Not often wrong, but wrong never the less.
Reader comment on item: Korean Delusions [of Appeasement]

Submitted by Roy Jacobs (Hong Kong), Oct 9, 2002 at 10:36

I enjoy Daniel Pipes' writing, and often find myself in agreement with his view.
I live in China although I am British and I don't believe that the position of China has been considered when writing this piece.
China has strong links to North Korea and has always provided support to North Korea, via diplomatic ties it has attempted to entice the North Koreans into opening up as per the Chinese model of the last decade.
Even the famed patience of the Mandarin beurocrats has however finally been exhausted, China is unhappy with the position it is placed in with the wave of North Korean refugees claiming asylum within Beijing embassies, recent editorials in the Chinese press have compared North Korea with a poor cousin who continuosly arrives with a begging bowl, the recently announced Chief Executive of the North Korean Capitalist SAR has been arrested by Chinese authorities for tax evasion.
China will probably never be the Democratic model that Daniel Pipes or I would wish but it is changing for the better and will soon by virtue of economic might be the second largest economy in the world, the World Bank estimates that by 2020 the Chinese economy will double that of Japan.
Perhaps the answer to the 38th Parallel will be found by gradually reducing the American troops from South Korea and encouraging China to take its place on the world stage.
America has enough people in the world who quite wrongly in my view hate it, after 50 years of a repressive and hermetic Communist state America is still viewed with mistrust. This impression could be resolved by encouraging China to take an important role in the area of regional peace.
As China rather than America becomes the focus for the Asian economy a super power is emerging, it needs to be encouraged into doing the right thing, it is in a unique position to effect change within North Korea, America should gradually but publicly reduce the troops stationed within South Korea.
I along with Daniel Pipes can think of many places in the world where American troops could be better utilised.

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