Kim Jong-Un reportedly called North Korea a "military power of the East that cannot be touched by even the strongest enemy". The significance of his remark should not be lost on China. If North Korea cannot be subdued by the "strongest enemy", supposedly to be America; neither can China.
Kim's boasting of his country's invincibility is reminiscent of how a cunning fox escaped death by tricking a stupid tiger into believing that it (the fox) was the king of the jungle as depicted in a Chinese fable. No wonder nowadays he seems to display a more forceful personality in his gait, living in a world of fantasy and self-delusion that he himself is the "Emperor of the East". However, before North Korea's self-destruction like the frog that inflated itself bragging it could be as big as an ox in Aesop's fable, more countries have begun to view China as a "paper tiger". Emboldened by China's impotence or reluctance to rein in its errant ally, they have become more assertive about their sovereignty. Two more such countries can be added to the list in my previous post.
According to http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN19Z0YQ-OCATP
(d) (Begin excerpts)
Indonesia renamed the northern reaches of its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea as the North Natuna Sea on Friday, the latest act of resistance by Southeast Asian nations to China's territorial ambitions in the maritime region.
Seen by analysts as an assertion of Indonesian sovereignty, part of the renamed sea is claimed by China under its contentious maritime boundary, known as the 'nine-dash line', that encompasses most of the resource-rich sea.....
Indonesia insists it's a non-claimant state in the South China Sea dispute but has clashed with China over fishing rights around the Natuna Islands, detaining Chinese fishermen and expanding its military presence in the area over the past 18 months.... (End excerpts)
(e) (Begin excerpts)
...the director of the Philippines Energy Resource Development Bureau, Ismael Ocampo, said on Wednesday that the country could lift a suspension on oil and gas drilling on the Reed Bank by December. The underwater mountain, lying 85 nautical miles off the Philippines coast, is also claimed by China.
... the Philippines lately has become more assertive about its sovereignty.
More than two dozen oil, gas and coal blocks, including additional areas in disputed waters, may be offered during the December bidding, Ocampo said on Wednesday. (End excerpts)
It won't be surprising that more and more countries will view China as a "paper tiger" if it continues to keep a blind eye to North Korea's sabre-rattling and "barking" of invincibility.
https://www.houseofpolitics.com/threads/political-satire-the-old-man-of-the-mountain-2.19366/
http://www.yutopian.com/literature/parable/HuJia.html
http://fablesofaesop.com/the-frog-and-the-ox.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36573291
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1977143/indonesia-detains-chinese-fishing-boat-and-crew-illegal
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/788227/china-angry-after-indonesia-detains-fishing-boat
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/another-chinese-fishing-boat-detained-in-indonesias-waters-in-south-china-sea-official
