Posted on 04/21/2017 10:07:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
In fairness to Trump, he heard that directly from China’s president (or so he says). What was he supposed to do, be skeptical of Chinese nationalist propaganda?
If you can’t trust Xi Jinping to shoot straight with you about a western-allied country within China’s sphere of influence, who can you trust?
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week, Trump said Xi told him during a recent summit that “Korea actually used to be a part of China.” The comments sparked outrage in Seoul and became an issue in South Korea’s presidential race, prompting the foreign ministry to seek to verify what Xi actually said.
“It’s a clear fact acknowledged by the international community that, for thousands of years in history, Korea has never been part of China,” foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said at a briefing in Seoul on Thursday…
“This is clearly a distortion of history and an invasion of the Republic of Korea’s sovereignty,” conservative Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo said through a spokesman.
Politically, that’s a bit like idly observing that Crimea contains a lot of ethnic Russians. An alarming possibility, though: Maybe Xi didn’t say that to him. Maybe Trump simply misunderstood, and now, because he seems not to realize which details he should and shouldn’t share publicly about his discussions with China’s leader, South Korea’s leadership is left to wonder erroneously whether Beijing is planning to include them in its “one China” plans a few decades from now. More from the Telegraph:
“I suspect that Mr Xi said, in effect, that Korea was part of China because it was overwhelmingly under Chinese influence historically and Mr Trump bought that,” said Rah Jong-yil, a former South Korean ambassador to both London and Tokyo.
“It shows his shocking ignorance of the situation in north-east Asia,” he told The Telegraph. “That is very disturbing to us”…
There is a growing body of nationalist thought in China that ancient Korean kingdoms were part of the Chinese empire and that modern-day nation states should similarly fall within Beijing’s exclusive sphere of influence, Mr Rah said.
If the South Koreans had any sort of troll game at all, they would have responded by claiming that Mexico’s president recently reminded them that the U.S. used to be part of Mexico. That would have been an amusing phone call between Trump and Pena Nieto.
As a Twitter pal said, what would make this even more darkly funny is if Trump started reminding everyone that China used to be a part of Japan. Does he really have no sense of the nationalist sensitivities in the region or how nervous U.S. allies there are about China’s growing power, especially after the White House ditched TPP? His tough talk towards China as a candidate might have reassured them but it’s been nothing but sunshine with Beijing since that phone call with Taiwan’s president. What looked like a looming “U.S. and Russia isolate China” long-term play by the White House during the transition increasingly looks more like a “U.S. and China isolate Russia” strategy. (Neither is likely to work, but still.) Imagine watching that play out in Tokyo or Seoul and suddenly finding Trump repeating Chinese talking points about the Korean peninsula.
Ah well. So long as he has an “armada” in the vicinity to help protect South Korea from the menace to the north, they’ll forgive him. Once they’re done forgiving him for BSing them about that armada, that is.
South Korea dismisses #Trump's remark that Korea was "part of China." pic.twitter.com/DtHa4gOSHe
— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) April 20, 2017
Korea was under the control of Japan from 1895 to 1945.
Today is just an argument about past history.
Completely agree.
I forgot the Greeks and Turks, Crips and Bloods, on and on
Nope. And I stopped going there since Malkin sold it.
LOL he’s messin’ with FatBoi
Dissing Trump our of ignorance is that poster’s strong suit.
Some #NeverTrumpers here at FR, no biggie.
Racism has been raised to an art form in east Asia. They all can’t stand each other. The Japanese are particularly sensitive about their origins. A study came out a few years ago indicating that the majority of modern japanese are genetcally of Korean origin. The Japanese had a fit, and refused to accept the results.
CC
There also was a study that says that samurai origins go back to an Ainu guard force of a very early emperor. That historical study disappeared off the Japanese Archeological/Anthropological radar screen very rapidly!
I believe if memory serves it was an American author.
Allahpundit is raging douchebag nevertrumper. F him/her
Back when education was worth a damn everyone knew that Korea was a part of China’s empire. Koreans have wanted to rewrite history to make it look like they were so tough that no one could ever beat or conquer them. Much like the crap that is said about Afghanistan.
