U.S.-China Nuclear Silence Leaves a Void -- Wall Street Journal
Chinese Experts Say U.S. Missile-Defense Boost Could Spur Beijing to Ramp Up Arsenal; Lack of Dialogue Lifts Threat
BEJIING—The escalating crisis on the Korean peninsula is upsetting a delicate nuclear balance between China and the U.S. and exposing a serious flaw in their relationship: the absence of a regular military dialogue on nuclear arms.
The message John Kerry brings to China on Saturday on his first visit as secretary of state is that the U.S. plans to boost its missile defenses in Alaska and Guam are directed at Pyongyang, rather than Beijing, but that it is now in China's own security interests to rein in North Korea.
While U.S. officials hope the deployments will help bring China around to this view, the risk is that China will instead expand plans already under way to strengthen its nuclear arsenal, prompting similar reactions from others in the region. That—to a greater extent even than North Korea's actions—could add a dangerous nuclear dimension to a conventional arms race in Asia.
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My Comment: The U.S. has been trying for years to get China to open up and to develop better lines of communications .... but the Chinese have always refused. Will installing a few anti-missile batteries on Guam and on Alaska change their minds .... I doubt it.