In a speech to the Asia Society June 9, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed dismay over China's failure to support U.S. and allied calls for punishing North Korea over its sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean corvette. Forty-six crewmen died when a North Korea submarine ambushed and torpedoed the Republic of Korea (ROK) warship March 26. Beijing's reaction is more than just "tepid" as Adm. Mullen described it. It sees American support for South Korea to be a threat to China. On the same day as the admiral's speech, an editorial in the Chinese Communist Party news paper Global Times warned against joint U.S.-ROK naval exercises, arguing the "Yellow Sea no place for US carrier,". A symbol of its past hegemony, the US still likes to deploy aircraft carriers around the world when it wishes to disturb others. So far, no definitive answer has been given to speculation over whether the US will send a carrier to ...(Read Full Post)