(DVD cover for the epic film Battle on Shangganling Mountain. Photo YesAsia.)

I was thinking about the start of the Korean War- or Conflict, or whatever this morning. It has been seventy years since the shooting started there, and it is worth the time to think about. I spent 14 months there one time, and the memory is pervasive and poignant.

Retired Admiral Sam Cox wrote a marvelous account of the first months of futile chaos on the ground as Naval forces proved their worth. It is well worth the read, if you get a chance. If anyone thought this whole rising China thing was going to be easy, or fair, let’s just disabuse ourselves of the notion. I penned this almost ten years ago to commemorate what was done by our kids in an unexpected and terrifying world.

The arrogance of Imperial Britain, and later followed by the less-structured and well-intentioned international meddling of the Americans, is going to be paid back, big time.

Considering we are still near the zenith of our power, you have got to wonder what it is going to be like when they can kick us when we are down.

I am speaking of course about an astonishing piece of political theater that occurred at the White House the other night. People from China to DC are bleeding all over it, though thankfully it is not real blood, but rather the commemoration of the shedding of a lot of it, 59 years ago.

It is complicated sorting this out. You cannot go far wrong if you mark some things up to pure and simple ignorance. After all, when Chinese President Hu Jintau first visited the United States, he and President Bush stood at attention, an announcer said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the national anthem of the Republic of China, followed by the national anthem of the United States of America.” Then a Falun Gong protester masquerading as a journalist made some unkind remarks at the top of his lungs.

It was embarrassing, but in our defense, we managed to play the correct national anthem for China, but unfortunately the “Republic of China” is the government on Taiwan.

It was worse the next year on the island of Grenada. I remember the invasion of the island as being a part of the first assertive military operation after the long timidity induced by the collapse of South Vietnam.

The stadium St. George’s was to be used as a venue in the World Cricket championships had been destroyed by Hurrican Ivan. A battlion of 500 Chinese had labored mightily to restore the facility in time for the event, but at the dedication, it was the ROC’s anthem that was played instead of that of the PRC.

The Chinese were outraged, so I am fairly confident that they pay attention to these things. It is complicated to have two of something, be it anthems or airports. I have had the opportunity to go to the wrong airport in both Shanghai and DC, so I am sympathetic.

The event did not make the Mainstream Media this morning, and I assume it is because the New York Times is managing the event to their usual version of the higher good. Let me gist the thing for you in the words of Chinese activist Wei Jingsheng. You can look him up, and he is hardly an objective observor of the Communist government, but you can’t blame him.

He did sixteen years in the slammer for daring to add a “Fifth Modernization” to the official four. He posted his demand on the Beijing Wall in 1978. In addition to industry, agriculture, science and national defense, he dared add “Democracy.”

Anyway, here is his take on the remarkable event at the White House:

(Artist Lang Lang greets the Chinese President at the White House. Photo courtesy Lang Lang website.)

“Dear friends,

This event even made me feel ashamed. So I have to tell you.

Right in the White House, during the concert at the end of the state dinner that President Obama offered to Hu Jintao, the Chinese pianist Lang Lang played a Chinese song.

After the performance, both President Obama and Hu Jintao thanked the artist, and took the opportunity to talk about “cooperation” and “bridges”, etc. At the end of that dinner, Hu Jintao, who has the reputation of being a dull person, even specially embraced the artist with enthusiasm.

Which kind of music could make Hu so warm, which is so out of his character? I listened to that music with a big shock. It is from the main theme song of the best-known Communist propaganda movie about the Korean War when the Chinese army entered the Korean peninsula to fight with the Americans. The title of the movie is: “Battle of Triangle Hill.”

He goes on to explain to his international audience that the movie is widely regarded as the “Gone With the Wind” of Chinese revolutionary cinema, and that the lyrics of the hauntingly lovely song refers to the U.S. military as “wolves” or “jackals” (depending on your translation) and will be greeted with a hunting rifle. Wei goes on to pose the rhetorical question that “Is that not an insult to the USA to play such kind of music at a state dinner hosted by the US President?”

The links to the performance and to clips from the film are included below. The Chinese language summary of the plot is pretty cool.

“The story happens in the Korean War in the autumn of 1952, the American troops launched a large-scale attack by the border between South Korea and North Korea while the Sino Sino-Amer ican negotiation at Bamen Dian adjourned. The American representatives meant to steer clear of the futile negotiation by dispatching their troops to occupy Shanggangling Mountain and Wesheng Shan Mountain. In that case, Zhang Zhong Fa, a company commander of Chinese Voluntary Army, led his troops to guard Shanggandling Mount. In an extreme difficult situation, they held on to guarding the position in 24 days and succeeded in dragging the force of the enemy so that the Chinese main forces were in an advantage situation to defeat the enemy. The American were forced to resume the negotiation and sign their names on the armistice paper.”

