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Please don't cross into nationalistic flamewar on HN, regardless of nation.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Well we've heard this story for years about Africa, that the evil PRC is scheming and building the railroads there and handing out loans as a part of some evil "coercive effort"[1] to get poor Africa under its thumb. It could be true, what do I know? It's a great question why they do it and what happens next. But so far I really fail to see the "evil" part of it materialize.

https://www.state.gov/assessing-u-s-efforts-to-counter-china...

> The last thing Xi wants is an emboldened Pyongyang—he has managed Kim adeptly for years.

How Xi can "manage" Kim when Pyongyang already is a telephone government? North Korea is a Chinese proxy.

When China wants to increase badness against US, JP, SK, it pushes forward its pawn, and orders Kim to do something to spook them.

The independence of NK regime when it completely existentially depends on China for everything is a myth.

> North Korea is a Chinese proxy.

It is much more than that; NK is China's "pawn which can be promoted to a queen" if and when a nuke war happens. That is the only aim of its existence.