In China, new thinking on the war

BEIJING ― A Chinese scholar has engaged in some revisionist thinking about the Korean War, saying that contrary to the Chinese government’s official position, it was triggered by the North Korean leadership with the active support of the Soviet Union. While that assertion would raise no eyebrows among most scholars since Soviet-era Russian archives were opened after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is surprising coming from a researcher in China.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, told the Internet media site Qianlong, “Drawn in by North Korea and the Soviet Union, China joined the war.” He added, “Even if Pyeongyang’s nuclear aspirations bring about another war on the peninsula, Beijing must not follow that precedent.”
Dr. Shi’s remarks support many experts’ observations that views of Korea in China are changing. Although Beijing long maintained that the war was triggered by an invasion from the South, it has maintained an ambiguous silence on the matter since it established diplomatic relations with Seoul a decade ago.
Mr. Shi’s urging that China stay out of any new war in Korea would challenge the legitimacy of Beijing’s mutual defense pact with Pyeongyang, which commits China to come to North Korea’s assistance in an armed conflict.
Mr. Shi, who has written extensively on U.S. and Korean War issues, said, “Historical evidence shows that North Korea and the Soviet Union were engaged in many preparations and strategic arrangements before they initiated the Korean War.” He added that North Korea’s success in the early stage of the war proved that it had prepared well for its invasion on July 25, 1950.
“In a 1956 conversation with a senior Soviet official, the Chinese leader Mao Zedong said he regretted participating in the Korean War,” Dr. Shi said. “He said he thought that the war had brought misfortune to the Chinese,” Dr. She said in stressing the need for China to stay on the sidelines of any new hostilities.

by Yoo Kwang-jong