(US Soldier of the 31st Battalion captured by Chinese. PLA photo copyright expired.)

That is not exactly how we viewed the thing. An excellent account of OPERATION SHOWDOWN was in the VFW rag I sometimes read a few years ago. They are not far wrong when they call the Korean War the forgotten conflict.

It was October of 1952. The war sparked by Kim Il Song had dragged on for two bitter years in uncommonly sultry summers and bitterly cold winters. The North Koreans had nearly ejected the Americans and South Korean armies off the peninsula, and UN Forces had then swept north to the Yalu River and looked down on Revolutionary China on the other.

The entry of Red Chinese forces into the conflict caused a strategic withdrawal to a line just a few dozen miles north of Seoul, which changed hands four times. President Eisenhower had been elected in part on his declaration that he would end the war on the Peninsula.

The U.S. 7th Infantry Division occupied a sector of the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) in central Korea near Kumhwa. Opposing the division, the Chinese 45th Division held elevations to the north, including Hill 598, also called Triangle Hill. Both sides were well dug-in. Battle lines had not changed significantly in almost a year. After peace talks began in November 1951, the Eighth Army assumed an “active defense” posture and combatants on both sides marked time awaiting the outcome of the talks.

For six months, the hills exchanged artillery and mortar rounds and had minor skirmishes that did little to change the situation. Then, in spring 1952, as frustration over the failure of peace talks increased, “active” defense gave way to “active engagement.”General Mark Clark, who had replaced Doug MacArthur after the latter’s insubordination to President Truman, authorized SHOWDOWN to move the MLR forward.

The terrain was most advantageous for defense. In addition to the massive bulk of Hill 598 (also known as Shangganling Mountain to the Chinese) a less prominent ridge named Sandy sloped down to the east. A thousand yards across the valley from Sandy stood Sniper Ridge, which, because of its strategic location relative to Hill 598 also became an objective of the assault.

(Chinese Army sniper on Sniper Ridge. PLA Photo copyright expired.)
Sniper Ridge terminated with a pair of conical hills that had been sardonically named “Jane Russell” in honor of the bosom of the well-endowed American actress.

The operation kicked off on October 14th. It had been planned as a single battalion attack on Hill 598, but eventually stiff Chinese resistance led to the commitment of two additional battalions across the front.

In spite of two days of preparatory air strikes and artillery barrages, Chinese resistance was fierce.

Sandy Ridge was finally taken and consolidated, but the attack on Triangle Hill and Jane Russell bogged down. 1st Lt. Edward R. Schowalter was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his indomitable courage in finally seizing Jane Russell.

The battle dragged on for 42 days, and was the biggest engagement of 1952. The Eighth Army failed to secure Triangle Hill, and suffered 365 KIA and one captured. The Chinese absorbed 11,500 casualties in a defense of attrition, which correctly deduced that the Americans would not access the level of casualties required to take the hills.

The Chinese became more aggressive on the armistice negotiation and the battlefield. It is not surprising that the inconclusive stalemate is not well remembered in the West, and it is equally unsurprising that the Chinese remember it well. The epic film “Battle On Shangganling Mountain” was filmed in 1956, starring actor Xu Lin Ge.

You can sample some of the film on youTube if you care too. It is pretty spectacular, and there is no question that it is a landmark in Revolutionary culture.

So, the question is, why play that particular song at the White House?
The artist Lang Lang splits his time between China and the US, and has not been noted as much of a political activist. I imagine it could be a minor gaff over some pretty music, that mostly talks about the beauty of China. It could be that there aren’t any other Chines songs that refer to the Americans less offensively and that was the best they could do.

Others have pointed out that a famously anti-Japanese song is routinely played for the Chinese President without much notice.
But I suspect someone suggested the title to the gifted pianist, on the assumption that the ignorant Americans could use a little tweaking.

So does Wei Jingsheng. He concluded his letter to members of Congress this way:

“So, it appears that the Americans were humiliating themselves. How could President Obama let this kind of humiliation happen in his White House, and even praise the artist, meanwhile expressing “extraordinary pride” and “looking for many years of cooperation” with a notarious dictator?”

The blogosphere is already filled with comments that suggest the tune was “the right place, right time, right song!”

Tempest in a teapot? Sure. But like I said, if this is the way it goes when we are still filled with vigor, I wonder what the future is going to be like. I am not looking forward to finding out.

For media review, the following were very helpful:
Richard Ecker “Showdown on Triangle Hill: twelve days of intense combat in October 1952 cost the U.S. 7th Infantry Division 365 KIA for a piece of turf that ultimately remained in enemy hands
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0LIY/is_1_90/ai_91914493/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-aTpkd6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnbtNtFjyFo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-aTpkd6

Copyright 2011 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com