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• North Korea and the new cooperation mechanism in Northeast Asia
  Posted : 2018-12-15 10:49 Updated : 2018-12-16 09:36 By Li Chengri In the year 2017, war tension on in the Korean Peninsula left Northeast Asia in dangerous place. However, in 2018 drastic changes are taking place faster than expected. The changes taking place in North Korea are truly remarkable. First of all, North Korea clearly declared the transition from Byungjin Line (parallel development of nuclear and economic construction) to concentration on economic development. Secondly, North Korea' leader Kim Jong-un several times mentioned the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In particular, he directly agreed with President Moon Jae-In about creating a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons and nuclear threats. [China Korea] [Academic] [Cliche]
• Samsung to Close Smartphone Plant in Tianjin
  By Park Soon-chan December 13, 2018 10:26 Samsung will close down its plant in Tianjin, China by the end of this month, the company said Wednesday. Samsung has been struggling with dwindling sales in the Chinese smartphone market. The closure will leave its plant in Huizhou as Samsung's only smartphone manufacturing plant there. "We decided to cease the operation of the plant to enhance efficiency in global production. Despite the closure, we do not expect any disruption to supply," a Samsung spokesman said. "We also notified some 2,000 local production staff of the closure and will discuss compensation packages and help them find new jobs." Samsung led the Chinese smartphone market until 2014 with a market share of about 10 percent, but could not resist the onslaught from local rivals like Huawei, OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi that began the following year. Its market share in the third quarter of this year plummeted to 0.7 percent. Quarterly sales have dropped from nearly 20 million to 700,000 units. [China competition] [Samsung]
• US-China trade war 'just tip of iceberg': Jack Ma
  Posted : 2018-12-13 11:09 Updated : 2018-12-13 11:10 In this June 25, 2018, photo, Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group attends the ceremony to launch a blockchain-base remittance solution in Hong Kong. Yonhap By Gary Cheung The ongoing trade war between China and the United States is just the tip of the iceberg hiding deeper, underlying tensions between the world's two largest economies and the real problem lies in their fraught bilateral relations, the executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba said on Wednesday. "Even if the trade war is over, the complicated relationship between China and the US will not be changed in the next 20 years," Jack Ma said. "We need to bear in mind that China has emerged stronger after meeting every challenge." [China confrontation] [Trade war]
• Chinese researchers 'told to avoid US trip unless essential'
  Posted : 2018-12-13 11:40 Updated : 2018-12-13 11:40 Chinese tourists take photographs outside the New York Stock Exchange. Researchers in hi-tech sectors are said to have been told to avoid all non-essential travel to the US. Photo from the South China Morning Post By Wendy Wu Chinese researchers working in sensitive hi-tech sectors have been warned not to take any unnecessary trips to the United States, a source says, as unease grows in the business community following the arrest of a tech executive in Canada. Staff at a research agency were also told in an internal memo that if they did have to travel to the US, they should remove any sensitive information from their mobile phones and laptops, according to the source who was speaking on condition of anonymity. [China confrontation] [Kidnapping]
• Is the kidnapping of Meng Wanzhou (from Huawei) a turning point?
  10 December, 2018 by stalinsmoustache Is the kidnapping of Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive of Huawei, a turning point? Let us leave aside the cowardly Canadians bending to the capricious will of a declining United States, or the increasingly ineffective sanctions that the USA slaps on all and sundry, and consider what I have elsewhere called China’s dialectical leap into the future. Huawei’s technological breakthroughs are only one – albeit important – aspect of a much larger process. Having been the first to test successfully a 5G communication, Huawei has developed a whole process that enables it to roll out a complete network in countries keen to get hold of it. 5G will make wifi and national broadband networks obsolete. How has it been able to achieve this, along with superior technology all the way from smart phones to undersea cables? Of its 180,000 employees, more than half are involved in research and development. Has it done so through ‘intellectual property theft‘? Not at all, but through the active incentives of a communist party in China that knows such developments take place only with significant government support. Yet, Huwaei is only one example of a whole range of technological breakthroughs that have been happening in China over the last few years. I will not go into the full range of these here, but will focus on wider social and political questions. This is because the dialectical leap is taking place not merely on a technological level. [Huawei] [China rising] [Meng Wanzhou] [Innovation]
• U.S. stock futures fall, Asia follows after Canada arrests Huawei CFO
  Hideyuki Sano U.S. stock futures tumbled on Thursday and Asian markets followed after Canadian authorities arrested a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, fanning fears of further tensions between China and the United States. FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York, U.S., December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo S&P500 e-mini futures ESc1 fell almost 2 percent at one point in thin Asian morning trade and were last were down 0.7 percent. The Canadian Justice Department said Meng Wanzhou, deputy chair of Huawei, was arrested early this month and that she was sought for extradition by the United States. Sponsored The arrest heightened the sense of a major collision between the world’s two largest economic powers not just over tariffs but also over technological hegemony. [China confrontation] [Legality]
• 2018: The Year Apple Products Became Obsolete
  5 December, 2018 by stalinsmoustache Is 2018 the year that the global symbol of U.S. technological innovation became obsolete? Or is it the year when we began to realise a reality that has actually been the case for a while? Not so long ago, it was a given that Apple products would be manufactured in China, but that the crucial value-adding would take place in the United States’ infamous Silicon Valley. In this way, companies like Apple could maintain a stranglehold on the global supply chain. No matter that it was often Chinese whizz-kids who were actually in Silicon Valley, finding new ways to keep Apple in front and ensuring the final value-adding. In 2018 a few small but significant shifts took place. Let put this in terms of personal experience. A couple of years ago and against my better instincts, I had accepted a Macbook Air from an employer. I eventually became used to the machine, even with its counter-intuitive and closed structures. It had a good battery and good modem inside and it seemed to work passably well for the first year or so. But it was always a frustrating piece of equipment. After a year or so, its basic clunkiness became more apparent. Despite all the vaunted hype by Apple enthusiasts, I found it no better than other machines I had used earlier. In late 2017 I was fed up. In Beijing I bought a new Xiami laptop, which had recently been launched. At all levels, it is simple a superior piece of equipment. Xiaomi’s aim is to produce the best possible product at a reasonable price. This one was about half the cost of a Macbook Air. What had happened? I thought. Is this an anomaly? No, the value-adding had all taken place in China. I could repeat these observations concerning the Xiaomi phones, but perhaps Huawei is a better example. In 2018 Huawei produced the world’s best smart phone, with integrated AI (artificial intelligence) and a ‘killer’ camera developed by Leica. Its global market share surged past Apple, and is now just behind Samsung. In a couple of years, it will become the world’s top-selling smartphone. Is this a sudden development? Not at all, for the enmeshed socialist market economy of China has been in this path for a number of years. Technological breakthroughs – from high-speed trains, through bridge construction to smart phones and quantum communication – have been actively fostered. For example, for some years now more new patents are registered from Zhongguancun (near where I live in Beijing) than from Silicon Valley. While the former has been attracting more and more global talent, the latter has seen a brain drain. In this light, the crude efforts – by one or two countries such as the United States and Australia – to suggest that Huawei, for example, is a ‘security risk’ should be seen for what they are: desperate rear-guard actions to try and restore the fortunes of companies like Apple. The catch is that people know the technology is now increasingly obsolete and yet one is supposed to pay a premium price for such technology. As someone from India – where Chinese high-tech products are in very high demand – put it: I am sick of the United Stated forcing obsolete technology on the rest of the world at gunpoint. [China rising] [ICT] [Apple] [Decline]

• Pence’s Attacks on China Won’t Help Trump at G-20
  November 28, 2018 Beijing wants to avoid an all-out trade war with Washington. That is what will count at the G-20 summit later this week, writes Patrick Lawrence, not the U.S. vice president’s hostility in Asia earlier this month. Trying to Isolate China is a Failing U.S. Strategy By Patrick Lawrence Special to Consortium News After Vice President Mike Pence’s poor reception in Asia a couple of weeks ago one shouldn’t expect a great outcome for President Donald Trump when he meets China’s President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires on Friday. Trump sent Pence to Asia earlier this month to deliver two bluntly hostile attacks on the Chinese and to insist that the rest of Asia choose: You’re with us or you’re with them. U.S. officials have delivered many obtuse performances in Asia over the years, but Pence bested them when he spoke in Singapore at an annual summit of Southeast Asian nations and, two days later, at the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation session in Papua New Guinea. In Singapore he cast China’s presence in the region as an “empire of aggression”—skipping the fact that China has no recent record of aggression. He then turned the 21–nation APEC session into a direct face-off with Xi, who was also present. The U.S. vice president’s over-the-top performances were probably a case of calculated pugnacity; a softening-up exercise. But if they have any effect at all on Xi it will be to stiffen his position when he meets Trump later this week. Washington does not yet realize that challenging China’s place as an Asian power is a losing proposition. [China confrontation] [Pence] [Trump] [Trade]
• Chinese aircraft enters Korean air space without advance notice
