미국의 약점, 중국의 약점,한반도의 미래

Even though Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping denied any such ambition in his speech at the 70th Anniversary Victory Parade at Tien An Men Square, the ever-rising size of China’s GDP makes it an undisputed contender to be the global hegemon at the expense of the United States. This paper examines the weaknesses of China and the US in this contest for global leadership. China is living with increasing insecurity in sea lanes vital for normal operation of its economy. The US needs China to continue buying US Treasury bills to maintain normal operation of its government. More than two-thirds of the additional dollars printed since the 2008 global financial crisis ended up in China’s international reserves. Both countries are locked in this mutual vulnerability and there is no prospect of change in the near to mid-term future. This stalemate, which has global dimensions, has created a new security configuration on the Korean peninsula. As China’s GDP and its threat continue to grow, and as North Korea continues to escalate military tension on the peninsula with nuclear bombs and delivery capabilities, the present arrangement-- which encourages the U.S. to counteract this escalation by deploying intercontinental anti-ballistic missiles in South Korea -- is a deterrent to China’s ambitions. From China’s point of view, North Korea is the only effective barrier in North Asia against the ever-increasing threat of the US,paying no attention to the behavior of the North Korean regime. The value of both South and North Korea as security resources for both countries has reached the highest point ever.