Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jones" data-source="post: 2944541" data-attributes="member: 4805"><p>China doesn't see Kim as a threat because they know that he is almost completely dependent on them. They could shut that whole country down inside 24 hours if they chose to. He also serves a useful purpose as a proxy threat against the US as we continue to use military force to deny their claims in the South China Sea, and while the US wants to treat that as a separate issue China doesn't see it that way. From their perspective the two issues are linked and if we want their help with NK then we need to back off on the South China Sea. Thus far the US has refused to do that (correctly imo) but that being the case the only way to force China to act on NK is with a credible threat that the US is prepared to act unilaterally which the Chinese absolutely don't want. So now they have to decide if Trump is bluffing or not. I hope he isn't but who knows.</p></blockquote><p></p>