Independent Media | Campaigning Journalism
Trump puts the US on war footing, threatening a level of conflict unseen since the 1950s
Donald Trump appears to be putting the US on war footing. And his words could lead to a level of conflict on the Korean peninsula unseen since the 1950s.
Trump’s ominous words on North Korea
On 2 April, Trump insisted:
Well, if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.
The US President was essentially saying he was prepared to deal with North Korea unilaterally. And that he would be happy to bypass China in the process. Exactly how he would do this remains unclear.
Jim Walsh from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology responded to Trump’s comment by stressing:
There is no solving this problem ‘alone’… It would be unwise for the US to act unilaterally, without the support of its ally South Korea. And frankly, there is no resolving this peacefully without China… threatening China to win their cooperation strikes me as a contradiction in terms.
Vivian Zhan from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, meanwhile, asserted that:
Read on...
The US can’t really handle North Korea by itself. China has to be involved.
Dangerously ramping up tensions
National security aides in the Trump Administration announced on 2 April that they had completed a review of options for countering North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes. They reportedly suggested new sanctions and more pressure on North Korea’s Chinese allies. But Trump’s apparent threat wasn’t exactly the type of diplomacy that would help to secure cooperation from China.
As The Canary previously reported, the US under Donald Trump has simply adjusted the direction of its foreign policy gun; away from Russia and towards states like Iran, North Korea, and China. There are currently more than 400 US military bases surrounding China. And behind the scenes, there is a battle going on between the US and China for oil, gas, and other raw materials in Africa and the Middle East. Military exercises from the US, Australia and Japan, meanwhile, are largely responsible for China building airstrips on disputed islands in the South China Sea.
All of this was already going on, but the Trump Administration is simply ramping up tensions. And it has been consistently adversarial towards China.
Beijing, meanwhile, continues to have good relations with North Korea, a country whose monarchical political model formed in the wake of the devastating Korean War (1950-1953). A war in which the US committed war crimes.
A return to the 1950s?
As former Harvard University professor Ash Carter said regarding another possible US war in North Korea:
this is a war that would have… an intensity of violence associated with it that we haven’t seen since the last Korean War.
And with all of the conflicts already raging in the world today, a return to the 1950s – with full-blown war on the Korean peninsula – is the last thing we need right now.
Get Involved!
– See more Canary articles on North Korea and China.
– Join or support the Stop the War Coalition.
– Show your support for Veterans for Peace, who are fighting for peaceful solutions to the world’s problems.
– Support The Canary if you appreciate the work we do.
– For more Global articles, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Featured image via Flickr
We need your help to keep speaking the truth
Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.
Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.
We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.
In return, you get:
* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop
Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.
With your help we can continue:
* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do
We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?
Support us 
