Reply #1: Yes the United States of McNesia [View All]

[teryang]

...need to be reminded that China has a strategic interest in the peninsula that it will fight over.

This doesn't mean that Korea can't be unified under S.Korean leadership. Unification might be acceptable for China if the US would get off the mainland. What it means is that the N.Korean regime won't be eliminated by force. Some deal could possibly involve a transitional period for Taiwan with the object of repatriation.

Recently there were unclassified reports of Chinese troop movements north of the N.Korean border with China. I don't know whether these are reliable reports but I would expect the Chinese to increase their military posture as a result of the recent crisis. War there is much more likely than across the Formosa straits as some people have speculated upon recently due to China's public statements.

The post Korean war arrangements in east Asia won't last forever. The balance of power there is changing.