Korea was a tributary state of China until King Gojong proclaimed the establishment of the Korean Empire in 1897.
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From what I understand the stated, public position of the Taiwanese government is to use submarines, drones, automated missile systems and the like. To basically make just getting to, and moving around the island as difficult as possible.
Then basically the military and government withdraw from major population centers to carryout an insurgency. Destroying whatever critical infrastructure and industry they haven’t already evacuated on the way out.
Apparently they have shit like remote cruise missile launch sites, and anti-aircraft batteries disguised as abandoned shipping containers and disused WWII bunkers hidden all over the country.
Essentially the message to China is “we’ll give you your Vietnam but worse, because we have money”.
Even worse case scenario I doubt it comes to that.
Unofficially or not, the US is basically on paper as committed to Taiwan’s defense. China seems to be looking for easy annexations, not WWIII.
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I was once told by someone in China that the logic used used to back up their claims is:
If a people had ever conquered/ruled any part of China at any point in history, they are considered Chinese and part of China
Hence their claim over “Inner” Mongolia, and rumored comfortable claim over North Korea if it’s regime ever collapses (since two Korean kingdoms ruled over much of current northeastern China millennia ago).
And Taiwan, too, since the ROC had ruled over mainland China within the last century.
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Thus it is rumored that if North Korea collapses, China will be the first to move in quickly to “secure order,” and then make North Korea a part of their Choson (Korean) Autonomous Administrative Prefecture (already conveniently named to match North Korea’s preferred name).
North Korea does get China a reliable source of coal, steel and other raw materials, and clean water (important for textile industries), and it’s important for them to block out Russia (which has huge interest in North Korea’s ports) and not to mention not wanting the US at its doorstep.
China in general and Koreans living north of the border in China interact on a regular basis, as Chinese citizens had lots of access to North Korea, for business and tourism. The Chinese Renminbi is accepted currency in many parts of North Korea. The North Korean populace would integrate well into life as part of China, so as long as China maintains a veneer that North Korea is still autonomous.
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They wouldn’t do that by making North Korea an “autonomous” region of China, because they value it as a buffer state between China and the US military presence in South Korea. They would prefer to stop the Kim regime collapsing (which could lead to millions of refugees entering China and/or a South-led reunified Korea) or, failing that, keep North Korea as an independent state with a puppet government. North Koreans have been taught that nothing is more terrible and humiliating that being ruled by foreigners, so openly annexing the country would be asking for trouble. Added to that, the Chinese government is increasing the pressure on ethnic minorities to speak Mandarin Chinese and assimilate into Chinese culture, so taking on 25 million Koreans who never even learned any Mandarin at school (but did learn fanatical Korean nationalism) is a non-starter.
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I’d also vouch for Leuchtturm 1917. Longest time I ever stuck with a brand of notebook, about 10 years now.
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Yeah, The Korean War happened not because Kim Il-Sung thought he could defeat the US but that he (mistakenly) thought that the US wouldn’t care if he invaded South Korea.
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Vietnam too, That’s actually one of the reasons Vietnam didn’t go back to its Chinese-inspired script after colonization but kept the French romanization – China considers (at least the northern half of) Vietnam a wayward vassal as they controlled it until the Tang collapse.
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He underestimated the neocolonialist forces opposing the liberation of the people.
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So Outer Mongolia and North Korea could be ‘Sister Students’ as far as being eventually ready for surveillance communism? Better sooner than later to learn a thing.
That said, could not Moleskine have said Taiwan Sparkling Region Holiday: etc. rather than ----- Holiday: ---- Birthday etc? That wouldn’t have been strong enough detergent for the PRC Press Invigilation and Rectal Probe Caring and Sharing Corps?
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The 2020 diary used “Taiwan (Prov. of China)” and the 2021 diary used “Taiwan (Province of China)”. All references to Taiwan were removed from the 2022 diary.
The Newsweek article says that Moleskin products are all printed in China.
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That all the Moleskin product are printed in China is a great reason to boycott them for this current escapade.
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This is basically (at least a large part of) why WWII was the last war of conquest between developed countries (at least so far). They realized it was no longer profitable.
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Dean Acheson basically invited an invasion when he defined Korea to be outside US defensive perimeter. View of Dean Acheson's Press Club Speech Reexamined | Journal of Conflict Studies
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You’re right, but there are so many ways China can rule over North Korea but still maintain a semblance of being a sovereign nation. The Chinese-Korean border probably won’t be flung wide open right away.
But, given China these days, I think the chances that they would try to “annex” North Korea (for internal propaganda purposes, “let’s welcome our long lost comrades and brothers”) is non-zero.
One way that I have seen the issue explained is by comparing it to the Reunification of Germany. It was extremely costly to West Germany to reunite with East Germany, but West Germany was willing to bear that cost out of love for their fellow countrymen and countrywomen.
By contrast, because North Korea is nowhere near as industrialized or developed as East Germany was, it will be even more costly for China to do…whatever they might have to do to restore order in North Korea without creating a reunited Korean Peninsula led by Seoul, and China has no love for the people of North Korea.
And the Chinese-Korean border is just a river that one can easily swim across if there is nobody shooting at you from the shore behind you.
In other words, while the chances of annexation are non-zero, I really do not think that China wants to see the collapse of North Korea any time soon. If it happens, it will be something that China does grudgingly and as a last resort, because North Korea really has very little to offer them and would surely be a cost-center rather than a profit-center for a very long time.
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Well I guess that means I can’t buy Moleskins anymore. Too bad, I liked them.
Have you seen these videos about Smangus, an indigenous Taiwanese community of social Christian anarchists?
I haven’t watched the second video yet, but it follows on from the first
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