But by piling on more sanctions against North Korea, the move has inevitably inflamed tensions.
Pyongyang denounced the latest round of sanctions as an outrageous violation of its sovereignty and its right to develop military self-defenses. After all, it points out, the US has thousands of nuclear weapons capable of hitting North Korea. Washington has also installed this year a new missile system, the THAAD, in South Korea, which gives it a first strike advantage.
Moreover, the latest sanctions signed off at the UN last weekend are, on the face of it, deeply punishing against the North Korean economy and its populace. The nation's top exports of coal, minerals and seafood are to be banned, which would axe its already paltry export revenue by one-third, going from $3 billion to $2 billion a year.
Given the array of American offensive military forces, the repeated verbal threats of "all options on the table" and now the latest ratcheting up of sanctions, is it any wonder North Korea perceives an existential danger? Then we have Trump making shockingly grotesque comments about the prospect of ordering an annihilation right on the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while he is about to have dinner with his wife.
Russia and China made a huge mistake in backing more US-led sanctions against North Korea last weekend. That move has only escalated tensions and has emboldened the Americans in their incorrigibly aggressive mentality.
Moscow and Beijing, more than anyone else, should know that sanctions are a counterproductive policy. They are a weapon of war-making and a baleful substitute for diplomacy.
In the case of Korea's historic conflict, the only solution is to recognize that America is part of the problem. Ever since the end of the Korean War, the perennial presence of American military forces on the peninsula is a never-ending source of conflict.
Russia and China are right to insist on immediate all-party talks for the region, involving the two Koreas. But slapping sanctions on one side is wrong, especially given the ongoing war threats issued by the US. Only days ago, the US flew nuclear-capable B-1 bombers from Guam over the Korean Peninsula. Why should North Korea, the region and the world for that matter accept such American aggression with impunity?
Russia and China have a crucial role to play in order to make the US come to its senses and scale back from a catastrophic war. But given the American hubris and self-righteousness to wage criminal wars, and given the twittery state of mind of its Commander-in-Chief, the task of making the US behave like a normal law-abiding nation is foreboding.
It's not North Korea that needs to be sanctioned. It is the world's biggest rogue state, the USA, that should be sanctioned and prosecuted many times over. Until it reserves the right to unilaterally threaten and attack any nation, including with the use of dropping of atomic bombs on civilian centers, the world will always be in grave peril. Joining US calls for sanctions on North Korea is like feeding a monster.
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