  Posted on : Nov.28,2018 16:53 KST Modified on : Nov.28,2018 16:53 KST 7th infiltration this year likely aimed at neutralizing flight zones A Chinese military aircraft in Japanese air defense identification zone (ADIZ) before entering South Korean ADIZ on Dec. 19, 2017. (Hankyoreh archives) On Nov. 26, a Chinese military aircraft that was presumed to be a Y-8 reconnaissance plane entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) without advance notification. This is the seventh time that South Korea’s Defense Ministry has gone public about such an incident this year, following previous incidents in January, February, April, July, August and October. Reportedly, other incidents were not made public. This raises questions about why China is repeatedly sending planes into this zone without notice despite the risk of an accidental clash. An air defense identification zone (ADIZ) is a sort of buffer zone that countries set up around the perimeter of their sovereign airspace for protection. South Korea requests that the aircraft of other countries provide advance notification before entering this zone in order to prevent accidents or accidental clashes there. But China has never provided such notification before sending its aircraft into the KADIZ. [ADIZ] [China confrontation]
• China envoy warns of dire consequences if U.S. hardliners hold sway
  David Brunnstrom, David Lawder, Matt Spetalnick China is going to this week’s G-20 summit hoping for a deal to ease a damaging trade war with the United States, Beijing’s ambassador to Washington said on Tuesday while warning of dire consequences if U.S. hardliners try to separate the world’s two largest economies. China's ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai responds to reporters questions during an interview with Reuters in Washington, U.S., November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg Speaking to Reuters before heading to join Chinese President Xi Jinping’s delegation at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, Cui Tiankai said China and the United States had a shared responsibility to cooperate in the interests of the global economy. Asked whether he though hardliners in the White House were seeking to separate the closely linked U.S. and Chinese economies, Cui said he did not think it was possible or helpful to do so, adding “I don’t know if people really realize the possible consequences - the impact, the negative impact - if there is such a decoupling.” Sponsored He drew parallels to the tariff wars of the 1930s among industrial countries, which contributed to a collapse of global trade and heightened tensions in the years before World War Two. “The lessons of history are still there. In the last century, we had two world wars, And in between them, the Great Depression. I don’t think anybody should really try to have a repetition of history. These things should never happen again, so people have to act in a responsible way.” Asked whether he thought the current tensions, which have seen the two sides impose tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods, could degenerate into all-out conflict, Cui called the outcome “unimaginable” and that the two countries should do everything to prevent it. [Trade war] [China confrontation] [Conflict]
• China, vying with U.S. in Latin America, eyes Argentina nuclear deal
  Cassandra Garrison, Matt Spetalnick Argentina and China are aiming to close a deal within days for the construction of the South American nation’s fourth nuclear power plant, a multi-billion dollar project that would cement Beijing’s deepening influence in a key regional U.S. ally. A building with The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) logo is seen in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 26, 2018. Picture taken November 26, 2018. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci Argentina hopes to announce an agreement on the Chinese-financed construction of the Atucha III nuclear power plant during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit on Sunday following the summit of leaders of G20 industrialized nations in Buenos Aires, Juan Pablo Tripodi, head of Argentina’s national investment agency, told Reuters in an interview. The potential deal, reportedly worth up to $8 billion, is emblematic of China’s strengthening of economic, diplomatic and cultural ties with Argentina. It is part of a wider push by Beijing into Latin America that has alarmed the United States, which views the region as its backyard and is suspicious of China’s motives. [China rising] [China confrontation] [Argentina] [Nuclear energy]
• America Finally Shows Signs of Competing in Asia
  By Atman Trivedi Atman Trivedi (atrivedi@hillsandco.com) is a managing director at Hills & Company, International Consultants and an adjunct fellow of the Pacific Forum. He worked on Asia policy at the Commerce and State Departments and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. At the recent APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, Vice President Pence delivered a strident speech in remote Papua New Guinea, where dozens of Asia’s leaders witnessed the United States and China take aim at each other. Amid a Cold War-type atmosphere, Pence’s remarks sought to reassure regional elites that “America first” doesn’t mean “America alone.” Knowledgeable observers fret less about Uncle Sam’s muscles atrophying and more about a perceived political indifference to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s assertive and authoritarian turn. In recent weeks, the White House has launched an unprecedented counteroffensive against China to quell these anxieties. But until Asian capitals are convinced Washington is closing the gap between its words and actions, the swashbuckling oratory will provide cold comfort. The economic arena presents the most conspicuous chasm between rhetoric and reality. Washington has struggled to articulate a viable alternative to China’s monumental overseas infrastructure development program, the Belt and Road Initiative. That may now be changing. While much of the focus during Asia’s summit season was on the president’s absence or the dueling positions staked out by Pence and Xi at the APEC Forum, the most interesting geopolitical development might have unfolded last month back in Washington. Lost amid the political tumult, Republicans and Democrats managed to come together to launch an ambitious foreign aid initiative embracing the private sector. With scant fanfare, legislators approved a doubling of financial assistance for infrastructure and other projects in developing countries. Their creation, the clunky-sounding United States International Development Finance Corporation, is armed with important new authorities, such as the ability to invest in equity, that make large-scale infrastructure possible. The IDFC will replace the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which recently had faced elimination from an administration once hostile to foreign aid. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) called the little-known law, named the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act, “the most important piece of U.S. soft power legislation in more than a decade.” The $60 billion program is just a small fraction of the over $1 trillion promised by China in construction investments to over 100 countries as part of the state-led BRI. But what matters is Washington is starting to show interest in making a more attractive offer. This down payment could catalyze much larger sums of private capital. [China confrontation] [Pence] [FDI] [Infrastructure]
• Tsai reaffirms government’s commitment to combating disinformation campaigns
  Publication Date: November 22, 2018 | President Tsai Ing-wen (right) discusses the challenges posed by disinformation campaigns with CSIS President and CEO John Hamre at the Office of the President Nov. 20 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Office of the President) President Tsai Ing-wen said Nov. 20 that Taiwan is on the front lines of the global fight against disinformation and will meet this challenge by strengthening cooperation with like-minded nations. Democratic countries are facing growing nontraditional threats, as authoritarian regimes seek to take advantage of freedom of speech and the press to manipulate public opinion and divide societies, Tsai said. Taiwan is committed to combating disinformation campaigns through working with international partners on advancing media literacy and defending the shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, she added. [Taiwan] [CSIS] [Propaganda]
• US asks allies to avoid Huawei's equipment: WSJ
  Posted : 2018-11-23 09:39 Updated : 2018-11-23 15:18 People walk past a sign board of Huawei at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Asia 2018 in Shanghai, China, June 14. Reuters The U.S. government is trying to persuade wireless and internet providers in allied countries to avoid telecommunications equipment from China's Huawei Technologies , the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. U.S. officials have reached out to their government counterparts and telecom executives in friendly countries where Huawei equipment is already in wide use about what they see as cybersecurity risks, according to the WSJ report which cited unnamed people familiar with the situation. Huawei has come under scrutiny in the United States recently. Intelligence agency leaders and others have said they are concerned that Huawei and other Chinese companies may be beholden to the Chinese government or ruling Communist Party, raising the risk of espionage. Washington has been considering increasing financial aid for telecommunications development in countries that shun Chinese-made equipment, the WSJ reported. One of the government's concerns is based on the use of Chinese telecom equipment in countries that host U.S. military bases, such as Germany, Italy and Japan, the report added. Huawei did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. (Reuters) [China confrontation] [China competition] Huawei] [Cybersecurity] [US dominance]
• Chinese online shopping sites ditch Dolce & Gabbana in ad backlash
  Posted : 2018-11-23 09:24 Updated : 2018-11-23 14:04 A general view of the venue for The Great Show of Dolce and Gabbana in Shanghai, China, Nov. 19. The Italian luxury fashion house canceled the Great Show in Shanghai hours before the scheduled time after celebrities boycotted invites made by its designer and co-founder Stefano Gabbana, following the brand's Instagram comments that were deemed racist towards China. EPA Chinese e-commerce sites have removed Dolce & Gabbana products amid a spiraling backlash against an advertising campaign that was decried as racist by celebrities and on social media. The ads - released earlier this week to drum up interest in a Shanghai fashion show the Italian brand later canceled - featured a Chinese woman struggling to eat spaghetti and pizza with chopsticks, sparking criticism from consumers. The blunder was compounded when screenshots were circulated online of a private Instagram conversation, in which the brand's designer Stefano Gabbana makes a reference to "China Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia" and uses the smiling poo emoji to describe the country. The brand said Gabbana's account had been hacked. [Racism] [Italy] [Consumer boycott]
• China's Top Online Travel Agency Dithers on Group Tours to Korea
  By Lee Kil-seong November 15, 2018 11:53 China's largest online travel agency Ctrip resumed sales of group tours to Korea on Wednesday after a one-year halt but changed its mind again just a few hours later. Ctrip began selling tour packages to Korea at 2 p.m. Wednesday leaving from Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing. The five-day tours included visits to Seoul, Busan, Gangwon Province and Jeju Island. There were rumors that the Chinese government had authorized the resumption of group tours and the second and third-largest online travel agencies would soon start selling tour packages too. [THAAD] [China SK]
• Why Xinjiang? Why now?
