East Asia Watch--The Chinese Are Moving in to North Korea

As I've mentioned, most American policy-makers assume that if, and when, the North Korean regime collapses or suffers some sort of major mishap, it will be the South Koreans and their American allies who march in to save the day. I have argued that the Chinese will never let that happen because they do not want a reunified Korea on their border, particularly one with nuclear weapons and one with some sort of allegiance to the United States.

Now comes a very interesting article in Business Week: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/north-korea-new-land-of-opportunity...

The Chinese, it turns out, already are moving big time into the North to help stabilize it. The article says the North has become a magnet for Chinese enterprises, particularly in coal, iron and other raw materials. "The Chinese are storming in there and taking all the opportunities,"' one expert is quoted as saying.

That's how it is going to play out--the Chinese are going to absorb North Korea, step by step.