China (and others) on North Korea

[Allon]

We will see. NK has said they will fire a "test" of 4 missiles aimed at Guam by the end of the month. It will be a nervous time for the military for all the allies. I think Trump has his crisis diversion project in good order. Just hope it does not lead to a war.

[Randy W]

The Global Times speaks up:

 

Reckless game over the Korean Peninsula runs risk of real war

 

 

Beijing is not able to persuade Washington or Pyongyang to back down at this time. It needs to make clear its stance to all sides and make them understand that when their actions jeopardize China's interests, China will respond with a firm hand.

China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral. If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.

 

 

[Thomas Promise]

If it goes Nuke millions upon million will die. From the initial attack to all the fallout that will spread throughout Asia. Seoul and all of North Korea National Anthem will be a take off of Bob Hope's "Thanks For The Memories." Guam could become uninhabitable and he may throw one or two on Tokyo or the Philippines.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by Thomas Promise (see edit history)

[Randy W]

?? You okay, Tom ??

 

 

But General Thurman worried that the war of words was fueling tensions and adding to the risk of miscalculation.

“We are playing right into Kim Jong-un’s hands,” General Thurman said. “That is what he wants. He wants to be on the world scene.”

“I really would want to tamp down this rhetoric, maintain armistice conditions, keep the force ready and,” he said, “not get the herd spooked.”

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Allon]

*****TS*****

 

If (big If) we go nuclear, it will be with TAC nukes that are small tonnage in terms of blast effect. And there is less radiation. They are designed to allow troops to occupy shortly after the attack. In the early days (50's and 60's) they put one in a recoilless rifle. If they actually fired one, the crew would have been incinerated..... but they deployed it to Germany.

 

But if they are using B1's the bombs will be conventional. B1's now are not equipped to handle nukes. They were when they first came out. They were declared obsolete when the Soviets IL-25 Foxbat came out and was almost Mach 3. So it could catch a B1 in flight. But not for long -- the engines would burn out.

 

My real worry about bigger nukes is if China goes in. I would not be surprised if the US and China made an agreement for China to occupy NK in the event of a take over. China has a pretty well developed arsenal of nukes.

 

https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/this-is-what-it-looks-like-when-the-worlds-smallest-nuk-1684923814

http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/b-1b/

https://io9.gizmodo.com/5903879/this-insanely-sinister-infographic-illustrates-the-power-of-the-worlds-strongest-nuke

[Greg.D.]

Wish China had performed some regime change in the last year or two.

 

I read somewhere (if I can find the links, I'll come back with them) that it would take 45-60 days to move everything into the region to execute one of our attack plans. Still no way to account for the 15-20 million S Koreans living in the target area, or the 300,000 Americans, or the many many Chinese - as in "how do we evacuate all of them?"

 

And, the NK 8000 big guns are wired with a hair trigger to unleash mass destruction: they say if you made a grid of the SK target area with lines every 3 feet, NK has enough artillery and other systems to put one bomb in every square of the grid. And, that is essentially their deterrence: "we're crazy and we'll use everything we've got". No "measured responses".

[amberjack1234]

Didn't know that the B1 could not carry nukes any longer. Thanks for the update.

[danb]

Here's a Nuke, There is a Nukes. Everywhere there are nukes. Too many nukes if you ask me,

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-weapons-stockpiles-world-map-2017-4

 

 

Experts disagree on how many deliverable nuclear weapons North Korea possesses, but more is known about other arsenals around the world. Below is a map that shows the best estimates of which countries have them and how many they have.

http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/58f0f56acf6d8f28008b498e-1201/bi-graphicsnuke%20count.png

Experts disagree on how many deliverable nuclear weapons North Korea possesses, but more is known about other arsenals around the world. Below is a map that shows the best estimates of which countries have them and how many they have.

[danb]

A report on China's position of what they will do if the U,S, or North Korea starts lobbing missiles at each other.

 

" BEIJING — China won’t come to North Korea’s aid if it launches missiles threatening U.S. soil and there is retaliation, a state-owned newspaper warned Friday — but it would intervene if Washington strikes first. "

 

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/beijing-warns-pyongyang-you%E2%80%99re-on-your-own-if-you-go-after-the-united-states/ar-AApRvFv

 

 

Sounds like China is perhaps trying to tone down the war of words and threats between the U.S. and North Korea. Hopefully this sends a message to North Korea that it can't hide behind China's skirts sticking it tongue at the U.S.

 

. Danb

[Randy W]

Business (or at least international relations) as usual - from the SCMP:

 

China stops coal, iron ore and seafood imports from North Korea

The UN Security Council approved tough sanctions against Pyongyang on August 6 and analysts have estimated the action could cost North Korea US$1 billion in foreign revenue a year.

 

. . .

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a regional forum last week that China would pay a price for implementing the sanctions, given China’s traditional economic ties with North Korea.

 

[Greg.D.]

China bans North Korea iron, lead, coal imports as part of U.N. sanctions

 

 

The warning comes as President Trump is expected to sign an executive memorandum Monday afternoon instructing his top trade negotiator to launch an investigation into Chinese intellectual property violations, a move that could eventually result in severe trade penalties.

 

“It is obviously improper to use one thing as a tool to imposing pressure on another thing,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news conference Monday.

 

Yes, China said that.

 

The China that punishes any country that hosts the Dalai Lama. The China that rewards you for refusing to recognize Taiwan. The China that puts you over a barrel and forces you to give them your intellectual property in order to do business in their country, as allowed by the WTO.

 

Always a special set of rules for China.

[Randy W]

South China Morning Post

2 hrs ·

North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan this morning, marking an escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula as the annual US/South Korean military exercises continue

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/10155602551159820/

[MikeandRong]

Really sounds like a broken record, test fire this, test fire that, new tougher sanction this, new tougher sanction that. What's going to happen the first time there is an error or malfunction that occurs and some test falls short or flies too far, payload on board or not, and it happens to land in a populated area instead of the ocean or sea? Oops just won't cut it at that point of time. You can only post so many warning signs around the guard dog to keep away, don't pet, do not enter, etc.... and then there is always somebody stupid enough to go ahead and poke and antagonize it with a stick. It will come as no surprise when the idiot gets what he deserves, quick & overwhelming ferocity that should leave absolutely no doubt he should have let the sleeping dog lie.

[Randy W]

in the NY Times

 

North Korea Has Conducted Its 6th Nuclear Test, South Says

 

North Korea carried out its sixth nuclear test on Sunday, according to the South Korean military, an extraordinary show of defiance by North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, against President Trump.

A seismic tremor detected at 12:36 p.m., emanating from the Punggye-ri underground nuclear test in northwestern North Korea, set off a scramble to determine whether the North had carried out another test. The South’s military soon confirmed that it had.

 

 

[chilton747]

You know that idiot is not going to stop no matter of any sanctions that are put on him. China is keeping them afloat and if China halts their support then the fool will do something feally stupid. I do feel that we are prepared better then we have ever been seeing as our military leaders are now in charge.

Unfortunately I think that it will be a huge loss of life for the North Korean people who are so innocently misguided by an evil family of dictators that should have irradicated many years ago. Really a sad state of affairs.