One of the members of this distribution list is [a very informed source].
His view is that North Korea does not sneeze without asking China for permission. Without Chinese assistance N. Korea starves.
Therefore, he believes that the shells lobbed last night were a provocation by the Chinese, in response to our rhetoric and our policy moves.
Shelling would also scare investors away from Asia and the RMB. Given China’s inflation problem that is the idea.
There is also little doubt that Washington DC will get the message. The Chinese are pissed at what we are doing. The shells reflect that.
Food for thought.
