One comment to Elgin's post echoed my own sentiments (edited for style):
Fine by me; just don't call us back up when they fuck you over.
Exactly. China won't be anything like the friend to South Korea that America has been. South Koreans feel free to demonstrate against the US because the US's gentle stance gives South Koreans no reason to fear it. South Korea rarely demonstrates against China, by contrast, and when South Korean citizens do get upset at China, they don't show anywhere near the vehemence they show during anti-US protests. When fear is a factor in your relationship with someone, you can bet the relationship will turn toxic. Bye-bye Pax Americana, hello actual imperialism (in case some of our doves, who constantly and falsely accuse the US of imperialism, have forgotten what real imperialism looks like).
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My Chinese uni students often referred to Korea as a "Little China," and hardly a real country in its own right. Pretty much tells you all you need to know about the Middle Kingdom mindset.
ReplyDeleteBut never underestimate the Korean capacity for denial and self-delusion. Hell, they've practically elevated it to an art form.
Last week I was on Jeju, which is rapidly being bought up by the Chinese these days, and had lunch with a wealthy landowner from Seoul originally who's been there for twenty-odd years. I told him to be careful with the Chinese as it was hard to trust many of them, and that they had a habit of leaving a big mess wherever they decided to put down stakes and do business. He replied, "The Chinese are all good people." "I wouldn't say that about the CCP. They're a nasty piece of work," I noted skeptically. "The Chinese are all good people," he insisted, with a conviction based more on pure faith than logic as he had never actually been to China himself.
Later I spoke to a mutual acquaintance who told me that the wealthy landowner had a number of Chinese tenants. In other words, "The Chinese are all good people" basically meant, "The Chinese with whom I do business are good for me, and that's all that really counts."
Well, throughout its history Korea has always been someone's bitch. Maybe they prefer it that way.
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