Henry Kissinger and the post-Vietnam War legacy of U.S. military defeat

Henry Kissinger and the post-Vietnam War legacy of U.S. military defeat

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, May 23, 2023 The following by WorldTribune.com columnist Don Kirk, originally appeared in The Hill. The defeat of the American-equipped, American-advised South Vietnamese forces in the first four months of 1975 invites comparisons to today’s American support for Ukraine against Russian invasion. In contrast to the approval of vast amounts of aid provided thus […]

Saluting Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai; Jailed and silenced for questioning Xi’s authority

Saluting Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai; Jailed and silenced for questioning Xi’s authority

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The history of the media is full of stories about journalists who defied authority, risked death covering wars and sought stories behind cover-ups. Few media heroes can match Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, a Hong Kong paper that was shut down last year after 26 years of defending […]

Don’t forget Kim Jong-Un: Putin and Biden are not the only ones using the ‘N’ word

Don’t forget Kim Jong-Un: Putin and Biden are not the only ones using the ‘N’ word

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, October 12, 2022 The following by WorldTribune.com columnist Don Kirk, originally appeared in The Hill. How can President Biden talk about “Armageddon” in Ukraine after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin boasts of Russia’s nuclear strength without also mentioning North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s threats to use nuclear weapons? That question does not seem to have […]

Why Japan, but not South Korea, will help U.S. stop China’s takeover of Taiwan

Why Japan, but not South Korea, will help U.S. stop China’s takeover of Taiwan

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The following by WorldTribune.com columnist Don Kirk, originally appeared in The Hill. The visit to Asia by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi exposed one reality that many people did not realize: The United States cannot count on its ally, the Republic of Korea, for support if war breaks out in the Taiwan Straits. The United States, […]

Shinzo Abe’s legacy? Make Japan great again

Shinzo Abe’s legacy? Make Japan great again

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The following by WorldTribune.com columnist Don Kirk, originally appeared in The Hill. The assassination of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, deprived the Asia-Pacific region of a statesman whose greatest legacy is that of a staunch foe of China and North Korea. Americans may remember him as pro-American, an […]

Another showdown in the South Pacific, 80 years on

Another showdown in the South Pacific, 80 years on

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The South Pacific is again a battleground. China is not nearly at the stage of taking over any of the 15 islands stretching across the region of Oceania, but it’s definitely disturbing the foes of Chinese expansionism. This week, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, is touching down on eight […]

Why a peace treaty poses a mortal threat to South Korea

Why a peace treaty poses a mortal threat to South Korea

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Time is running out for President Moon Jae-In. He has barely more than half a year to leave a legacy in Korean and world history as the leader responsible for bringing permanent peace at last to Korea, North and South. He would like nothing better than to step down […]

What is AUKUS and why are the Chinese, the North Koreans and the French all so upset?

What is AUKUS and why are the Chinese, the North Koreans and the French all so upset?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The acronym AUKUS, when you try to pronounce it, sounds like some weird wild animal, an AUKUS. The initials stand for Australia, U.K., U.S., but to the North Koreans and their Chinese masters,they might as well spell the exotic name of one of those strange beasts that only inhabits […]

‘What if’ questions: Nov. 22, 1963, Sept. 11, 2001 and right now

‘What if’ questions: Nov. 22, 1963, Sept. 11, 2001 and right now

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Millions remember exactly what they were doing when first hearing about awful events. The day John F. Kennedy was shot, November 22, 1963, I’d been sleeping after an overnight shift for a newspaper in New York. For some reason, I had to call about paying a parking ticket. The […]

After Afghanistan, a nightmare scenario for South Korea

After Afghanistan, a nightmare scenario for South Korea

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk This nightmare scenario comes to mind: the Chinese have invaded South Korea in the name of the North Koreans, who are sort of an auxiliary force, and the wobbly, weak-kneed American president decides the South Koreans can fight on their own with no American troops, no U.S. air or […]

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