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dominate Japan and take Japanese territory; to break the U.S.-
Korea and U.S.-Japan alliances; and to drive the United States
military back to Hawaii, or even better, to the U.S. west coast.
The more powerful North Korea is, armed with asymmetric
weapons (which is what nuclear weapons and long-range
missiles are), the more South Korea, the United States, and
Japan must take it seriously, and must pay attention and
devote necessary resources that cannot be used elsewhere.
U.S. Dependency on China
A dangerous, aggressive North Korea creates a certain
dependency on China in Washington, to help solve the North
Korea “problem.”
Successive U.S. administrations and much of America’s
foreign policy elite have for decades believed that America
needs China’s help to solve the North Korea problem. This has
created a sort of dependency that led Washington (and Tokyo
and Seoul) to accommodate Beijing in hopes of winning its
cooperation.
Despite scant evidence that China wants to solve the North
Korea problem, much less in the way the United States
interprets “solved,” it is almost an article of faith in the United
States that Chinese help is essential to solving the North
Korea problem.
Chapter Three : Beijing Prefers an Aggressive and Provocative North Korea 57