If someone told me China used to dip down into Korea, I wouldn’t know it didn’t at some point.
I know it hasn’t in the modern era.
I see to recall that too. It started out with certain Samurai families having distinct facial features not shared with the general population. The Japanese also don’t like to remember that Samurai started out as tax collectors and “enforcers” for the daimyos and only later adopted bushido as a code of conduct.
CC
The Mongol empire conquered Korea. So did the Tang dynasty.
These are keepers! LOL”
This one: ““Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s. It will be a strong friend of Israel’s under a McCain...administration. It will be a strong friend of Israel’s under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change.” (uh huh)”
LOL! I am glad that Israel will continue to be Israel’s friend. ;)
What a nincompoop!
Thanks for the mention. Not to belittle your information because it was informative to me, but this didn’t surprise me.
I figured there may have been points where China was in control of that territory.
I appreciate the post.
"Han and Gojoseon
According to Korean Legends, Gojoseon was established by Tangun on the year of 2333BC, hence the name, Tangun Joseon. The earliest Chinese written record on Gojoseon, the most advanced polity on the Korean peninsula based in Pyongyang has been found in Shang-Shu-Da-Zhuan. It recorded the founding history of Gija Joseon which was established in the 12th century BCE. Chinese political culture was influential in Gojoseon; for example, the term Wang (Hangul: 왕; Hanja: 王) was shared between China and Korea to describe their respective "King"s.[1]
In 194 BCE, Wiman, a former Yan Chinese general, took over the throne of Gojoseon after disposing of its former ruler, and relationships between Han China and Gojoseon deteriorated. The Wiman Joseon–Han War occurred in 109 BC, resulting in the defeat of Gojoseon and the establishment of the Four Commanderies of Han to govern China's Korean provinces, the largest one - the Lelang Commandery - lasting 400 years.[2]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sino-Korean_relations
"Gojoseon–Han War
The Wiman Joseon–Han War was a campaign launched by the Chinese Han Dynasty against Wiman Joseon between 109 and 108 BC. It resulted in the fall of Gojoseon.
...
Eventually, in April of 108 BC, three of the ministers surrendered to the Han and Sam later let King Ugeo be assassinated. Under the leadership of Minister Seong Gi (成己), the people of Gojoseon still struggled against the Han. But, Seong Gi was also assassinated and the city finally fell to the Han.
Aftermath
After the war, four Han commanderies were founded to administer the former Gojoseon territories,[2] namely Lelang, Xuantu, Zhenfan, and Lintun.[8] The most significant commandery was located in Lelang (near present-day Pyongyang),[4] which controlled the region until 313 AD.[6] The conquest of Gojoseon in 108 BC by Han, ultimately led to the Proto-Three Kingdoms period of Korea.[9]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gojoseon–Han_War
"Koreans and the Koreas find themselves in familiar territory
For more than two thousand years, successive Chinese dynasties have seen Korea as a tributary to be protected, a prize to be coveted, or as a dangerous land bridge which might convey “outer barbarians” into China.
...
In 108BC the Han emperor Wudi conquered the northern part of the Korean peninsula. The Han empire proceeded to administer the area around modern Pyongyang for nearly 400 years."
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/04/korea-chinese-history
Others...
Ancient Korean & Chinese Relations
How an Ancient Kingdom Explains Today's China-Korea Relations
Korea was more or less a client state of China but was never actually part of China. All the countries around China’s periphery have been such client states some continuously, others at one time or another in the last couple of millennia. All these countries have felt obliged to have their rulers confirmed by the Celestial Emperor and have made pilgrimages to the Chinese Capital when there is a new ruler. All have paid tribute in the past.
History I’ve studied always seemed to state that China basically had a say in it for a long time, though they allowed Korea to maintain their own court. They were basically a vassal state for a large number of years.
I’m sure the Chinese feel that this means it was there territory, while the Koreans feel it means they were always independent. Eye of the beholder.
Plan was to do the same with Japan, but TWICE typhoons disrupted the effort. Which is where the original term kamikaze or divine wind came from.
>What relevance is it?
Because the Chinese are not going to give up North Korea willing because they feel they own it.
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