North Korea is essentially a hemorrhoid to China, and there is no indication that they are genuine in their interests to reign in their stepchild. It's too bad, because they'll cross a line and it will become an American problem. And that problem may go nuclear. When that happens, it will be China's fault, but blame will rest (as it inevitably does) on the US.
On 14 June, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published a(nother) lengthy rant against the US. The final few paragraphs may have interest to y'all.
This is the latest in a long series of rants in which North Korean propagandists present arguments for the US to recognize North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. North Korea craves this recognition earnestly and often.
The scientists and the engineers have learned a lot and have steadily improved the missile and the nuclear programs. However, US recognition of North Korea’s status as a nuclear-armed power is not a matter of science so much as a matter of politics. They want US recognition so badly they won’t get it.
As for ballistic missiles, in the absence of an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile test, the propagandists published technical information about North Korea’s knowledge of ICBM mechanics.
Much of that information is readily available on the worldwide web, but in this rant technical information is included to persuade the US that the North has authentic rocket scientists and is serious about targeting mainland US cities, including New York.
If the technical information is accurate, it is impressive that one of their missiles reached a peak altitude of more than 2,000kms and still splashed down in the Sea of Japan.
They will test launch a ballistic missile. The rant hints that they already tested the first stage and the reentry vehicle in the Hwasong-12 flight on 14 May.
The North’s propagandists and communist ideologues in general consider warfare a form of politics. In that doctrine, politics is the ultimate arena of struggle between systems. North Korean leaders warned the US in this rant that when they launch an ICBM they will have won the political struggle against the US.
Thereafter, the US is supposed to acknowledge defeat and to end its policy of hostility, meaning withdraw its soldiers from South Korea and stop military exercises. Most senior North Korean leaders know this is a nonsense, zero-sum argument that no one takes seriously, excepting some of them and probably Kim Jong Un.
The tragedy of North Korea is that the inept leadership of three generations of well-fed and pampered Kims is responsible for the hardships that the North Korean people have had to bear.
There have been various reports (none of them particularly credible) that suggest North Korea will soon test another nuclear weapon. My reaction to that is - maybe - but unlikely. The Chinese threat of serious repercussions to that sort of thing is still fresh in the mind of the fat kid with the bad haircut who runs the place, Respected Dear Leader, pictured right.
Iran is mounting a feeble public relations campaign in support of their ally, Qatar. The text runs something like this: Saudi Arabia has promoted Islamic faith centers around the world that have also been the breeding ground of terrorism.
Iran's point is that it's hypocritical of the Saudis to sanction Qatar for spending billions supporting terrorist organizations.
The Saudi-Qatar situation has something to do with stopping the Qatari support for terrorists, but it also has to do with Qatar's friendly relations with Iran. As is always the case, everywhere, this sort of brinksmanship is complicated. It's also polarizing as some Arab nations have been shipping food to Qatar in defiance of the Saudi mandate.
Morocco has decided to send airplanes loaded with food products to Qatar, according to a Moroccan foreign ministry statement. The statement said King Mohammed VI instructed the government to send the food products "in accordance with our Islamic teachings, especially in the holy month of Ramadan."
Commercial maritime shipments from Oman to Qatar are replacing overland truck traffic from other Gulf States. According to Al Jazeera, a Qatari food company owner said shipments began arriving on Sunday, 11 June, from Oman. He said about 12 ships were headed to Qatar from Sohar and Salalah.
Maersk of Denmark announced it would accept new bookings for container shipments to Qatar from Oman. Swiss-based MSC said it would deploy a new dedicated shipping service to Qatar from Salalah.
On 11 June, the Iranian Navy said it was deploying two ships to Oman, as part of its continuing anti-piracy patrol. These supposedly will rotate with two Iranian ships already on station.
Some analysts have suggested that the sanctions imposed by the Saudis haven't worked, however, the point is to replace the emir with somebody more "qualified" from within the royal family, not to destroy Qatar.
The Chinese are demanding more security for the roadway, and that Pakistan provide specific security for every Chinese person living and working in Pakistan.
Sindh Province will provide a 2,600-strong police protection unit. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will commit 4,200 police officers and Baluchistan will complete a review of current protections.
The murders in Quetta of two Chinese language teachers by Islamic State terrorists, which they announced on 8 June, is the impetus for the provincial governments to get serious about security for CPEC workers.
The forces listed above are in addition to the newly raised special security division in the Pakistan Army, whose mission is CPEC security, and the new air-sea patrol unit in the Navy, whose mission is security of Gwadar port. Up to 85,000 national and local security personnel are expected to be committed to maintaining security for CPEC.
CPEC is a mixed blessing for Pakistan. Security for Chinese workers and interests already are taking on higher or more urgent priority than Pakistani requirements.
In 2018, Chinese trucks are expected to begin more intensive use of the roads from Xinjiang in western China to Gwadar port. Pakistan is shouldering significant, unanticipated security expenses, but has yet to experience the economic benefits of CPEC.
In time China will be providing oversight of all security arrangements for CPEC, as Pakistani security ineptitude persists and as China takes control of more of Pakistan’s economy along the CPEC right of way. The published plans for CPEC include construction and operation of agro-industrial industries and of Chinese security systems and communications along the highways used by Chinese trucks, among other compromises of Pakistan’s sovereignty.