[BRIEF NOTE] On the Late Unpleasantness in Korea

[rfmcdonald]

robertprior mentioned quite a few interesting things about his trip to China. One of his most interesting stories was of his visit at a fascinating military museum, which organized its exhibits on the basis of the accepted historiography of the People's Republic (the Sino-Japanese war of 1931-1945, the Korean war of 1950-1953). The museum's description of the Korean War as a preventative war waged by China to prevent the United States from invading China by supporting a North Korean ally struck both of us as interesting, particularly considering how the Korean War was represented in the West (as the defense of the Republic of Korea from the North by a UN-authorized multinational coalition, with no mention made of the million Chinese military dead). I'm rather fond of radically different interpretations of history, you see, especially when all the interpretations are grounded in some sort of fact. I think that I would like Rashomon.

(One more thing: Apparently China managed to shoot down a U-2. Yes, this is news to me, too.)