ANALYSIS: Trump a ‘paper tiger’ roaring fire and fury at North Korea

A combination photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

President Donald Trump’s bellicosity on North Korea risks actualizing that.

At the height of the Cold War then Chinese leader Chairman Mao Zedong described the United States as a “Paper Tiger”.

President Donald Trump’s bellicosity on North Korea risks actualizing that.

The “Paper Tiger” phrase comes from an old Chinese idiom and loosely translates into a “blustering, harmless fellow”.

Nuclear

Washington, obviously, reminded Mao this “paper tiger” had nuclear teeth.

In some ways, Mao in 1956 should have been grateful to then US President Harry Truman.

He fired General Douglas McArthur who wanted to nuke the Chinese.

That’s because they had, in droves, fought on North Koreans’ side in a war that ended in armistice.

Allies

Plausibly, the US settled to focus on Soviet Union’s salivation for Europe’s domination.

Whatever! Considering Trump’s oscillating pronouncements, his presiding over a nearly eight months of an administration whose policies, domestically and globally, are everywhere and nowhere, Trump risks going the “paper tiger” way; similarly taking the US along. That’s saying nothing about allies, notably South Korea and Japan.

The Chinese will not be sipping rice wine. That means fire and brimstone in northeast Asia. The spillover is obvious.

North Korea

The issue is North Korea’s ambitions to acquire nuclear bombs and missiles to deliver them, as they say, anywhere in the world, a long shot.

There’s nothing wrong with any nation wishing to acquire most lethal weapons, defensive and offensive.

However, it’s illogical to assume some leaders are “mad” and others Jesus Christ riding a donkey in Judea and half naked Gandhi-types meditating. It isn’t necessarily so. Just compare Trump and North Korea’s kiddy leader, Kim Jong-un — age gap explains — bellicosities.

Weapons

The rest is obvious: same. The issue is proliferation of nuclear weapons doctrine.

North Korea wants and some nations who have them oppose.

The non-proliferation, unfortunately, is based on good and bad leaders, wrongly.

It should be based on “the weapons aren’t necessary”.

They become so however because nations perpetually prey on each other, forgetting “scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” — a hard sale — works better.

Threat

Back to Trump and Kim bellicosities: Since February North Korea has test-fired 18 missiles of different ranges.

After each test, Mr Trump has issued a threat, beginning with saying if China, the biggest trading partner constrained by increasing U.N. sanctions North Korea, doesn’t force an end to the tests the US will go alone.

Everyone who cares remembers Trump’s Armanda in the Korean Peninsula that he couldn’t — most likely — or pretended not to know where it was, making admirals look stupid.

At best, Kim yawned and ordered another missile test.

Missile attack

On Wednesday, North Korea said it was considering plans for a missile strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam, an island and vital post for US forces.

That was hours after the president said another North Korea threat against the US would be met with “fire and fury”.

Trump responded, saying his earlier warning wasn’t strong enough. Think of a self-caged “paper tiger” roaring ethereal “fire and fury”.