Will China Invade North Korea? (Updated)

Flags of China and North Korea are seen outside the closed Ryugyong Korean Restaurant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China, April 12, 2016.

Voice of America: Analyst Raises Scenario of China's Takeover of North Korea, Others Have Doubts

WASHINGTON — A longtime editor of a magazine that specializes in global power politics recently put forth a scenario where China would stage a takeover of North Korea, giving Washington and the rest of the world a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula.

Bill Emmott, the former editor-in-chief of The Economist magazine, said such a move by China would not only gain Beijing a solid foothold on the Korean Peninsula, but also the opportunity to strengthen

its own geopolitical position, enhance its global power status, perhaps even the ability to claim the reputation of a peacemaker.

That is the “least bad military option” vis a vis North Korea, Emmott said, in that it would avoid subjecting U.S. allies in Asia, including South Korea and Japan, to North Korea’s retaliation that could potentially devastate large parts of South Korea.

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WNU editor: Another must read post .... A ‘China First’ Strategy for North Korea (Bill Emmott, Project Syndicate). As to what is my take .... a Chinese invasion of North Korea will change the geopolitical balance as we know it, specifically the realisation that China will use military force to enforce regime change in another country. The military buildup that will ensue in Asia .... and the rush to form security alliances .... all of this will be unprecedented, and tensions throughout the continent will reach levels not seen since the Second World War.

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