  17 November, 2018 by stalinsmoustache, Guess that is what you get for not reading corporate, state-owned and ‘independent’ media in places like Australia. Within one day after returning, a number of people have been brought me up to speed on what is not merely selective sensationalism in regard to Xinjiang, but what can only be described as wilful misinformation. I have heard talk in the media and by government figures of ‘camps’ (invoking Nazi concentration camps), of ‘brainwashing’, of a whole minority nationality – the Uyghur – being subjected to ‘human rights abuses’. My initial reaction was to think that this was a large science fiction plot, with another earth-like planet and a place called China, about which fanciful narratives had been developed. It is certainly not the China in which I live and work for a large part of the year. But then I realised that such narratives are supposedly speaking about the same place. So I enquired further and found that the following information is systematically not made available in this part of the world, even though one can easily find it (and not merely in an earlier post). Ever since the incorporation of Xinjiang into China in the mid-eighteenth century, it has been a restive part of the country on the western border. However, from the 1990s, these problems have become more acute. The reason was a notable increase in influence from Islamic extremism from further west, with a number of outcomes. [Xinjiang] [Islamist]
• Pope Francis Betrays PRC Catholics: Arrivederci, Taiwan?
  By Sean King Sean King (sking@parkstrategies.com) is a senior vice president at consultancy Park Strategies in New York. He is a former US Department of Commerce official and often quoted on US-Asian affairs. This article originally appeared in Global Taiwan Institute Vol. 3, Issue 6. Pope Francis’ recent decision to accept seven Chinese bishops chosen by Beijing’s government and not by the Holy See, while asking two other Vatican-appointed bishops not approved by Beijing to step down, is a major step back for religious freedom in officially atheist China (where there’s not much religious freedom to begin with). It also portends a major diplomatic blow for Taiwan. It is no wonder that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen invited the Pope to Taipei last week. Perhaps she senses the coming disaster. Historically, Chinese communists have targeted Catholics. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) broke off diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1951, two years after Mao Zedong came to power and only one year after the outbreak of the Korean War, arresting Catholics and nationalizing religious institutions (e.g., churches, hospitals, etc.). Foreign missionaries were banned and believers were shot in public. The upshot for Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Republic of China (ROC) government, by then in quasi-domestic exile on Taiwan, was that the Vatican thereafter established formal diplomatic relations with Taipei that it maintains still today (at least, for now). The Chiangs themselves were devout Christians, albeit Methodists. ROC First Lady Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the daughter of a Methodist minister, had a big role in her husband’s Christian conversion years before. [China confrontation] [Taiwan] [Vatican] [Catholic Church] {Pope Francis]
• White House curtails Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro's public role as Larry Kudlow rips him for comments on China talks
  • The Trump administration has deliberately curtailed trade advisor Peter Navarro's public role amid tensions with top economic advisor Larry Kudlow, a source said. • Kudlow criticized Navarro's comments on ongoing trade negotiations with China. • President Donald Trump plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this month amid a trade war. Jacob Pramuk | Eamon Javers Published 1 Hour Ago Updated 22 Mins Ago CNBC.com The White House has deliberately curtailed trade advisor Peter Navarro's public profile amid a clash with top economic advisor Larry Kudlow, a person with knowledge of the matter told CNBC on condition of anonymity. Despite the tensions, neither official is expected to leave the administration soon, said the source, who declined to be named. President Donald Trump could also change his mind at any time about Navarro's role. On Tuesday, Kudlow slammed Navarro for his remarks on the White House's ongoing trade negotiations with China. Washington and Beijing have struggled to reach a new trade deal and de-escalate tensions that have led to mounting tariffs. Larry Kudlow says Peter Navarro remarks on Wall Street were way ‘off base’ 11:12 AM ET Tue, 13 Nov 2018 | 01:50 Last week, Navarro said a potential deal with China "will be on President Donald J. Trump's terms. Not Wall Street's terms." Navarro, who has taken an aggressive stance toward changes in the U.S. trade relationship with China, contended that "there will be a stench around any deal that's consummated" because of Wall Street's involvement. The comments helped to sink the stock market. Kudlow told CNBC on Tuesday that Navarro "was not speaking for the president, nor was he speaking for the administration." "His remarks were way off base. They were not authorized by anybody. I actually think he did the president a great disservice," said Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council. [China confrontation] [Navarro] [Kudlow] [Trade war]
• Retiree walking across China to North Korea to respect martyrs, reflect on friendship
  By Hu Yuwei Source: Global Times Published: 2018/11/1 20:05:52 A descendant of martyrs at Kaesong Martyrs Cemetery lays a flower for the elder generations on April 6, in Kaesong, North Korea. Photo: VCG Wei Yongxiu has been walking for over a month, with 1,300 kilometers remaining to her destination, North Korea. This female retiree, 55, initiated a trek to North Korea in memory of the martyrs sacrificed in the Korean War. On September 23, Wei Yongxiu, a retired factory worker from Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, began her "pilgrimage" from Guizhou to North Korea, a place that she remembers countless Chinese soldiers fought and shed their blood during Korean War (1950-53). She has no knowledge of how to use a mobile phone to navigate, nor does she carry a map with her. Even so, she looks pure, firm and persistent, like a pilgrim traveling to the Mecca of her own world. She stops, lays flowers, sweeps tombs and worships at every martyr's cemetery she passes on the tour. "Without these martyrs, there would be no happy life and peace for us today," she said, sobbing as she spoke to the Global Times. "In this way, I hope to honor my heroes, especially the Chinese martyrs who died in the Korean War. They paid for our peace today with their lives and blood." With no route planning, only a few hundred yuan in her pocket, and no North Korean visa, her trek is seen by many as brash and crazy. NK obsession Wei seems to have some kind of obsessional, visceral friendliness toward North Korea. Although this woman with only a primary school education level does not even know the exact location of North Korea, it never affects her determination to go forward, heading to Northeast China, where a border line between two countries lies. Her affinity for North Korea is rooted in her childhood memories. "When I was young, portraits of three people hung on the walls of my house - Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin and Kim Il-sun. North Korea and China have always had a close relationship. That's why our martyrs shed their blood during the Korean War, because to protect North Korea is to protect ourselves," she told the Global Times [China NK] [Korean War] [Imperialism]
• World War I’s Depressing Lessons for Asia
  Trade is no guarantee of peace, and Xi's China is looking worryingly like the Kaiser's Germany. By James Holmes | November 9, 2018, 10:19 AM World War I is almost forgotten in America. And that’s a shame. Mark Twain once wisecracked, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” America’s greatest humorist didn’t live to comment when the German Army barged into Belgium in August 1914 or to decry the bloodletting that followed. But Twain’s ghost must be hearing clear rhymes from the Great War a century after the guns of August fell silent on Nov. 11, 1918. Among them, new great powers unbalancing an established balance of geopolitical power and a running debate over whether globalization begets peace. These both matter today, and nowhere more than in the rapidly accelerating strategic struggle between the United States and China. [WWI] [False analogy] [China confrontation] [Conflict]
• Trump all but announces trade deal with China
  US president touts success in getting Beijing to moderate Made in China 2025 target By David P. Goldman November 8, 2018 / US President Donald Trump speaks during a post-election press conference in the East Room of the White House. Photo: AFP/Jim Watson In a press conference at the White House Wednesday afternoon, following better-than-expected results for his party in midterm elections, President Trump all but declared that he had concluded a trade deal with China. “They got rid of ‘China 25,’” the president said in response to a reporter’s question, in an apparent reference to China’s Made in China 2025 program to eliminate dependence on imports in several key high-tech industries by the year 2025. "China would have superseded us in two years as an economic power. Now they’re not even close. China got rid of their ‘China 25’ because I found it very insulting. I told that to them. That means in 2025 they’re going to take over – economically – the world,” Trump told reporters. Significantly, Trump used the past tense, as if referring to a deal that was already well on its way to completion. [Trump] [China confrontation] [China competition] [Wishful thinking]
• Surveillance and Its Uses
  8 November, 2018 by stalinsmoustache At a recent Sinology conference here in Beijing, I met again a very interesting person. He was for decades the Danish consul-general in Beijing, with access to the highest levels of government. After retirement, he became active in research centres and speaking to many audiences around the world. These presentations focus on outlining a much fuller picture of the situation in China to audiences who have a piecemeal and often distorted view. He also takes a longer historical perspective on such matters. [Surveillance] [Xinjiang] [Turkey]
• Kim Jong-un emphasizes future of North Korea-China relations after joint arts performance
  Posted on : Nov.5,2018 16:40 KST Modified on : Nov.5,2018 16:40 KST Interest abounds concerning Xi Jinping’s Pyongyang before end of year South and North Korea hoist yellow flags at 11 guard posts on each side of the DMZ in the beginning of the trial phase of the disarmament process mentioned in an inter-Korean military agreement signed on Sept. 19. (provided by MND) After watching a combined performance by artists from China and North Korea at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang on Nov. 3, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared that “the traditional amity between North Korea and China, which has overcome the numerous storms of history, will flourish and develop even more moving forward, and we have been made certain of its bright future,” according to reports in the Rodong Sinmun and Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Nov. 4. “The performance I saw was overflowing with the warmth and affection of the people of China and North Korea,” Kim said, while expressing “gratitude from the bottom of my heart” to Chinese President Xi Jinping for arranging the visit by the Chinese artists. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry held a welcome banquet for the visiting Chinese artists at the Koryo Hotel Pyongyang on Nov. 2, and Kim Jong-un attended the combined performance on Nov. 3. Kim was accompanied at the performance by Choe Ryong-hae and Ri Su-yong, both vice chairmen of the Workers’ Party of Korea; Kim Yo-jong, deputy director of the party’s central committee; and Culture Minister Pak Chun-nam. At the site of the performance, Kim was greeted by Luo Shugang, China’s Minister of Culture and Tourism and the head of the group of musicians; Wang Yajun, Vice Minister of the Communist Party of China’s International Department; and Li Jinjun, Chinese ambassador to North Korea. As interest surrounds the possibility of Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting North Korea before the end of the year, Kim’s message of friendship to China regarding the formation of an amicable relationship between the two countries is attracting attention. [Kim Jong Un] [China NK]
• Xi Jinping looks to the northeast to make China great again
  30 October 2018 Author: Nathan Attrill, ANU For 40 years, northeast China has frustrated the political leadership in Beijing. Once the heartland of an industrial, modern socialist China, the region has fallen behind the rest of the country on all measures of economic, social and environmental well-being. A statue of former Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong is seen in front of a residential building in Dandong New Zone, Liaoning province, China, 12 June 2018 (Photo: Reuters/Stringer). Since 2003, the central government has spent a significant amount of resources on revitalising the northeast into a fourth engine of the Chinese economy after the Pearl River delta, the Yangtze River delta, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic corridor. But the results have been mixed at best and hopeless at worst. Not only is the northeast the ‘rust belt of China’, it may be one of the most severe cases of deindustrialisation globally. The revitalisation strategy has itself been ‘revitalised’ twice, with the changes reflecting the economic debates in the leadership of the time. In September 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping undertook an extensive and well-publicised inspection tour of China’s three northeast provinces — Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. Inspection tours by political leaders in China are an essential part of their role in drawing attention to issues of importance and in scaring recalcitrant cadres into adopting the centre’s policy lines. Xi knew exactly what he was doing by visiting the northeast right before the anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms and opening up speech in 1978. The northeast still has a symbolic and substantive significance to contemporary Chinese politics, which Xi understands and which China watchers should as well.
