Freetopia

Sunday, August 21, 2005

War Games & Peace in Northeast Asia

High Waves in Asia
China-Russia Joint Military Drill Requires Close Attention


Many Koreans must be uneasy watching China and Russia conduct a massive military manoeuver near their country. This apprehension will grow further to hear the United States, Japan and Taiwan push for a counter drill. It's as if the major military powers revived the Cold War in Northeast Asia to gain global hegemony in the 21st century.

The arms race, along with North Korea's nuclear gamble and rising nationalism in the region, make this the most volatile part of the world. Beijing and Moscow say other countries need not worry as their joint drill is aimed at thwarting terrorism and separatist uprisings.
This is hardly plausible, however, because of the scale and intensity of the training, the first Russo-Chinese drill in 47 years. A Chinese military gazette has hinted that the imaginary adversaries are the U.S., Japan and South Korea. Actually, China and Russia turned down Seoul's request to observe the exercise, although it is held in waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

Both countries have different priorities. China aims to reconfirm its sovereignty over Taiwan while Russia is more interested in selling new weapons to its southern neighbor.
But unmistakable to Washington is the display of their combined military might and the possibility of a military alliance. India will also hold separate joint drills with the two countries in a ''triangular alliance'' against the U.S.-Japan alliance.
The continental powers are seeking a multipolar global order instead of the current unipolar system under the U.S.


One might recall _ with reason _ a century ago, the peninsula has been a battlefield since it is a gateway for Japan to invade the continent. More recently, the southern half was the "bulwark of the free world'' against expanding communism. Some military and political experts see in the ongoing Sino-Russia drill a preparation in the case of North Korea's abrupt collapse.


It is vital for the two Koreas to stop their rivalry and move toward reconciliation to prevent the peninsula from becoming an arena of global power struggles against the people's wishes. This is also why the six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programs should end peacefully at all costs. The escalating arms buildup in turn shows the difficulties South Korea has in playing a balancing role in this region. Seoul has few other choices but to keep enhancing both military and diplomatic capabilities.


All of this happens as historians warn of the end of the globalization era and the advent of another wartime cycle. The Defense Ministry says the exercise is just to strengthen the two countries' joint operation of weapons and units. This easygoing attitude is in sharp contrast to Washington and Tokyo's discomfort.