Posts Tagged ‘diplomacy’

(Bam Bam clinks grape juice glasses with Chinese President Hu during their “secret” May meeting in the PRC)

It has lately been my opinion that political punditry is rarely best dispensed immediately following a monumental bilateral event. This is doubly true especially when trying to second-guess the inner-workings of the Asian political mind.

Given how contentious high-level Asian confabs often tend to be — resulting in fatal blows delivered weeks – often months – down the track, Asian punditry and political analysis – very much like revenge – is best served stone cold. The optimal time to re-examine these events is when they can no longer be heard in the echo chamber.

In this case, I’m referring to the much-heralded meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and North Korean supremo Kim “Bam Bam” Jong-il (pictured above), a tête-a-tête which took place during the Dear Leader’s hasty swing through the PRC aboard his custom-designed bulletproof locomotive. Billed as Kim’s “secret trip,” the North Korean dictator’s sudden arrival in China was likely a sloppy combination of a previously scheduled bilateral affair and the unexpected necessity of an 11th-hour rush job, brought about by the untimely sinking of the South Korean navy corvette, Cheonan, that lead to 46 South Korean sea deaths.

For the purposes of today’s post, let’s avoid an assignation of blame for the ship’s mysterious sinking. Given how the UN has already announced the results of its crack team’s investigative report on the incident, blaming the DPRK, it’s rather pointless, don’t you think> With the blame placed firmly at Kim’s feet, coupled with how, quite naturally and expectedly, the UN, South Korea, and their various allies have joined the loud chorus of anti-DPRK boos, while China – ever the wily Middle Kingdom, and crafty Middle Broke – hovers safely at the sidelines in its purgatory-like state of falling neither here nor there when it comes to vilifying Kim, I question the point in adding my voice to the ruckus. I’m sure you feel the same way.

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