  ‘Self-reliance’ was the theme of the tour and the recent trade war developments with the United States were squarely in mind. The ability of China to produce enough food for its people was a key talking point. From Beijing’s point of view, China can no longer rely on an open and liberal trade regime for its continuing economic modernisation and instead should build up its own capabilities and economic activity. The northeast is the perfect symbolic location to hammer home this point as its self-reliance is an enduring legacy of the Maoist industrialisation drive. [Northeast strategy] [Xi Jinping] [Self reliance]
• Response to PacNet #71, "How Can Maritime Good Order be Maintained in the South China Sea?"
  By Joseph Bosco and Sukjoon Yoon Joseph Bosco (boscoja@gmail.com) is a consultant and former China country director at the US Department of Defense. Sukjoon Yoon (sjyoon6680@kima.re.kr) is a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs and served more than 30 years in the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). Joseph Bosco responds to Sukjoon Yoon: In PacNet 71, “How Can Maritime Good Order Be Maintained in the South China Sea,” Sukjoon Yoon examines the respective responsibilities of the United States and China to maintain stability in the waters of Southeast Asia. With appreciation for his 30 years of service with the Republic of Korea Navy, this article is deeply flawed. It accepts China’s position as the moral and legal equivalent to that asserted by the United States and the international community: [SCS] [MISCOM] [China confrontation]

• Chinese Spy Jet Enters Korea's Air Identification Zone Again
  By Yu Yong-weon October 30, 2018 10:36 A Chinese military reconnaissance jet flew into Korea's air defense identification zone again without warning on Monday. It flew from an area near Jeju Island at around 10:00 a.m. and stayed for about five hours before turning back at about 3:00 p.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This was the sixth time this year Chinese military aircraft intruded into the KADIZ. The Korean Air Force scrambled about a dozen F-15K fighter jets and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force also mobilized several fighter jets right after the Chinese spy plane came into the KADIZ. Air defense identification zones are not territorial airspace but require incoming planes to identify themselves to the county that claims them. International practice is for foreign military and civilian aircraft to seek permission from military authorities of relevant countries 24 hours before entering such zones. Military authorities here complained that it has become almost routine for China to violate the KADIZ, apparently in an attempt to gather military intelligence and check how the Korean and Japanese air forces respond. [ADIZ] [China confrontation]
• Indo-Pacific – A Challenge for ASEAN's 'Mousedeer Diplomacy'
  By Anthony Milner and Astanah Abdul Aziz Anthony Milner (Anthony.Milner@anu.edu.au) is emeritus professor at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University; Astanah Abdul Aziz (astanah@gmail.com) is an official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia. This article reflects her personal views and is not a statement of the Malaysian government’s position. ‘Indo-Pacific’ has increasingly become code for confrontation, or ‘pushback’ – but can Indonesia rescue the ‘Indo-Pacific’ on behalf of ASEAN and regional inclusivity? In the United States, Australia, Japan, and India much is being said about the ‘Indo-Pacific.’ Strategic concept, forum, regional community – whatever way the idea is developed, it is increasingly seen as a new manner of thinking about the region, and one that dilutes the predominance of China. [China Confrontation] [Quadrilateral Alliance] [Indonesia]
• Is China a new imperial power?
  Chandra Muzaffar By Chandra Muzaffar October 26, 2018 3:08 PM (UTC+8) Is China a new imperial power threatening some of the developing economies in Asia and Africa? This is a perception that is being promoted through the media by certain China watchers in universities and think-tanks mainly in the West, by various politicians, and by a segment of the global NGO community. The peddlers of this perception argue that by giving out loans for development to poor countries, China is snaring them in a debt trap. It is a trap that ensures that they are perpetually under China’s control. Is there such a debt trap? To find out, this article will look at three Asian countries before turning to Africa. The dailyReport Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox Pakistan has taken loans from China for projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The US$50 billion CPEC is a network of infrastructure projects that are under construction throughout Pakistan that will connect China’s Xinjiang province with Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. A number of these projects will strengthen Pakistan’s energy sector, which is vital for its economic growth. They will help to reduce its severe trade deficit. Debt servicing of CPEC loans, which will only start this year, amounts to less than $80 million. Pakistan’s largest creditors are not China but Western countries and multilateral lenders led by the International Monetary Fund and international commercial banks. As researchers Hussein Askary and Jason Ross note, its foreign debt “is expected to surpass $95 billion this year and debt servicing is projected to reach $31 billion by 2022-2023.” There is evidence to show that its creditors “have been actively meddling in Pakistan’s fiscal policies and its sovereignty through debt rescheduling programs and the conditionalities attached to IMF loans.” The media do not highlight this, which is, in fact, Pakistan’s real debt trap. Neither do they inform the public that CPEC loans are for projects that are of immense and direct value to the Pakistani people. Their value will be further enhanced when the new Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan visits China on November 3 and broadens the CPEC to emphasize cooperation in agriculture and social-sector development. Distortions and half-truths have also colored media accounts of China’s relationship to the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota. [ODI] [Belt & Road] [Debt]
• How Can Maritime Good Order Be Maintained in the South China Sea?
  By Sookjoon Yoon Sookjoon Yoon (sjyoon6680@kima.re.kr) is a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs and served more than 30 years in the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) enshrines the concept of innocent passage through a coastal state’s territorial waters. Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, maritime good order, or security of the coastal state. A vessel in innocent passage may traverse the coastal state’s territorial sea expeditiously, not stopping or anchoring except in situations of force majeure. The underlying principle is thus to establish rules for the maintenance of maritime good order without the need for military force; it does not create or imply any freedom to perform military applications in the specified maritime domain. Unfortunately, in the South China Sea (SCS) both China and the US are directly undermining maritime security through military activities intended to support their narrower national interests. [South China Sea] [False balance]
• World's longest sea crossing pulls in tourists
  Posted : 2018-10-25 11:36 Updated : 2018-10-25 16:10 Tourists arrive in Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on its first day in public service. Photos from South China Morning Post By Kanis Leung, Su Xinqi From both sides of the border they came. Young and old, rich and poor, all drawn to see an astounding feat of human engineering. Taking pictures when they were allowed, simply marvelling at the sheer size of the world's longest sea crossing when not, and enjoying the ability to drive and be driven between three cities more quickly than ever before, more than 20,000 people used the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on Wednesday. Law Chit-kwong, 55, a construction worker on the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok link that will connect the border crossing facility to the northwest New Territories, took a day off to witness the moment. "Of course, I am happy ? I spent five years building it," he said. Retiree Ricky Fung Kwan-wah, 66, who joined a one-day tour to Macau and Zhuhai, praised the design of the border clearance building, calling it "beautiful, with ceiling lights that kept changing colours". "I want to see [Hong Kong Chief Executive] Carrie Lam," he joked. [Hong Kong] [Macau] [Infrastructure]
• North Korean general gets warm welcome in China as ties improve
  Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean general got a warm welcome in Beijing on Thursday, a rare high-profile showing at an international military forum by his normally reclusive country, underscoring an improvement in ties with China and the world. FILE PHOTO: North Korea's Vice Minister of the People's Armed Forces Kim Hyong Ryong (2-R) speaks with Venezuela's Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez (L) at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump held a landmark summit in Singapore in June as they both look to set aside decades of hostility and bring peace to the Korean peninsula. The two Koreas have also held three summits this year, while Kim has also met Chinese President Xi Jinping three times in 2018. Attending the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, which China styles as its answer to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Kim Hyong Ryong, vice minister of North Korea’s People’s Armed Forces, was greeted warmly by other attendees, including Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen. Addressing the forum, Kim said peace was the priority. [China NK]
• China says military will act 'at any cost' to prevent Taiwan split
  Ben Blanchard China’s military will take action “at any cost” to foil any attempt to separate the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, the country’s defense minister said on Thursday. Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe salutes after addressing the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter China has been infuriated by recent U.S. sanctions on its military, one of a growing number of flashpoints in Sino-U.S. ties that include a bitter trade war, the issue of Taiwan, and China’s increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea. On Monday, the United States sent two warships through the Taiwan Strait in the second such operation this year and the latest in a series of U.S. gestures in support of democratic Taiwan. Sponsored “The Taiwan issue is related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and touches upon China’s core interests,” Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe said at the opening of the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, which China styles as its answer to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore. “On this issue, it is extremely dangerous to repeatedly challenge China’s bottom line. If someone tries to separate out Taiwan, China’s military will take the necessary actions at any cost.” [Taiwan] [Independence] [Warning]
• China's hidden camps: What's happened to the vanished Uighurs of Xinjiang?
