Mr. Naman Crowe leads a causal follower of world events to believe the Democrat spin on foreign affairs are factual. Crowe's crowing in regards to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's recent comments on China, the Middle Kingdom to y'all just tuning in, exponentially increasing defense spending is more of that whiny liberal blather.

Anyone with a brain knows China holds the key to bringing North Korea back to the Six Way talks. I sent the following to Lamar Alexander and Bill Frist via email and have yet to receive an answer:

May 13, 2005

Ambassador Christopher R. Hill
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
The United States Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington DC 20520

Dear Ambassador Hill,

First, please allow me to congratulate you on your recent appointment and to thank you for your efforts in service to our country at the Six Party Talks concerning North Korea. The North Korean situation is my reason for writing today.

This morning I read the following article enclosed in the link below entitled: China Says U.S. Impeded North Korea Arms Talks in The New York Times. From my reading, China seems less than circumspect in their dealings with the North Koreans and the United States.

Mr. Yang (Xiyu) said that when President Bush referred to the North Korea leader, Kim Jong Il, as a "tyrant" in late April, Mr. Bush "destroyed the atmosphere" for negotiations, undoing weeks of efforts to persuade North Korea that the United States would bargain in good faith.

So one word does in "weeks of efforts" by the Chinese to bring Mr. Kim to the table. This admission speaks more to China's diplomacy than to Mr. Bush's choice of words. The Chinese have come a long way in their ability to understand and manipulate American politics. By reading the current climate on Capitol Hill, the Chinese ploy bolsters Mr. Bush's detractors, while seeking to gain a free pass for Mr. Kim's intransigence.

Mr. Yang said China would be "very concerned" about a nuclear test. But he said he doubted North Korea would take that step now, adding that China had made it "very, very clear" to North Korea that a test or any other provocative display of its nuclear capability would have serious consequences.

North Korea "understands the consequences very clearly," Mr. Yang said. "I do not think we should reach the conclusion that there will be a test."

So China can't get Mr. Kim to the Six Sided Table, but in the flash of a diplomatic dispatch, the North Koreans are warned off of any nuclear test. Very telling admission here from the leaders of the Middle Kingdom. The kind of admission that leads one to believe Mr. Kim is no more than a YO-YO on Beijing's string. It's no wonder "Chinese authorities very rarely speak to journalists about the issue."

The question begs, when will China make it "very, very clear" that Mr. Kim must return to the negotiating table?

Mr. Ambassador, the Chinese are not only duplicitous in their dealings; they use this juncture to lay the entire responsibility for failure on our country, our secretary of state and our president. It is far past time for some realpolitik to be employed in our relationship with the Middle Kingdom. I hope the first words are "progress on North Korea will never be linked to the status of Taiwan."

Thank you for your kind attention.

Very truly yours,

David W. Moon

I've obtained an answer from the Bush administration by merely reading the newspaper. First, it was quotas on China's cotton imports, then quotas on their polyesters, then two doses of heavy blasts on currency revaluation directed at China's Dragon Throne. The U.S. also has a squadron of Stealth Fighters in Theater. Not enough to take out the nuclear material, but enough to send Mr. Kim packing on any given night.

Vice President Dick Cheney, who I lovingly refer to as "The Iron Chancellor" after Otto von Bismarck, called out Mr. Kim the other night on Larry King Live. The last time "The New Rock of Chickamauga" (my other pen name for Cheney) was so exercised we invaded Iraq. Throw in comments by Ambassador Hill, Rummy and Condi Rice, and you begin to signs of a serious froth turning to the chill of Cold War.

Decision time looms for this giant poker game. The stakes are high on both sides. Even higher for Bob Corker's buddies at Walmart. If you seek someone to blame for North Korea's obstinacy, direct your ire at China's leaders, not ours.

David W. Moon
TNcolmoon2@aol.com