World Threats

Yahoo News is reporting that secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defense Gates will be in Seoul to discuss a joint reply to the sinking of the Cheonan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s top diplomat and defense chief head to Seoul this week to discuss ways to respond to North Korea and deter it from any future attack after the sinking of a South Korean warship.

But the high-profile visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates risks angering China in the process, with an expected announcement of U.S.-South Korean military exercises that have set off alarms in Beijing.

Tension between North and South Korea remain high following the March sinking of the warship, Cheonan, killing 46 South Korean sailors. Pyongyang has denied responsibility and escaped censure this month from the United Nations, which condemned the attack but, in deference to China, did not blame North Korea.

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Analysis. A stern message to North Korea starts at about 100 kilotons. Even so this series of military exercises is a good chance to piss off the People’s Republic of China by sending a Nimitz class carrier into their lake. Give them a chance to see what they may some day be able to do with the Varag at a significantly lower level. Might be nice to plan a port call at Tianjin just to remind the PRC that they have a ways to go to build a REAL navy.

As long as the PRC is willing to support the Kim Family country as an irritant, we might as well irritate back. We now know that they will be no help in the UN as if we ever expected them to. Time to throw some extra added expenses on the bill. Might as well sell the Republic of China all those F-16s since the People’s Republic of China doesn’t really want to solve problems.

And when the George Washington carrier group is done practicing killing submarines in the Yellow Sea, a nice leisurely cruise to Camh Ram Bay via the Taiwan Straits would be an excellent idea. I do believe the Vietnamese would be happy to see all of those, to quote a British saying about Americans in Britain, “over paid, over sexed, and over here” Americans. Bring on China Beach.