  By John Sudworth China is accused of locking up hundreds of thousands of Muslims without trial in its western region of Xinjiang. The government denies the claims, saying people willingly attend special “vocational schools” which combat “terrorism and religious extremism”. Now a BBC investigation has found important new evidence of the reality. Detention in the desert On 12 July 2015 a satellite swung over the rolling deserts and oasis cities of China's vast far west. One of the images it captured that day just shows a patch of empty, untouched, ashen-grey sand. It seems an unlikely place to start an investigation into one of the most pressing human rights concerns of our age. But less than three years later, on 22 April 2018, a satellite photo of that same piece of desert showed something new. [Xinjiang] [Uygur] [BBC]
• China Expands Its Peace and Security Footprint in Africa
  China’s growing engagement with African countries got a publicity boost on 3-4 September with the latest Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The triennial event brought leaders and officials from 53 African countries and the African Union (AU) to Beijing for meetings that culminated in a resolution to continue strengthening ties and a renewed pledge of billions of dollars in Chinese loans, grants and investments. Over the past decade China’s role in peace and security has also grown rapidly through arms sales, military cooperation and peacekeeping deployments in Africa. Today, through FOCAC and support to the AU and other mechanisms, China is making a growing effort to take a systematic, pan-African approach to security on the continent. [China Africa]
• Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan wraps up in Taipei
  Publication Date: October 24, 2018 | MOFA Vice Minister Jose Maria Liu (front, sixth left), AIT Director Brent Christensen (front, fourth right) and EWC representative Nick Barker (front, right) are joined by officials and program participants at the PILP closing ceremony Oct. 24 in Taipei City. (Staff photo/Huang Chung-hsin) The Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan (PILP) wrapped up Oct. 24 in Taipei City, underscoring the government’s commitment to advancing sustainable regional development via collaborative efforts led by Taiwan and the U.S. Organized by the Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with Hawaii-based East-West Center, this year’s edition of PILP involved young professionals from 12 countries: diplomatic allies Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu, as well as Fiji, French Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. [Taiwan] [South Pacific] [Competition] [Corruption]
• Why North Korean newspaper highlights US-China trade feud?
  Posted : 2018-10-22 12:11 Updated : 2018-10-22 14:04 Tweet Follow @koreatimescokr North Korea's official newspaper again ran an article on the escalating conflict between the United States and China on Monday, citing expert opinions critical of Washington. The Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said in a commentary that confrontations between Washington and Beijing, which were caused by the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on each other, have been spreading to various other areas. The newspaper then said that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's open criticism of China in his recent address and ensuing refutation from Beijing has further worsened the American-Chinese relationship. [Trade war] [Resistance] China NK]
• What the Trump Administration's Consideration of a Plan to Ban Chinese Students Says About US-China Competition
  The proposal suggests how seriously the administration is thinking about confrontation and competition with China. By Robert Farley October 23, 2018 The Trump administration almost dealt a massive blow to the U.S.-China relationship, the fallout of which would have critically wounded the U.S. higher education industry. According to the Financial Times, the Trump administration considered rejecting all visa applications by Chinese students. The proposal was spearheaded by Stephen Miller, whom many suspect of driving a nationalist agenda on immigration. This was on top of the new restrictions and requirements placed earlier this year on students working in fields of science and engineering. This proposal would have had a dramatic effect on U.S. universities, which increasingly depend on international students to fill the gap caused by dwindling enrollment. It would also have hamstrung U.S. scientific research, which depends not only on the health of institutions of higher learning, but also on the labor of research assistants, teaching assistants, and other graduate students. As the article suggests, however, the Trump administration views the U.S. academic community in an unfavorable light, a view shared broadly among American conservatives. Officially, the primary concern of the administration involves the espionage threat that Chinese students pose. This includes not simply the students themselves (especially those in science and engineering fields), but also the broader infrastructure that the Chinese government has constructed within the United States to support and monitor the student population. This administrative infrastructure is widely believed to serve as a platform for infiltration and intelligence gathering. Indeed, even some American universities have begun express concern over the growing role that Confucius Institutes play on campus. More broadly, the proposal fits with how the Trump administration has begun to structure the U.S. relationship with China. Espionage or no, the administration believes that China is piggy-backing on U.S. educational, business, and technological acumen as a core element of its development strategy. Undercutting that development strategy holds the prospect of cutting into Chinese economic growth, and the broader growth in Chinese technological sophistication. [China confrontation] [Education] [Softpower] [Imperial dilemma]
• Will Vietnam toe US line on South China Sea?
  By Li Jiangang Source: Global Times Published: 2018/10/21 20:48:39 19 China and Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam have over the past couple of years reached fundamental consensus on maintaining the stability of the South China Sea. But it seems that the US is unwilling to see the waters turning from a hotspot "battleground" into a region of relative tranquility. That's why it has been wooing Vietnam and its neighbors to support its efforts of establishing a US-dominated South China Sea. Most recently, a guided-missile destroyer of the US Navy sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Nansha Islands. The trip by US Defense Secretary James Mattis to Vietnam came at a time when China-US trade tensions are running high. His visit is also part of US President Donald Trump's overall strategy to contain a rising China. According to a report by AFP, Mattis said en route to Ho Chi Minh that the US remains "highly concerned with continued militarization of features in the South China Sea". In addition, he scolded China for its "growing" military presence and "predatory economic behavior" against smaller Asian nations. With such moves, the US has put itself on a high moral ground to elicit support from smaller countries, which is similar to its clamor about China "plundering the US economy". Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee, was nominated the next president of Vietnam. If approved, he will undertake more diplomatic activities as the country's president. He prefers stable, pragmatic and China-friendly policies, so the US and other Western countries are worried about pro-China political moderates dominate Vietnam's diplomacy. Mattis' visit this time might aim at finding out the real diplomatic intentions of Hanoi. But Vietnam is unwilling to submit to become a pawn of America. [South China Sea] [China confrontation] [Vietnam] [Pawn]
• China must release the renminbi
  16 October 2018 Author: Yu Yongding, CASS China has had an inflexible exchange rate regime for many decades. Until 2015, China had a crawling-peg-like arrangement. On 11 August 2015, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) took a decisive step towards floating the renminbi (RMB) exchange rate. Due to a misjudgement of market sentiment at the time and bad luck, the reform experiment caused market panic and, as a matter of fact, the reform was quickly halted....
