Two Super Madmen Jointly Compose an Overture to Peace

 Two Super Madmen Jointly Compose an Overture to Peace

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

June 13, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

Just some months ago, the two countries were still ready with swords and arrows and earlier this month, both parties were spreading word that they might cancel the meeting; however, U.S. President Trump and Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Council of North Korea, yesterday (June 12) held an earth-shaking meeting in Singapore and even signed a four-point joint agreement. Trump and Kim Jong-un’s handshake of friendship unveiled an overture to peace on the Korean peninsula; Trump couldn’t conceal the elation on his face, while Kim Jong-un abandoned his militarist route and courageously advocated denuclearization, which was even more worthy of affirmation, even profoundly changing the world’s impression of him in the past.

This "Trump-Kim Summit" could be called the most dramatic development in the world situation since the end of the Cold War. The first step toward reconciliation between the US and North Korea did not take place during the Obama era, but rather it was pushed forward in the hands of madman President Trump, further adding a legend to this summit of the century. Especially, Trump recently ended the G7 meeting in a feud with Western allies over trade issues; yesterday he, however, staged a show with Kim Jong-un with great restraint. Thus, it could be seen that he was fully aware that this summit was extremely helpful for his US midterm election campaign, which explains his performance par excellence. Kim Jong-un’s performance was also flawless, facing the head of state of the world’s superpower, twice his age, he played his role to the end on the stage with neither arrogance nor humility, paving the first mile in pushing for North Korea’s economic reforms.

This summit will impact the big picture in Northeast Asia. Beijing worries that with the rapprochement between the US and North Korea, US influence will reach straight to the bank of the Yalu River, the border between China and North Korea. However, based on national interests, North Korea wants to pursue amity on both flanks, especially aiming at the economy as the primary goal for national development in the future, it looks like North Korea would rely on Mainland China even more. South Korea will hold local elections today (June 13); the popularity of President Moon Jae-in, who facilitated the Trump-Kim Summit, let the ruling party achieve an advantageous position in an overwhelming majority of places. As to Japan, it has been marginalized in the changes on this big chessboard, something, we are afraid, that had not been anticipated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

As to Taiwan, once the North Korea nuclear crisis has been defused, the incentives that had earlier prompted Sino-U.S. cooperation may possibly disappear as a result. Minus this buffer, trade frictions and military competition between China and the United States are most likely to escalate. Taking another step further, the East-West Cold War begun in the ‘50s has today nearly ended; once the two Koreas reconciled, and North Korea opened up, in the future only cross-Strait relations in the Taiwan Strait would still be filled with tensions. Right on the day of the Trump-Kim Summit, AIT’s new building was inaugurated in Taipei; American visitors vowed once again US commitments to Taiwan’s security. Thus we cannot but ponder: could we truly ensure our own security by relying solely on the security guarantees of other countries?

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