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"If China is strong, why don't you dare to go to war with South Korea"?
On a foreign Q&A website, a South Korean netizen took a provocative attitude and raised such a question.
And, he also gave his own answer to this question by asking himself:
There is only one reason why China does not dare to go to war with South Korea, and that is that China is afraid of South Korea!
This netizen may not have expected that one stone would stir up a thousand waves, and public opinion would be lively in an instant......
Absurd questioning: Don't dare to go to war with South Korea?
Recently, the foreign website Quora can be described as very lively.
This is a well-known Q&A website, similar to Zhihu in China. Not long ago, a netizen named Amin caught the attention of the big guys.
There is no other reason than that this Amin's statement is so sharp.
Looking at the introduction, Amin is a South Korean who graduated from Korea University two years ago, and the question he raised whetted the appetite of netizens: Since China is so strong, why don't you dare to confront South Korea head-on?
As soon as the question came out, everyone was in an uproar, and a vigorous upsurge of discussion was set off in an instant.
To prove his point, Amin wrote a long essay that summed it up in one sentence: If there is a war, China is not as good as South Korea, because China is nothing more than a paper tiger.
He also lists three reasons to support his view:
First, Amin believes that China's approach to warfare is outdated.
In his view, China's strong point is the tactic of crowds, using its huge population to drag the enemy to death on the battlefield and exhaust the enemy's energy. However, times have long changed, and the years that belonged to the war of the sea of people have passed.
In the face of high-tech warfare, China's population is not worth mentioning, and as long as it comes to the battlefield, it will be reduced to cannon fodder. Since you can't even play your strengths, the results can be imagined.
Second, Amin pointed out sharply that China was isolated in the war and could only suffer from the enemy.
And all this because China is pretentious and has no allies.
Militarily, China has always been independent and dependent on itself, but in Amin's view, this has invisibly increased the country's security risks.
Unlike China, South Korea has a formidable ally, the United States.
Nowadays, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is tense, and in order to confront North Korea, the relationship between the United States and South Korea has heated up sharply, especially in the military field. The United States has not only spent a lot of money to provide military assistance to South Korea, but has also drawn up a special defense operation plan for South Korea.
With the help of the United States, South Korea has also built a well-established naval force, which not only has a large number of advanced weapons, such as frigates, submarines, and attack ships, but also has trained professional naval personnel, with more than 60,000 personnel on the staff.
In addition, the alliance with the United States has also brought a bunch of "good friends" to South Korea.
As long as they are allies of the United States, they are on the same side as South Korea, such as Japan and Europe. South Koreans are full of confidence that if a war breaks out and South Korea is threatened, these countries will not stand idly by. At least, for the sake of the face of fellow US allies, they will also be able to help.
In this way, South Korea is under a tight protective shield and an indispensable part of the U.S. alliance system. Compared to China, which is fighting alone, it looks like the odds are greater.
Finally, Amin also unceremoniously suggested that compared to South Korea, China is "on paper".
To put it bluntly, this is the connotation that China has been peaceful for too long and lacks actual combat experience. He believes that for most Chinese, war is a distant word, but Koreans are always nervous, for fear of falling behind.
This is best illustrated by the fact that adult men in South Korea are required to serve in the military. Over the years, South Korea has been committed to building an international image of "all people are soldiers and ready for war", and South Korea has also paid special attention to international military exercises, and has joined hands with the United States and Japan to carry out actual combat training.
In contrast, China is much calmer, so many South Koreans believe in their hearts that China has nothing to show for it, but is only holding on to the frame of a military power, and is actually vulnerable.
So, is that really the case?
Debunking rumors: the comparison of power between China and South Korea
Actually, the answer is necessarily no.
After Amin answered the question, many foreign netizens stood up against it and ridiculed South Korea for not being able to do anything. In fact, there are many loopholes in Amin's answer:
Let's start with China's way of fighting. The prejudice of Koreans reflects their ignorance.
For example, the unilateral belief that China's trump card is still a crowd tactic proves that Korean netizens do not understand China at all. After several years of development, China's armed forces have long since grown into a modern army, which is not as good as in the past.
In the era of hardship and hardship, the crowd tactic is the last card of China, demonstrating the belief of the entire nation to fight back. But this does not represent the current level of combat in China.
To take the simplest example, South Koreans are most proud of the navy. However, in the face of the Chinese Navy, the South Korean Navy can be called a "small thing".
Previously, the relevant US agencies had released a global naval power ranking, and China ranked second, with a gap of less than 2% with the US Navy.
It can be seen that even the United States has to admit the strength of the Chinese Navy, while the South Korean Navy is far behind China. In terms of military equipment alone, China's aircraft carriers are also an unattainable presence for South Korea.
In other words, comparing the ROK Navy with the Chinese Navy is essentially a kind of collision.
In addition, China's military system is a highly developed whole, and in addition to the navy, China also has an equally powerful army and air force, and there are departments dedicated to information warfare. This kind of huge military network is even more difficult for South Korea to have.
Second, South Korea's imagination of its allies really reveals a bit of naivety.