  As one of the largest capital-exporting countries, China has run large investment deficits for many years. This is already very bad. Now China’s foreign assets may have fallen significantly, while its foreign liabilities may have increased. This pattern in the international balance of payments will create serious problems in the future for an ageing China. A distorted exchange rate is a major contributor to this problem. Chinese authorities must make up their minds quickly to complete the drawn-out reform of the country’s exchange rate regime. In recent quarters, the PBC has stopped its daily intervention in the foreign exchange market. This is a very positive development. Allowing the RMB exchange rate to float is the only way for China to correct its external imbalances and allow monetary policy to focus on promoting growth, prices and financial stability. Yu Yongding is a Senior Fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and former member of the monetary policy committee of the People’s Bank of China.[RMB] [Exchange rate]
• China’s shifting view on the Korean Peninsula
  Bertil Linter (Asian Times, 10.10.18) Posted on 18 October 2018 As US-China relations deteriorate on various fronts, the last thing Beijing wants is for North Korea to fall into Washington’s sphere of influence If it was an uphill task in June for the United States to win China’s support for its efforts to get North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs, the chances now are virtually nil. With an escalating trade war, allegations of Chinese meddling in US elections, and saber-rattling in the South China Sea, China is more concentrated than before on its own security interests – and the last thing it likely wants is for North Korea to fall into America’s sphere of influence. [US NK Negotiations] [China NK]
• Xinjiang’s soft landing to peace, stability deserves respect
  17 October, 2018 by stalinsmoustache, posted in China, socialism in power Following on from my earlier piece on the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province, here is a useful update from the Global Times: Xinjiang’s situation has been improving in recent years. Its flourishing tourism shows Chinese societal confidence in Xinjiang security is recovering rapidly. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region revised its anti-extremism regulation last Tuesday, which will further promote the fight against the three evil forces of separatism, extremism and terrorism in Xinjiang. The regulation stipulates that government above county level can set up vocational training centers. This has attracted wide attention. Since the beginning of this year, some Western media and politicians have been viciously attacking actions adopted by Xinjiang to help those affected by extremism to return to their families and society through educational transformation, accusing Xinjiang of “violating human rights”. Trainees learn the national language, laws and job skills in the institutes. Western forces accuse the authorities of religious persecution. Radical Western politicians and media have set off a wave of anti-China rhetoric and Xinjiang has become their new target. [Xinjiang] [Uyghur]
• China and World Order: Navigating the Thucydides and Kindleberger Traps Part 1
  Ramesh Thakur Posted on 3 October 2018 There have been two big geopolitical storylines thus far in this century: the US has suffered a relative decline from its dominant position at the end of the Cold War; and China has acquired impressive power in both relative and absolute terms. How China develops economically and evolves politically, and how it behaves domestically, regionally and globally, are among the most critical questions confronting the world going forward. [Decline] [China rise]
  • The Kindleberger Trap
    Jan 9, 2017 Joseph S. Nye Charles Kindleberger, one of the intellectual architects of the Marshall Plan, argued that the disastrous decade of the 1930s was a result of the United States' failure to provide global public goods after it had replaced Britain as the leading power. Today, as China’s power grows, will it make the same mistake? CAMBRIDGE – As US President-elect Donald Trump prepares his administration’s policy toward China, he should be wary of two major traps that history has set for him. The “Thucydides Trap,” cited by Chinese President Xi Jinping, refers to the warning by the ancient Greek historian that cataclysmic war can erupt if an established power (like the United States) becomes too fearful of a rising power (like China). But Trump also has to worry about the “Kindleberger Trap”: a China that seems too weak rather than too strong. Charles Kindleberger, an intellectual architect of the Marshall Plan who later taught at MIT, argued that the disastrous decade of the 1930s was caused when the US replaced Britain as the largest global power but failed to take on Britain’s role in providing global public goods. The result was the collapse of the global system into depression, genocide, and world war. Today, as China’s power grows, will it help provide global public goods? [China rise] [Hegemony]
• Chinese students aren’t completely banned from the US – yet
  Trump aides led by anti-immigration crusader Stephen Miller are reportedly pushing for blanket ban By Asia Times staff October 4, 2018 One of the Trump administration’s most vocal anti-immigration advisers, Stephen Miller, made headlines this week when the Financial Times reported that he was urging the president to “make it impossible for Chinese citizens to study in the US.” While some other more hawkish administration officials sided with Miller, who along with being a senior policy adviser is credited with writing Donald Trump’s most high-profile speeches, there is no indication of how seriously the president took the advice. The US ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, pushed back on Miller’s assertion that the policy would hurt culturally liberal, elite universities, pointing out that smaller schools all across the country rely more heavily on the money that streams in from China. Students from China make up by far the highest proportion, almost one-third, of foreign students studying in the US, spending billions in the process. The idea of a blanket ban was shot down, for the time being, but various restrictions on Chinese visas for those engaged in scientific research with applications in strategic industries have already been put in place by the Trump administration. [China confrontation] [Softpower] [Incompetence]
• New Silk Roads define brand China
  Belt and Road Initiative is a strategic axis embodying the organizing Chinese foreign policy concept for the next three decades By Pepe Escobar October 4, 2018 Shanghai and computer connectivity. Image: iStock The New Silk Roads symbolize way more than high-speed rail lines crisscrossing Eurasia, or a maze of highways, pipelines and port connectivity. They represent a Chinese alliance with at least 65 participating nations, responsible for 62% of the world’s population and 31% of its GDP. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it’s formally known, is not a “road” or a collection of roads, like the Ancient Silk Road. It’s a strategic axis embodying the organizing Chinese foreign policy concept for the next three decades. And BRI goes beyond Eurasia and Africa, extending all the way to Latin America as well, as Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed in January at the summit between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states. Tackling every field from communications strategy to infrastructure, finance, culture, education and geopolitical relations between states, BRI aims to reinforce China’s political capital. The emphasis so far – we’re still in the initial planning stage – is not even on concrete projects, although some are already game-changers. Take for instance the new railway linking the dry port of Khorgos, on the China-Kazakhstan border, to Almaty (in Kazakhstan), Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara (in Uzbekistan), Turkmenabat (in Turkmenistan), to Mashhad in Iran and all the way to Tehran. Because China is the only nation in the world to have devised a nearly global strategy in terms of trade and investment, BRI is allowing China to shape what Washington defines as the “rules-based” international system closer to its priorities. The global economic context, slowly but surely, will be adapting to what BRI represents. So it comes as no surprise that from an Anglo-American point of view, BRI-bashing is now a cottage industry. BRI is routinely derided as neo-colonialism and debt enslavement, pronounced “dead” in Malaysia – and soon to be dead in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. [Belt & Road] [Alliance]
• MOFA thanks US Vice President Pence for firm support of Taiwan
  Publication Date: October 05, 2018 | The firm support for Taiwan expressed by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in remarks delivered at the Hudson Institute in Washington is sincerely appreciated by the government and people of Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oct. 5. Pence recognized Taiwan’s democratic development and reaffirmed the U.S government’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act, the MOFA said. He also spotlighted China’s campaign of coercion against Taiwan and the threat this poses to the cross-strait status quo and regional peace, the ministry added. The MOFA said Pence’s remarks demonstrate the moral fortitude of the U.S. government in consistently backing Taiwan in the international arena while keeping a close eye on developments in the Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific security challenges. [Pence] [China confrontation] [Taiwan]
• China’s Human Rights Abuses Against Uighurs in Xinjiang
  By Hilary Hurd Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 8:00 AM During a 2013 trip to Kazakhstan, Xi Jinping announced the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI)—China’s ambitious plan to enhance its “friendship” with the rest of the world through expanded investments in infrastructure and trade. Xinjiang, a resource-rich autonomous region in Northwest China lying at the border of Kazakhstan and seven other central Asian countries, was to be a crucial economic artery for this new world-embracing plan. Five years later, Xinjiang looks nothing like Xi’s vision of an internationally cooperative, friendly China. Under the guise of “fighting terrorism,” China has created a large-scale program for the mass surveillance, incarceration and re-education of Xinjiang’s Turkic-speaking Muslims, the Uighurs, as well as other minority groups. These actions clearly contravene China’s international commitments as well as its own domestic law—but it’s unclear what actions the international community will take in response. [China confrontation] [Xinjiang] [Uyghur] [Separatism] [Islamists]
• The National Endowment for Democracy» and China
  September 3rd, 2018 In 2017 the American government funded 48 anti-China groups and organizations through its «National Endowment for Democracy» (NED), – in order oppose and harm China and to create social and ethnic tensions and conflicts inside China. Recently NED has been focusing on Xinjiang, and as a consequence there has been negative reports about the situation there in many Western newspapers and on global TV. Here are some examples showing how NED is working and using its contacts, to harm China: One of their assets is Marco Rubio, republican senator for Florida and leader of the «U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China». On August 10, 2018 he writes on his website: «Xinjiang today is ‘a police state to rival North Korea, with a formalized racism on the order of South African apartheid,” wrote one expert. Its residents make up only 1.5% of China’s population – but accounted for 21% of arrests in 2017. This massive increase over the previous year doesn’t include detainees in re-education centers.» https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=BCBC38EA-1748-4D40- [NED] [China confrontation] [Xinjiang] [Separatism]
• Washington is Playing a Deeper Game with China
