The Growing Alliance Between China, Russia, North Korea and Iran

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday morning. Well, a lot of things happening in the world. And one guy that knows about what’s happening in the world, Gordon G. Chang, and an expert in world politics, especially the Far East. Gordon Chang is a lawyer, an author, and one smart guy and one good friend, and a member of the the Gatestone Institute. Well, Gordon, Sunday morning,

0:30 what do you have for us?

0:32 Speaker 2 Well, last week was momentous. We had the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, take a C-17 to Moscow, talk to his counterpart there. There are various reports of what the conversation was about. I think the most credible is that the United States warned Russia about attacking the Baltic states. We have seen some very aggressive Russian behavior. These drone incursions,

1:01 cutting cables, all sorts of things in Europe, they’ve gone on for quite a long time. We’ve remarked about them, but have done very little about it. And I think that the Russians have now pushed NATO and the United States to the wall. In general, John, after the Cold War, the United States was much more concerned about a failing

1:21 Russia than a strong one. So we tolerated a lot of bad behavior on the part of Russian leaders, especially Putin. And unfortunately, that has resulted in an attitude in the Kremlin that they can do what they want. They can very well push Europe to a region-wide war. I’m not saying that will happen. I’m saying it’s increasingly likely, especially

1:42 because Putin has ignored American warnings in the past. If he ignores this one, then the whole region lights up.

1:51 Speaker 1 Understood. Now, Putin, I mean, how many, I’ve heard so many numbers of how many North Korean soldiers he is buying from North Korea. And President Trump is such good friends with North Korea. Is that going to last? Or, I mean, I guess Putin is paying in oil and they’re paying in manpower.

2:22 Speaker 2 Yes. Putin is paying in oil and missile technology, probably some cash as well. The North Korean economy has had a three-year boom, and that has made Kim Jong-un incredibly bold. So he is now upping his support for Russia. The original contingent of North Korean soldiers, I believe, was larger than was originally reported. There probably were something like 13,000, 14,000

2:51 in the beginning. But, you know, we don’t know for sure. But more are on the way. And this is going to be material because the Ukraine war is one of attrition. And North Korea can significantly affect the balance of it by supplying soldiers. And, of course, their short-range ballistic missiles and millions of artillery shells. So this is important development

3:16 for the United States to get Kim Jong-un to stop this. But it’s going to be extremely difficult for President Trump to do that because Trump wants to talk to Kim Jong-un, and he’s probably not going to take the measures that would convince Kim to stop his support for Russia in Ukraine.

3:34 Speaker 1 Understood. I mean, but they do have self-respect for each other, and that’s important, I guess.

3:42 Speaker 2 That is important.

3:44 Speaker 1 Tell us, you know, I mean, North Korea is right next door to China, and North Korea is right next door to Russia. Does China say to North Korea, jump, and they say how high?

4:04 Speaker 2 Yes. The Chinese are important to North Korea, more important than even Russia is. As one analyst said, Russia is the ambulance for North Korea, but China is the general hospital. There are a lot of reporting that China is upset that North Korea is so close to Russia, especially after Putin signed up his mutual defense treaty with North Korea.

4:31 I don’t think that’s the case. I think the Chinese are very happy to have the North Koreans close to Russia. because China wants Russia to win in Ukraine or certainly doesn’t want Russia to lose. The North Koreans are very helpful for Russia in this regard. And it means that two things. First of all, North Korea is supported and

4:52 the Chinese don’t have to support the North Koreans. And second of all, the Chinese don’t have to show their hand as clearly in Ukraine. And so I think that China probably actually arranged the North Korean help to Russia.

5:07 I don’t know that, but it makes sense. And it is consistent with what we know about these three countries.

5:14 Speaker 1 Now, let’s move down the other direction. You know, you got Turkey, you have Saudi Arabia and Pakistan made an alliance. Does that violate anything that Turkey has with NATO?

5:29 Speaker 2 Technically, no, but it certainly is inconsistent with Turkey’s role in NATO. especially because this could end up being quite serious in the sense that Pakistan could drag that alliance into war. That would drag Turkey, a NATO member, into war.

5:49 I don’t think that we would believe that we have an obligation to defend Turkey. But nonetheless, this isn’t good. Also, it shows the problem here is also Saudi Arabia. which for decades, going back to FDR, has been a close American friend. And yet we see Saudi Arabia aligning with countries that are not friendly with the United States. This

6:14 is a very new development. It results from the Saudi view that the United States is failing in the Iran war. And it’s a real wake-up call, I think, for the Trump administration to start succeeding in Iran so we can get the Saudis back on side. Saudi Arabia is very important to the United States. Very important to the region.

6:34 This is not a good development for us by any measure.

6:38 Speaker 1 Now, China’s leadership has publicly said many times, as long as President Trump is president, we’re not going to go after Taiwan. Does that continue to be true?

6:55 Speaker 2 I don’t. I think that that probably is a discussion between Xi Jinping and Trump. Xi has not said that publicly. And we have seen Xi Jinping engage in very aggressive behavior, especially after the May summit where President Trump went to the Chinese capital. Xi Jinping does not respect the United States.

7:22 President Trump can make him respect the U.S., but has tried to at least maintain friendly relations with I think it’s time for President Trump to show Xi Jinping the power of the United States and get that relationship on a much better footing. But right now, Xi Jinping is on a tear. It’s not only against Taiwan. It’s against Japan,

7:41 the Philippines. And this is not a good story for the United States because Xi Jinping could do something that leads to a region wide conflict there.

7:51 Speaker 1 Gordon, last question. We’ve got a minute left. All right. Russia, North Korea, China. Well, Iran, are they still a member of the club?

8:06 Speaker 2 They certainly are. It’s called the CRINX acronym, and they’re working much more closely. They’re cooperating on the Iran war. This is showing that the bad actors believe that they can act more openly. And so the United States has the power to stop this. And I’m sure that President Trump, when he loses patience, will make sure that they understand

8:29 that the United States is a much more powerful country and they have to respect us.

8:35 Speaker 1 Question. Is NATO still NATO? Is the European community still the European community? And that’s it. And we’re out.

8:47 Speaker 2 NATO is, I think, getting stronger. It’s getting stronger because President Trump forced NATO countries to start spending more on defense. Also, Putin has been threatening NATO countries, and that has got them to work much more closely. We see this not only with Sweden and Norway, but also with Germany and Poland.

9:07 These are good developments, John. NATO is coming together, and the world owes a thanks to the guy who sits in the Oval Office.

9:15 Speaker 1 Understood. Well, Gordon G. Chang, your Twitter, at Gordon G. Chang. And guess what? Our audience could listen to what’s going on in the world 24 hours a day and then just go to Gordon G. Chang’s Twitter. And thank you so much for coming on this Sunday morning.

9:33 Speaker 2 Cool. Thank you so much, John.