In South Korea's view, as long as it becomes an ally of the United States, it is equivalent to being insured and can sit back and relax. South Korea's inexplicable self-confidence is exactly what the United States wants to achieve, and the United States has always been working hard to promote and portray itself as a beacon of democracy for all living beings, giving South Korea an illusion.
However, countless vivid examples prove that the so-called allies are nothing more than lies of the United States. From the beginning to the end, the United States has always put its own interests first, and when it uses its allies, it often vigorously praises them, but once people go away, they will instantly turn their faces.
For example, when Europe was facing an energy crisis, the United States pretended to be comforted, but it turned around and resold energy at a high price, directly stabbing Europe in the heart, causing strong indignation among European countries. You know, Europe is undoubtedly the most important ally of the United States, and South Korea is not comparable to Europe's status in any way.
The United States is still doing this to Europe, and it will not show mercy to South Korea when necessary.
War, in the final analysis, is still a game of interests between major powers, and South Korea is just a false power because it is a puppet created by the United States.
If the United States can let South Korea develop, it can also bring about the destruction of South Korea. In the face of a real great power, South Korea must be the first pawn sacrificed by the United States.
I am afraid that this naked truth will be unacceptable to South Koreans.
Finally, let's talk about practical experience.
South Korea's so-called abundance of actual combat is nothing but political propaganda of "thunder is loud and rain is small." For many years, South Korea's only military rival was North Korea, and when confronting North Korea, South Korea always stood behind the United States. South Korea's military strength does not come from itself, but from the support of the United States.
"Real combat experience" in this case is of no value at all, and is only a low-level means of building momentum for the country and intimidating the adversary.
Speaking of China, China's military experience is no less than that of South Korea, because China is a big country that needs to face a complex international environment, after the founding of New China, China has clashed with India and Vietnam to defend its territorial sovereignty, and the Taiwan Strait issue has always tugged at the heartstrings of Chinese. China has just kept a low profile and is reluctant to make a big deal like South Korea.
In this case, we can't help but ask, since China's military power is far superior to that of South Korea, why not directly counterattack South Korea in the face of all kinds of provocations by South Korea?
Telling the Truth: China's Intent
There are two main reasons why China has turned a blind eye to South Korea's presumptuousness.
First, China values peace and still hopes to maintain friendly relations with South Korea on the premise of sticking to the bottom line.
The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea can be traced back to 1992, and in the course of more than 30 years of exchanges, there has been a strange phenomenon in the relations between the two countries, that is, there are ups and downs like a "pendulum".
Every time the South Korean government changes, the issue of China has to be put back on the agenda, and the top leader of South Korea always has to make a choice: whether to be friendly to China or to follow in the footsteps of the United States and keep a distance from China?
Previously, during his tenure, Moon Jae-in worked hard to repair relations between China and South Korea, and even bravely expressed his "neutral" attitude towards the United States, which ushered in a new opportunity for the development of history between China and South Korea.
And this is exactly what China expects to see, and the good relations between China and South Korea are beneficial to both countries, and the economy is the most intuitive embodiment.
However, Yoon Suk-yeol, who came to power in 2022, reversed Moon's policies and turned against China, clearly strengthening his alliance with the United States.
In view of past experience, this is just a temporary low point in China-South Korea relations, compared to China, South Korea is still a small country, and China's great power temperament is enough to accommodate South Korea.
Second, China's inclusion of South Korea is for the sake of the overall situation.
No matter what kind of friction there is between China and South Korea, China and South Korea will always be Asian countries. Even, the two countries have a natural sense of affinity in terms of culture, and South Korea belongs to the Confucian cultural circle and has been deeply influenced by Chinese culture.
The United States, on the other hand, is friendly with Japan and South Korea and isolating China, in fact, it is deploying its own global strategy to ensure that there are enough American forces to interfere in Asian affairs and contain the rise of Asia.
All along, while maintaining independent diplomacy, China has always firmly believed that Asian affairs should be handled by Asian countries themselves, and the United States has stretched its hand too far. Therefore, China is unwilling to give up the opportunity to unite Asian countries, and if it turns against South Korea, it will inevitably accelerate the building of US-South Korea relations.
In the long run, it will be even more detrimental to the development of Asia as a whole.
It can be seen that in handling its relations with the ROK, China has always been far-sighted and has a vision of a great power. China has shouldered its due responsibilities for the sake of both countries and for the sake of Asia.
But what is certain is that China does not cause trouble, and it is definitely not afraid of it. Most of South Korea's provocations remain verbal and do not cause substantial harm to China, which is the most important reason why China has let South Korea go. One day, if South Korea remains unrepentant and harms China's national interests, China will certainly not be relenting.
Bibliography:
1. Liu Tianzhu, Guo Rui. South Korea's China Strategy Analysis under the Background of Sino-US Strategic Competition: From the Perspective of Hedging Strategy[J]. Dongjiang Academic Journal, 2023, Vol. 40(4):36-41.
2. Shi Jianguo, Kuang Xiuyu. The "Pendulum Phenomenon" and the Development of Sino-Korean Relations[J]. Dongjiang Academic Journal, 2023, Vol. 40(4):28-35,129.