  By F. William Engdahl Global Research, July 11, 2009 11 July 2009 After the tragic events of July 5 in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China, it would be useful to look more closely into the actual role of the US Government’s ”independent“ NGO, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). All indications are that the US Government, once more acting through its “private” Non-Governmental Organization, the NED, is massively intervening into the internal politics of China. The reasons for Washington’s intervention into Xinjiang affairs seems to have little to do with concerns over alleged human rights abuses by Beijing authorities against Uyghur people. It seems rather to have very much to do with the strategic geopolitical location of Xinjiang on the Eurasian landmass and its strategic importance for China’s future economic and energy cooperation with Russia, Kazakhastan and other Central Asia states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The major organization internationally calling for protests in front of Chinese embassies around the world is the Washington, D.C.-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC). The WUC manages to finance a staff, a very fancy website in English, and has a very close relation to the US Congress-funded NED. According to published reports by the NED itself, the World Uyghur Congress receives $215,000.00 annually from the National Endowment for Democracy for “human rights research and advocacy projects.” The president of the WUC is an exile Uyghur who describes herself as a “laundress turned millionaire,” Rebiya Kadeer, who also serves as president of the Washington D.C.-based Uyghur American Association, another Uyghur human rights organization which receives significant funding from the US Government via the National Endowment for Democracy. The NED was intimately involved in financial support to various organizations behind the Lhasa ”Crimson Revolution“ in March 2008, as well as the Saffron Revolution in Burma/Myanmar and virtually every regime change destabilization in eastern Europe over the past years from Serbia to Georgia to Ukraine to Kyrgystan to Teheran in the aftermath of the recent elections. Allen Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishing NED, was quite candid when he said in a published interview in 1991: “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.” The NED is supposedly a private, non-government, non-profit foundation, but it receives a yearly appropriation for its international work from the US Congress. The NED money is channelled through four “core foundations”. These are the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, linked to Obama’s Democratic Party; the International Republican Institute tied to the Republican Party; the American Center for International Labor Solidarity linked to the AFL-CIO US labor federation as well as the US State Department; and the Center for International Private Enterprise linked to the US Chamber of Commerce. The salient question is what has the NED been actively doing that might have encouraged the unrest in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and what is the Obama Administration policy in terms of supporting or denouncing such NED-financed intervention into sovereign politics of states which Washington deems a target for pressure? The answers must be found soon, but one major step to help clarify Washington policy under the new Obama Administration would be for a full disclosure by the NED, the US State Department and NGO’s linked to the US Government, of their involvement, if at all, in encouraging Uyghur separatism or unrest. Is it mere coincidence that the Uyghur riots take place only days following the historic meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization? [NED] [China confrontation] [Xinjiang] [Separatism]
• Five Eyes intelligence alliance builds coalition to counter China
  Noah Barkin The five nations in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network have been exchanging classified information on China’s foreign activities with other like-minded countries since the start of the year, seven officials in four capitals said. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his speech as he and China's President Xi Jinping meet business leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj The increased cooperation by the Five Eyes alliance - grouping Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States - with countries such as Germany and Japan is a sign of a broadening international front against Chinese influence operations and investments. Some of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the enhanced cooperation amounted to an informal expansion of the Five Eyes group on the specific issue of foreign interference. While China has been the main focus, discussions have also touched on Russia, several said. “Consultations with our allies, with like-minded partners, on how to respond to China’s assertive international strategy have been frequent and are gathering momentum,” a U.S. official told Reuters. “What might have started as ad hoc discussions are now leading to more detailed consultations on best practices and further opportunities for cooperation.” [Intelligence] [Imperialism] [Five eyes] [China confrontation] [Alliance]
• Belt and Road Initiative: Not a debt trap, but rather a great chance for Sri Lanka
  Posted : 2018-10-13 09:54 Updated : 2018-10-13 14:55 Tweet Follow @koreatimescokr Hambantota port. Reuters By Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage and Prof. Huang Yunsong Jayanath Colombage Infrastructure development projects in Sri Lanka, financed with Chinese loans, have become a source of hot debate. It was again cited by United States Vice President Mike Pence as debt-trap diplomacy in his latest accusation against China. Some arguments, probably based on selective information and wild extrapolations from individual cases, have their own logic as part of a grand strategy against China. However, it doesn't hurt to have a look at the other side of the story, which relies more on empirical factors and factual arguments. When the separatist conflict for nearly three decades ended in 2009, Sri Lanka felt desperately hungry for economic development. To Sri Lanka's dismay, neither Western democracies nor the immediate neighbor offered to play a major role in its reconstruction or investment in infrastructure, except for several credit lines for housing, hospitals and railways provided by India. Due to the consistent support for Sri Lanka during and after the conflict, China soon became the main development partner and the biggest foreign direct investor. [Belt & Road] [Sri Lanka]
• China-North Korea trade falls 59% this year: report
  Posted : 2018-10-13 11:22 Updated : 2018-10-13 11:27 By Park Si-soo The trade volume between China and North Korea has fallen by 59 percent this year from a year earlier, a Chinese newspaper reported Friday. The sharp fall was credited with China's compliance with international sanctions against the nuclear-armed North, China's state paper Global Times reported. According to Beijing's customs office, Chinese exports to North Korea totaled $1.6 billion, from January to September 2018, down 59.2 percent from the previous year. Li Kuiwen, a spokesman for the customs office, was quoted as saying $144.6 million worth of North Korea imports into China also fell 90.1 percent from January to September. The data came at a time when North Korea is denying the impact that sanctions have had on its economy. "Place sanctions on us for 10 years, even 100 years," Korean Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Friday in an article titled, "This is the spirit of high-class pride and self-reliance." "The enemy is using the blockade of murderous sanctions as a method of last resort, for fear of the complete collapse of their policy of crushing Korea with military power," the Rodong stated. The paper added that North Korea will gradually overcome sanctions to emerge as "the most powerful nation" and as a "socialist Shangri-La." The paper also charged "the enemy" of placing sanctions on technology. "Our response is to develop our style of breakthroughs in state-of-the-art technologies," the Rodong stated. [China NK] [Sanctions]

• Pyongyang Declaration: Vietnam feels 'Misery Loves Company'
  Posted : 2018-09-22 09:13 Updated : 2018-09-23 16:22 By Hwang Jae-ho Vietnam, one of the major countries of ASEAN, is meaningful to Korea in several aspects. In economic terms, it is a significant investment region for Korea, and furthermore, as Moon's regime came up with the 'New Southern Policy', it now is important in diplomatic terms as well. Close to China, Vietnam also shares the same strategic concerns with Korea as it stays between China and the United States. Vietnam has relations with North and South Korea and is in relatively positive shape with all. In addition, because it has gone through national division as Korea did, Vietnam might have observed the recent inter-Korean summit more than any other country. The Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam is the diplomacy think tank, where we can find Vietnamese diplomatic policies and overall flows. Here, I interviewed Thanh Hai Tran, an expert on the Korean Peninsula; Deputy Director General, Institute of Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies; Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. Thanh Hai Tran Q: There was the inter-Korean summit this week. How do you evaluate this meeting? A: The Third Inter-Korean Summit is a positive step toward building sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula and strengthening mutual trust between the two Koreas. Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Moon Jae-in agreed to turn the Korean Peninsula into a "land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats." The two countries vowed to "cease all hostile acts against each other." On the nuclear issue, Pyongyang pledged to destroy the Tongchang-ri missile engine test site and the Yongbyon nuclear site if the United States takes reciprocal measures. This again confirmed that North Korea continues to apply the "salami slice" strategy and follow the principle of "reciprocity." The ball is now in Washington's court. We do not have either a timeline or any detailed guarantees yet. But I think the pledges Kim and Moon made at their third summit could inject fresh momentum into the stalled nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang and lay the groundwork for another meeting that Kim recently proposed to Trump. [September Pyongyang Declaration] [Vietnam] [Functionary]
• Thailand between a US rock and Chinese hard place
  Author Benjamin Zawacki chronicles in well-documented detail how America lost and China won influence in the Southeast Asian kingdom By Paul Wedel Bangkok, September 23, 2018 12:07 PM (UTC+8) US President Donald Trump and Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on October 2, 2017. Photo: AFP/Mandel Ngan Benjamin Zawacki provides a thoroughly researched account of the alarming shift of a US ally and friend into the orbit of China. Thailand: Shifting Ground between the US and a Rising China details the US diplomatic blunders and inaction that have accelerated this move. With extensive interviews of senior officials and access to embassy dispatches, the book piles up details that are compelling. Shifting Ground should be required reading for every US diplomat and policy maker dealing with Southeast Asia and China. the book, however, ultimately points to an even more serious problem at the center of US foreign policy: the conflict between American ideals of democracy, human rights and rule of law and the practicality of dealing with governments and dictators that respect none of these. [Thailand] [China confrontation] [Hypocrisy]
• China summons U.S. ambassador to protest sanctions over Russia military equipment
  David Stanway, Lesley Wroughton China’s foreign ministry on Saturday summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing to protest Washington’s decision to sanction a Chinese military agency and its director for purchasing Russian fighter jets and an advanced surface-to-air missile system. FILE PHOTO: Flags of U.S. and China are placed for a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture in Beijing, China, June 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang summoned Ambassador Terry Branstad to lodge “stern representations” and protest the sanctions, the foreign ministry said. Earlier, Chinese defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said China’s decision to buy fighter jets and missile systems from Russia was a normal act of cooperation between sovereign countries, and the United States had “no right to interfere”. [Russia confrontation] [Secondary sanctions]
• China, Vatican sign provisional agreement on bishop appointments
  By Li Ruohan and Zhang Yu Source: Global Times Published: 2018/9/22 20:35:46 China and the Vatican signed a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops on Saturday, China's Foreign Ministry announced later that day. A Vatican delegation held talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Chao on Saturday in Beijing, after which the deal was signed, read a statement from the ministry's website. The two sides will continue communicating to promote bilateral relations, said the statement. The two sides put in great effort to achieve the agreement and their good intentions deserve to be known, said Bishop Fang Jianping, deputy head of the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China. [Catholic] [Vatican]
