- The Strategist - https://www.aspistrategist.org.au -
ASPI suggests
Posted By The Editors on December 13, 2013 @ 14:30
It’ll be an awkward Christmas in Pyongyang. North Korea said today that Kim Jong-Un’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek, has been executed. The official North Korean news agency KCNA said:
The accused Jang brought together undesirable forces and formed a faction as the boss of a modern day factional group for a long time and thus committed such hideous crime as attempting to overthrow the state…
A war between China and Japan would likely draw Australia in, too. The US has repeatedly stressed that the islands, administered by Japan since the 1970s, are covered by the terms of its treaty with Tokyo. If the islands were attacked, the US would be bound to come to Tokyo's aid. Australia, America's uniquely reliable ally, would probably join, too.
By shrinking the arsenal and divesting force structure, Washington could find it increasingly difficult to simultaneously preserve strategic stability with a nuclear peer, deter nuclear use by hostile regional powers, and dissuade other nations from building nuclear weapons.
Our allies had clearly expected the U.S. to reassert the right of innocent air passage and reject China's intrusion into other long-established air zones. Instead, Washington has sent mixed messages and failed to convince our allies that it won't stand for China's unilateral redrawing of the East Asian skies.
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[1] Image: http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/2605005424_3144f38af2_b.jpg
[2] said today: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-korea-north-idUSBRE9BB19520131212
[3] in the SMH: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/standing-firm-on-a-sea-of-troubles-20131209-2z1ti.html
[4] a draft: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/world/asia/japanese-defense-panel-calls-for-expanded-regional-role.html?ref=asia
[5] plans: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/11/japan-amphibious-unit-china-islands
[6] appeal to ASEAN leaders: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000866242
[7] a new report: http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=470
[8] piece: http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-future-americas-nuclear-deterrent-9512?page=show
[9] U.S. Power Loses Altitude in Asia: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303293604579251772697609630
[10] a report: http://www.clingendael.nl/publication/frank-discussions-during-seminar-democracy-asia
[11] this piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/world/asia/thai-prime-minister-facing-leadership-questions-old-and-new.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=asia
[12] a report: http://devpolicy.org/what-weve-learned-about-development-in-the-pacific-islands-a-report-by-practitioners-and-an-opportunity-for-further-interaction-20131209/
[13] preserving peace: http://youtu.be/VKhIrihfU0A
[14] (stephan): http://www.flickr.com/photos/fljckr/2605005424/in/photostream/