Quote Originally Posted by Ron Humphrey View Post
Exactly how does firing on civilian targets actually in South Korean territory fit within Chinese parameters of acceptability.
I doubt the Chinese thought it was helpful. Equally, however, North Korea does not accept the current post-war border demarcation (the Northern Limit Line), a complicated issue on which I'm not sure that China has a definitive position. The Chinese may well feel that South Korean live fire exercises in a disputed area (and the alleged shelling of North Korean waters, according to Pyongyang) were provocative, even if the subsequent North Korean response was disproportionate.

My point is that we should not assume that China's perception of the conflict is always the same as ours.

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Since I started writing this, five students have knocked on my door, and Ken has written pretty much the same thing.