China’s dirty game in Asia – North Korea is Japan’s Pakistan

Wondering why a nation that can hardly afford to feed its people is shooting scud variants into the sky and testing nuke devices? Wondering why a nation that is under seize from internal enemies perceives its giant neighbor as a bigger threat?

One can’t help but look at the way in which china is playing a dangerous game in Asia. The world’s largest dictatorship is encouraging rogue states Pakistan and North Korea to take on two of its most likely rivals in the region – India and Japan. China strategy is to keep India and Japan engaged in sub regional firefighting while it aims for strategic parity with US.

Let’s look at some of the similarities between Pakistan and North Korea

• Both have borrowed missile technology (and missiles) from China
• Both are indulging in clandestine proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
• Both countries routinely up the ante against their peaceful neighbors
• Both issue periodic threats to neighbors (Afghanistan and India in case of Pakistan and South Korea and Japan in case of North Korea)
• Both are certified threats to international peace and global security (Pak exports terror and WMD while NK exports WMD)
• Both are recipients of strategic aid from China
• Both are protected and nurtured by China
• Both are involved in a arms race against their neighbors
• Both are pariahs on the global stage; the only reason why this tag has not been officially given to Pakistan is due to the backing it receives from the US

The recent missile tests by North Korea couldn’t have happened without China’s blessings. Pakistan meanwhile is stockpiling its nuclear weapons and keeping its delivery vehicles ready for pushing them deep into Indian territory. China knows for sure that India cannot concentrate on containing the Chinese threat as long as Pakistan is around. (China, it may be remembered, was the only country which supported Pakistan till the last few days of Kargil). China is therefore using Pakistan and North Korea to achieve its evil goal of sustaining its hegemony in Asia.

So what needs to be done?
India, South Korea and Japan should enter into a strategic partnership. All three should start training their forces to take on China and look beyond their sub regional threats. Its time to gang up against the biggest bully in the world. The day China is subdued, North Korea and Pakistan will simply vanish from the face of the earth and imagine what that would mean for world peace?

Lets call a spade a spade – China is a threat not just for India and Japan, but for the world and the sooner it is contained, the better.