that all Japanese study English for 6 years?" WTF was I supposed to do with that?

Alas, the already minimal value of any Japan-related knowledge---let alone "expertise"---seems to have plummeted to the level of JAL stock. The country ain't even worth reporting on:

Major foreign media outlets are leaving Japan in droves, ... ...observers note that Japan is also losing its appeal as the most newsworthy country in Asia...

...While financial difficulties are a key reason for the foreign media's retreat, the government is also at fault for not extensively opening up news conferences to foreign reporters...Japan Times

Hmmm. Yukio, wasn't the DPJ supposed to do something about the press clubs? Well, don't worry. Take your time. Would next June be too soon for you to make a decision?

Anyway, this ain't exactly new. The US media has been reducing overseas staff for years. The article was inspired by the recent decision of TIME magazine to close its Tokyo branch, but I personally have never considered TIME as actually being part of the non-tabloid press. My wife bought me a subscription to it in 2002 or 2003 and it was so brown-nosing to the region (and Apple) that I attempted to cancel it.

And the NYT, and others sure, to follow are going to start charging for their online articles? I guess they'll have to in order to survive, but why on earth would anyone pay to read something about Japan that is even more disconnected and ridiculous than some of the stuff written by journalists who are actually here?

*I did not get the graduate scholarship as my Japanese was not good enough. Seems that a bizarre combination of grammar-translation and audiolingualism is not a good way to acquire a language, something that had been known for 30+ years to everyone except the Japanese language professor at my university. I was damned good at reading the texts and memorizing blocks of language for exams though. Never have used any of that in Japan.

Edited for corrections at 2200

Tiananmen debate at NYT

It's obvious that to many, the killing of Chinese citizens in June 1989 by the PLA is not universally seen as an evil.

Nicholas Khristof's Answering Your China Questions at the NYT has comments by folks who hold differing views:

Mr. kristof, I can’t believe that you’re so ignorant you said university students nowadays don’t know the names like Wang Dan in China. How many students have you talked to? As I know, most of my classmates and friends in university watched vedios about the Tiananmen Square,...Baowei

...we Chinese must be doing something very right. Is that because our undemocratic government did not screw up the economy? Or is that your universal human rights idea is neither universal nor human, and we are the foremost counter example? "A Chinese."

...What started as a legitimate protest by the students was quickly taken over by the CIA thugs who wanted to fish in a revolt river, but since the Chinese Government knew better, these CIA criminals failed miserably. "Mella"

...not a single comment to the effect of ‘let us honor the memory of the innocent dead that fell in Beijing twenty years ago’...Lei

Another historical event has become something which didn't happen, or if it did was completely exaggerated, or was caused by foreigners and will be a subject of endless debate.

More "mutual understanding"

Mutual understanding seems to be spreading since it has worked so well in the past. (I think "understanding" means pretend to accept what ever happens. Don't complain or criticize no matter what.) China, which has obviously observed how this process works, has decided to pursue it with the US too.

In celebration of June 4 1989 Tienanmen Square:

Chinese police aggressively deterred dissent on Thursday's 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square, ignoring calls from Hillary Rodham Clinton and even Taiwan's China-friendly president for Beijing to face up to the 1989 violence. AP

China has gone through enormous changes in 20 years, so what is the government worried about? The one-hour plus PBS Frontline online The Tank Man (2006) is a good reminder of those days and more recent times. It enhances mutual understanding.

9:55PM: The Frontline video has a section with four young Chinese students who could not identify the famous photo of the man and the tank. Knew nothing about it.You can find denials that anything out of the ordinary happened at Tiananmen in many places on the Internet, for example in the comments to a The Online Photographer post from one of the anonymous posters (#6 at 4:05PM). The Chinese government has done its work well. The assertion of some at the time that China did no more than what the US government would do under similar circumstances has taken hold. It always come back to the US somehow...

Speaking of Tiananmen, the late Premier Zhao Ziyang's Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang is sorta available at amazon.jp as long as you are in no hurry to get it. Zhao Ziyang was the guy who went to the square and was sympathetic to the student protesters which ultimately ended his career. The book was recently discussed on the PBS Jim Lehrer Newshour.

One can always hope

Some believe that China on the rise is by definition an adversary,” she said at the Asia Society in New York on the eve of a trip to China and other Asian countries. “To the contrary, we believe the United States and China benefit from, and contribute to, each other’s successes.” NYT

Now if only this can be worked out in a way that Japan does not act like a jilted lover.

Mrs. Clinton said that in Japan she would meet with families of people abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, addressing an issue that has long agitated the Japanese, but which the United States has viewed as a distraction to talks with the North about its nuclear program.

OK, just what does this mean? Abductees will replace nuclear weapons as the main issue for the US too? Or will it be on equal ground? Or what?

It all sounds good, anyway.

Paul Krugman writing in a NYT Op-ed, Life Without Bubbles, discussed what he sees as the future of the US economy after the recession and how it cannot return to the recent past. On the chances of the US reducing its trade deficit in the short term, he is no enthusiastic:

...Anyway, the rest of the world may not be ready to handle a drastically smaller U.S. trade deficit. As my colleague Tom Friedman recently pointed out, much of China’s economy in particular is built around exporting to America, and will have a hard time switching to other occupations...

What was this about decoupling? The Economist explained why it is (was?) not a myth back on 6 March 2008.

Just back from a much delayed and shortened trip out of Tokyo and found this:

The Japanese government has acknowledged for the first time that Allied prisoners during World War II were made to work at a coal mine owned by the family of Prime Minister Taro Aso, contradicting his longstanding denials. NYT

Poor Mr. Aso gets kicked yet again when he's down. After this stunning news flash, one wonders what will be next. Will Rush Limbaugh admit that there might possibly be some connection to human activities and global warming? I'll miss that however, unless it also makes the "news."

Then, after reading the above NYT article, I was pleased to learn at another site that although the US is up to its neck in debt to China, that debt gives China no political influence in Washington. You see, any sudden sell-off of that debt would hurt China as much or more than the US. Thank goodness, for that seems to be what the US, and a large part of the global economy is based on. Sorta of a 21st century Mutual Assured Destruction among the US, China, and Japan only this time based on mutual destruction of economies instead of destruction by nuclear war.

We certainly have no reason to ever consider that a country might see a need to do something considered illogical and suicidal. There could never be a situation in which that country may feel that the supposedly illogical and suicidal choice is its best or only alternative. Such a thing has never, ever happened in history. Besides, those folks watching over the financial system in the US and throughout the world know what they are doing.

Although that little tidbit was from an anonymous comment on an interesting post at Observing Japan, I doubt that it is a rarely held opinion. I have used such thoughts to reassure myself about the huge debt the US owes to China and Japan, but somehow, I still feel just a little worried.

Christopher Hill has done it now...

I think if we do find a solution to the problem of Darfur, it will be because we worked with China. If we find a solution to the problem of Iran, it will be because we worked well with China. Similarly, if we close this deal with North Korea, it will be because of our efforts with China. So I think China has emerged as a country with whom we have to work globally on security challenges. There are increasing signs that we can do that. China suffers at times to an extent, I think, from a caricature of what it is. It’s a really complex society. I don’t think it should be defined by one dimension, its economics, or security, or human rights. We need to look at all the issues. CHRISTOPHER HILL Full article in the NYT Magazine

Note which country is not mentioned as being the key player in talks with North Korea or anywhere else by the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and US representative at the six-party talks with North Korea.

Wonder why? A sneaky US plot to sideline a self-sidelining unnamed country? Oh, the rightists of said---or unsaid---country will soil themselves over Hill's comments.