A little chill in the air?
It's not yet September, but it's already feeling icy in East Asia. Check out this article about the anti-Korean sentiment on display in Beijing during the Olympics. As the article points out, it is too soon to tell whether or how this will affect relations between the two countries. But, I think it is worth noting how far from cosy bedfellows China and Korea remain a mere 16 years since resuming diplomatic relations.
Major commentators, from old Sam Huntington to Robert Kaplan, routinely lump Korea in with China, citing their proximity and their shared Confucian heritage. Often, they caution the US against letting South Korea fall into China's clutches, or in fact assume that this has already happened. But the US has a far sturdier position in South Korea than they credit. The US is the best ally Koreans have ever seen, bar none. Not more than a vassal to China for many eons, and an exploited colony of Japan's for half the 20th century, Korea has not had a lot of positive relationships with foreign powers. Though not perfect, the US has been a pretty stead-fast partner for the past 50 years. And China doesn't seem overly anxious to cut in.
Koreans, for their part, have fifty negative prejudices toward the Chinese for every one they have toward Americans. The Chinese are dirty, greedy, disorganized, lazy, manufacturers of inferior products and producers of toxic, heavy-metal-laden yellow dust. Americans are merely imperialistic and occasionally boorish. In sum, whatever negative sentiment the Chinese harbor towards the Koreans is more than mutual.
But, like it or not, the relationship between the US and South Korea has been cooling of late as well. Certainly there is anti-American sentiment in Korea, and the US has been seeking for sometime to reduce our military commitment to the country. The pending FTA has, if anything, exacerbated this chill, by stirring up issues--like Korea's absurd position on US beef, on the one hand, and US arrogance, on the other--that might be better to have left dormant. I have mentioned that Koreans would be right to have doubts about this FTA, and there may be good reason to have doubts about all such bilateral trade agreements, but it seems to me that South Korea had better hang onto the US as an ally or else risk being left out in the geopolitical cold. Korea, for all its industry, is a very small country that needs some friends if it's going to thrive. There is a good chance that Korea is never going to find good allies in East Asia. In a sense, the depth of this history here prevents, rather than facilitates, effective partnerships. The US might continue to be the best friend Korea's going to be able to find for a long, long time.
Major commentators, from old Sam Huntington to Robert Kaplan, routinely lump Korea in with China, citing their proximity and their shared Confucian heritage. Often, they caution the US against letting South Korea fall into China's clutches, or in fact assume that this has already happened. But the US has a far sturdier position in South Korea than they credit. The US is the best ally Koreans have ever seen, bar none. Not more than a vassal to China for many eons, and an exploited colony of Japan's for half the 20th century, Korea has not had a lot of positive relationships with foreign powers. Though not perfect, the US has been a pretty stead-fast partner for the past 50 years. And China doesn't seem overly anxious to cut in.
Koreans, for their part, have fifty negative prejudices toward the Chinese for every one they have toward Americans. The Chinese are dirty, greedy, disorganized, lazy, manufacturers of inferior products and producers of toxic, heavy-metal-laden yellow dust. Americans are merely imperialistic and occasionally boorish. In sum, whatever negative sentiment the Chinese harbor towards the Koreans is more than mutual.
But, like it or not, the relationship between the US and South Korea has been cooling of late as well. Certainly there is anti-American sentiment in Korea, and the US has been seeking for sometime to reduce our military commitment to the country. The pending FTA has, if anything, exacerbated this chill, by stirring up issues--like Korea's absurd position on US beef, on the one hand, and US arrogance, on the other--that might be better to have left dormant. I have mentioned that Koreans would be right to have doubts about this FTA, and there may be good reason to have doubts about all such bilateral trade agreements, but it seems to me that South Korea had better hang onto the US as an ally or else risk being left out in the geopolitical cold. Korea, for all its industry, is a very small country that needs some friends if it's going to thrive. There is a good chance that Korea is never going to find good allies in East Asia. In a sense, the depth of this history here prevents, rather than facilitates, effective partnerships. The US might continue to be the best friend Korea's going to be able to find for a long, long time.
posted by Brian at 4:13 PM
1 Comments:
If we look at what makes an imperialist country, I'm not sure we can say China is imperialist. Certainly, the U.S. and Great Brittian are key imperialists--I'd say the main two. And what if imperialism is the main opponent of democratic value and right to self determination in Korea. From my history, I'm not certain that U.S. forces are attempting much in South Korea other than threatening China and, historically, though things may have changed, a popular people's movement in Korea itself. I'm just saying that I think allowing the Korean people to rule themselves is what's most important. Remember, as the U.S. militarized in Korea, Great Britain was meddling in Tibet, and many thought and still believe that this was an original move to station two fronts against China--and look who continues to finance and support the "Free Tibet" movement, in order to manipulate millions into believing, for instance, that 100 mostly-white protesters in San Francisco who climbed a bridge and hung a banner represented the will of an entire region to separate from a country that's improves nearly every aspect of Tibetan life since the reunification. Well, this goes off topic, but I'm very weary of American interests in Asia, and I hope other South Koreans are too.
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