4/5/2013 How Far will The Dragon Swim

THE FIRST HOPEFUL SIGN IN A YEAR, THE DRAGON TALKS SENSE TO NORTH KOREA.

Namazu, Giant Japanese Catfish, Former Demigod Turned Maritime  Analyst

Greetings Bipeds! At last something other than gloom and doom from the waters off China and Korea. The good news comes from a most unexpected party, the Dragon himself, China. .The Korea JoongAng Daily  ( Fortunately they have an English language e-version, Johnas and Og still are not providing me with the research staff I need, please write in support of that need, use the comment section) carried a story about China refusing North Korea's recent request for a high level envoy. Why is North Korea seeking a high level Chinese envoy now?  

 My analysis is that the little dragon wants the Big Dragon to appear to be aboard with its threat of nuclear war on the United States ( recently underscored by the movement of missiles to the little dragon's coast.). Well, as if to prove my earlier assertion that unlike North Korea the Chinese leadership may grossly miscalculate from time to time, but is not crazy, unlike the leaders of North Korea ; China told the little dragon to buzz off. China rebuffed the request for a high level envoy and apparently told North Korea to stop the nuclear saber rattling and rejoin the six party talks. Since a break out in Korea would occupy U.S. forces and provide a perfect cover for massive island seizures I think China's refusal to join Korea in this nonsense indicates that China in fact understands that it would lose a naval war with the U.S. , Japan, and any other member(s) of a coalition determined to up hold the rule of international law. If the U.S. would start a real naval build up and be joined by other English speaking nations in building a second to none coordinated fleet, China might still back off the illegal and aggressive course it is on.

A regional gas and oil leasing authority holding the revenues in escrow until all boundary disputes are resolved in accordance with international law or binding arbitration could get production in the region going immediately. The continued threat of war only delays hydrocarbon production. Closer, cheaper oil is what China wants and can have it faster if it doesn't try to steal it from their neighbors. Below is a lead in and a link to the full story as told by the Korea JoongAng Daily:

Beijing Rejects North's Request for a High Level Envoy

"BEIJING - Pyongyang has allegedly asked Beijing to send them an envoy in order to improve their soured relations, but Beijing turned it down, seen as a warning regarding the regime’s recent warmongering rhetoric. 

Multiple sources in Beijing told the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday that “North Korea asked China to send a high-ranking envoy at the deputy-ministerial-level, but China rejected it. 

“China said ‘if they want an envoy, North Korea should send their envoy [to China] first,’” the source said. 

However, the North hasn’t sent an envoy to Beijing so far, the sources said. 

If they do, China is likely to pressure them to stop saber-rattling and return to the six-party talks. 

Since the communist allies established diplomatic ties in 1949, they have exchanged high-level envoys, at the deputy-minister level, once or twice a year. 

However, since Li Jianguo, a member of the Politburo of China, visited North Korea on Nov. 29, 2012, there has been no high-level meeting between the two countries. 

It is the second time for the two countries to suspend high-level interaction over several months." 

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE:  http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2969614&cloc=joongangdaily|home|newslist1