U.S.-South Korean Naval Drill Aimed Only at North Korea, Pentagon Assures China -- FOX News
Responding to China's first official protest over plans by the U.S. and South Korea to hold joint military exercises, the Pentagon assured the communist country Friday that the naval drill is aimed only at North Korea, Reuters reported.
The Pentagon also said that the U.S. military has routinely operated in waters off the Korean peninsula "for years," Reuters reported.
The exercise involves the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and is planned to happen on Sunday in the Yellow Sea.
Read more ....
Update #1: China Warns U.S. as Korea Tensions Rise -- Wall Street Journal
Update #2: China urges Korean calm, warns over naval drills -- Reuters
My Comment: The Chinese are still not sure on how to respond with this weeks events. Bottom line .... they have no stomach to cut assistance or aid to North Korea, a sequence of events that they know will only bring disaster to their dysfunctional neighbor, and a flood of refugees to their northern provinces.
The North Korean leadership are also well aware of this lack of will from China to make the hard choices ..... hence they do what they want to do. But after the events of this week, I suspect that China is now realizing that they will have to make it clear to the North Koreans that there is a certain red line that they cannot cross .... at least that is what I am hoping for.
As for China's concerns about a U.S. carrier group only a few hundred miles off their shore .... I am sure they are not happy about that. They understand why the fleet is there, but the hardliners in their military and government are concerned, and to placate them this criticism must be made. We should also not be surprise if the Chinese Navy receives a bigger boost in their budgets in the next fiscal year.
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