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China Contingency Plan - Invade NKor, Secure Nuclear Weapons
China is planning to send troops into North Korea to restore order and secure its nuclear arsenal in the event of the regimes collapse.According to a new report, Beijing would send in the Peoples Liberation Army if it felt threatened by a rapid breakdown in Kim Jong-ils rule over the country. China would seek to win the backing of the United Nations first, but would be prepared to act unilaterally if necessary. If the international community did not react in a timely manner as the internal order in North Korea deteriorated rapidly, China would seek to take the initiative in restoring stability, said the report by two Washington think-tanks. Based on extensive interviews conducted in China, including with PLA academics, the reports findings back up previous indications of Chinas major change in attitude to Kim Jong-il after the North Korean nuclear test of October 2006, and also demonstrate its willingness to assert itself in international affairs. Separately, Beijing today announced its ambitions in space for the coming year, including the launch of 15 rockets and 17 satellites as well as its first space walk. According to PLA academics quoted by the report, which was written by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and the US Institute of Peace, the army has three missions in a failing North Korea. One would be humanitarian to deal with refugees or the consequences of natural disaster. The second is peacekeeping and maintaining order, and the third requires it to deal with contamination from a military strike on North Koreas nuclear facilities, and to secure nuclear weapons and materials to prevent them getting into the wrong hands. The report said that there were disagreements among its sources as to whether China still wished to preserve its special relationship with North Korea, the only country with which it has a formal, mutual defence alliance. But they agreed that Beijing would neither intervene to replace Kim Jong-il, nor to prevent him being replaced by others. The Chinese governments prime concern was stability, though there was thought to be no immediate danger of a breakdown. Chinas foreign ministry spokesman said she had no knowledge of the plan, but did not deny its existence. Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Beijings Peoples University, said the plan might have been drawn up when the North Korean regime was under greater pressure than now. It was still unclear how it would react in future, though. China, as with other powers, is a little confused about this, he said. Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-01-08 |
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