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Amaunet

08/18/04 5:26 PM

#1359 RE: Amaunet #994

China’s scheme to claim North Korean territory.

`China Aims to Expand Territory by Distorting History'

This is almost unbelievable, yet why are they setting the stage if it’s not true?

The professor reportedly said Kim Jong-il’s regime will be overthrown within 10 years by a coup led by army generals affiliated with China, and the rebels may depend on China’s military power to maintain order.

Is this why China is battling to get their ‘friend’ North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs?
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5153195



Seoul Protests Beijing's Distortion of Koguryo

By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
The South Korean government called in China’s top diplomat in Seoul to protest against Beijing’s recent deletion of Koguryo, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea, from an introduction to Korean history on the Web site of its Foreign Ministry
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200407/kt2004071417122510160.htm

The dispute about the Koguryo kingdom is viewed by some as the first stage of a wider battle for influence over the Korean peninsula and north-eastern China.
#msg-3499715

-Am



`China Aims to Expand Territory by Distorting History'

By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
China’s distortion of Koguryo’s history is aimed at claiming territory currently belonging to North Korea in the event of the unification of the Korean peninsula, an Internet user claimed on his Web site, citing a Chinese professor.

The site also argued that Beijing is plotting to make Pyongyang a local government by misrepresenting history.

Despite a lack of evidence, the story is spreading rapidly among Korean Internet users.

The unidentified site operator said he studied history in Beijing University, his claims being based on a lecture he attended at the university last year.

The Internet user claimed the professor, whose identity was not given, said that China’s attempt to claim Koguryo’s history is a politically motivated move to prepare for the collapse of North Korea and possible reunification.

The professor reportedly said Kim Jong-il’s regime will be overthrown within 10 years by a coup led by army generals affiliated with China, and the rebels may depend on China’s military power to maintain order.

``China will be able to federalize some regions of North Korea by supporting the new regime, attaching them to local Chinese government in the end,’’ the professor is quoted as saying.

He went on to say, ``After the North Korean regime collapses, a dispute with South Korea over territory will be inevitable. However, if the issue is taken to an international court, China may lose the case as the two Koreas have a long shared history.’’

To that end, the Chinese government is mapping out a long-term strategy, claiming ancient kingdoms established in Manchuria to secure historical support, the professor said.

``The Chinese government is supporting academia due to its ambitions. If you history majors make more efforts on the issue, the country’s territory will extend to the current border between South Korea and North Korea in 30 years,’’ the professor was quoted as saying.

Chinese history scholars have engaged upon a study called the East-North Project since 2002, trying to incorporate Koguryo into its own history.

China has made no secret of its ambitions after a number of Koguryo relics, such as tombs and castles in China and North Korea, were listed with UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage last month. China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported the relics are important parts of China’s history.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr


08-18-2004 17:34

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200408/kt2004081817323811990.htm