• Taiwan’s ambassador to Eswatini sets record straight on bilateral ties
  Publication Date: September 21, 2018 | A Times of Swaziland letter to the editor penned by Ambassador Jeremy H. S. Liang sets the record straight on relations between Taiwan and the Kingdom of Eswatini. (Courtesy of Times of Swaziland) Taiwan’s new ambassador to the Kingdom of Eswatini, Jeremy H. S. Liang, set the record straight on bilateral relations in a letter to the editor recently published by the Times of Swaziland, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sept. 20. “Taiwan is Eswatini’s loyal friend and perfect partner in advancing prosperity and sustainable national development,” Liang said Sept. 12. “It is also a country where freedom and democracy are cherished, as is informed and spirited debate.” Liang, who assumed his post late last month in the capital Mbabane, was responding to a letter questioning the wisdom of Eswatini’s longstanding ties with Taiwan and urging the people of the landlocked nation in southern Africa to clamor for massive infrastructure projects dangled by China. [Straits] [China Africa]
• US-China trade war is a win-win for Washington (at least in Trump’s eyes)
  Drew Thompson says Beijing has it wrong if it thinks Trump’s trade strategy is about containment, or a spillover of domestic politics. Rather, the president believes China will back down and create a level playing field for US companies, or firms will source imports from elsewhere PUBLISHED : Thursday, 20 September, 2018, 3:00am US President Donald Trump has focused on trade and China’s economic rise for decades. Unlike national security issues, he is knowledgeable and passionate about trade, taxes and financial regulations. He advocated a fairer, more reciprocal trade relationship with China throughout his campaign, and quickly made it a priority issue after taking office. Opinion Get updates direct to your inbox E-mail * By registering you agree to our T&Cs & Privacy Policy His decision this week to impose 10 per cent tariffs on US$200 billion in imports from China reflects confidence in his strategy and position. He believes the United States is in a no-lose situation with two potential outcomes from the trade war, both positive. Either China will revise its industrial policy to allow US companies reciprocal market access, or the tariffs will cause US companies to disengage from China and bring manufacturing back to the US, or source imports from countries that do not pose a long-term threat to US security. [China confrontation] [Trade war] [Pro-Trump]
• Donald Trump’s currency confusion continues
  Jeffrey Frankel
  The US president blames China but even a basic understanding of economics shows it’s his own policies that bloat the dollar Fri 21 Sep 2018 09.17 BST Next month, the US Department of the Treasury is due to submit to Congress its biannual report detailing which countries, if any, are manipulating their currencies to gain an unfair trade advantage. For his part, President Donald Trump is already accusing China of doing so, as he did throughout the 2016 election campaign. And he is reportedly trying to influence the Treasury Department’s deliberations. What has changed since the last report in April? That document, like similar reports written during the previous two administrations, did not find China guilty of manipulation. In fact, the last time the Treasury Department declared China (or anyone else) a manipulator was in 1994. The reason for this is simple: China does not meet the three criteria that Congress has set for determining currency manipulation. It has not been persistently intervening in foreign-exchange markets (at least not to push down its currency), and it is not running an overall current-account surplus greater than or equal to 3% of GDP (its surplus in 2017 was 1.3%).[China confrontation] [Trade war]
• Mao’s Liberation of Tibet
  19 September, 2018 by stalinsmoustache It is useful to keep the whole picture in mind, rather than blindly follow what the ‘vegetarian between meals’ would lead us to believe (see further Sautman). To begin with, there is the simple historical question. Although accounts differ in relation to Tibet, the reality is that this region has been subject to Chinese rule in various ways since at least the eighteenth century under the Qing dynasty (with Chinese claims to de jure rule since the Yuan dynasty in the thirteenth century). Claims to some form of independence hark back to an image of the feudal Tibetan empire from the seventh to the eleventh centuries. What happened after the liberation of Tibet in 1951 by the PLA, which was supported a wide range of Tibetans? A comprehensive 17-point agreement was reached in 1951, approved by all lamas and the Dalai Lama himself. Subsequent CIA agitation, funding, arms and logistics led to reneging on the agreement and the fateful 1959 uprising, which failed to garner widespread support, especially among those Tibetans who had been abused under the former feudal system. The Dalai Lama and his entourage were assisted by the CIA to flee the Tibetan region. Eventually, the CIA wound up its well-publicised ‘covert’ activities in the 1970s, only to be replaced by the innocuous sounding National Endowment for Democracy in 1984 (instituted under Ronald Reagan). As Elizabeth Davis’s careful study indicates, ‘Allen Weinstein, the NED’s first acting president, observed that “A lot of what we [the NED] do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA’. A range of other western government-sponsored bodies work together with the NED to undermine Chinese sovereignty. [Tibet]
• China Struggles With Belt And Road Pushback
  SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 by James M. Dorsey China, in an implicit recognition that at least some of its Belt and Road-related projects risk trapping target countries in debt or fail to meet their needs, has conceded that adjustments may be necessary. “It’s normal and understandable that development focus can change at different stages in different countries, especially with changes in government. So China can also make some strategic adjustments when cooperating with these countries, but it’s definitely not a reconsideration of the B&R (Belt and Road) initiative,” Wang Jun, deputy director of the Department of Information at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges told the Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper. The Chinese concession, initially made public in an August 27 speech by President Xi Jinping and reaffirmed by the Global Times. came in the same week that Pakistan during a visit of Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi demanded that China expand its $50 billion plus investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the single largest country infrastructure investment related to the People’s Republic’s Belt and Road initiative, to include manufacturing and poverty reduction projects. [China confrontation] [Belt & Road]
• China Keen to Boost Transport Links with N.Korea
  By Lee Kil-seong September 17, 2018 11:42 Transport ties between China and North Korea are growing stronger than ever despite U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Since China's No. 3 official Li Zhanshu visited Pyongyang for the regime's 70th founding anniversary celebrations on Sept. 9, North Korea's Air Koryo has started chartered flights between Dalian and Pyongyang. According to Chinese state media, Air Koryo Flight JS821 flew from Dalian International Airport to Pyongyang last Thursday carrying 67 passengers. The charter flights are scheduled for every Thursday and Sunday shuttling group tourists to and fro. The government of Liaoning Province, which borders North Korea, also announced comprehensive plans on its website last week to build a rail and highway link from Dandong to Pyongyang and all the way down to Seoul and Busan in South Korea to prepare for possible business cooperation with North Korea amid a growing détente on the Korean Peninsula. [China NK]
• Foreign Ministry thanks EP for supporting Taiwan
  Publication Date: September 13, 2018 | The MOFA thanks the EP Sept. 12 for approving the EU-China relations report voicing strong support for Taiwan. (Staff photo/Chin Hung-hao) The European Parliament’s approval of the EU-China relations report that urges an end to Beijing’s military intimidation and expresses support for Taiwan’s international participation is sincerely appreciated, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sept. 12. Adopted during a plenary session the same day, the report reaffirms the EP’s backing for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement in international bodies including the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Health Organization. It also reiterates support for a Taiwan-EU bilateral investment agreement. [China confrontation] [EU]
  • Motion For A European Parliament Resolution on the state of EU-China relations
    (2017/2274(INI)) The European Parliament, – having regard to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the EU and China as of 6 May 1975, – having regard to the EU-China Strategic Partnership launched in 2003, [China EU]
• What about the Uyghurs?
  15 September, 2018 by stalinsmoustache I begin with a caveat: for more than six months I have not read corporate (sometimes called ‘western’) news sources. Instead, I read more reliable and in-depth sources, for reasons I have explained elsewhere. I find corporate news sources given to selective sensationalism, in which they select a few items, give them a twist and distort them, so as to produce a sensationalist account that does violence with the facts, fits into a certain narrative and attracts a certain readership (some ‘western’ Marxists among them). It is like a toxic drip into the brain, with which I can well do without. [Uyghurs] [Xinjiang]
• China to add more than 11,000km of new high-speed lines by 2025
  Total network length where bullet trains traverse at 250km/h to be extended from 27,000km to 38,000km By Asia Times staff September 15, 2018 11:51 AM (UTC+8) China’s “four vertical, four horizontal” high-speed railway grid has been taking shape at full speed, hitting a total system length of 27,000 kilometers – on which sleek bullet trains gallop at a speed of 250km/h – accounting for about two-thirds of the world’s high-speed rail tracks in commercial service. China added 3,038km of new lines in 2017, and the total length is set to reach 38,000km in 2025. Remember that the nation only commissioned its first high-speed line, the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Rail, 10 years ago, in June 2008. The world’s longest high-speed railway network is also the most extensively used one, with daily ridership nationwide hovering around the 3.5 million level. The advent of high-speed rail (HSR) is often hailed as a sign of China’s rejuvenation and a source of national pride. [HSR]
• Venezuela's Maduro travels to China in search of fresh funds
  Corina Pons, Christian Shepherd Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is traveling to China to discuss economic agreements, as the crisis-struck OPEC nation seeks to convince its key Asian financier to disburse fresh loans. FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends an event with the Youth of the Venezuela's United Socialist Party (PSUV) in Caracas, Venezuela September 11, 2018. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS “I am going with great expectations and we will see each other again in a few days with big achievements,” the leftist leader said on Wednesday in a state broadcast from the airport, without providing details. [Venezuela]
• CGTN's digital content is temporarily unavailable in certain EU countries.
  Our TV channels are broadcasting as usual. The pause in service is not due to technical errors. We are sorting out the details to continue providing news about China and the world. [Message seen in Netherlands 12 September 2018] [China confrontation] [Censorship]
• U.S. companies in China are suffering in trade war, survey says
  By Danielle Paquette September 13 at 6:17 AM BEIJING — The largest U.S. business groups in China issued a plea to President Trump on Thursday: Please stop with the tariffs. A survey from AmCham China and AmCham Shanghai found that nearly two-thirds of more than 430 U.S. firms in China say the duties Trump placed on billions of dollars of Chinese imports this summer have hurt their businesses. Nearly half of respondents — who work in retail, food and manufacturing — say production costs have climbed, and 42 percent said they have noticed a decreased demand for their goods. Just 6 percent, meanwhile, said they would consider moving factories to U.S. soil. [China trade war] [Public opinion]
• Kim Jong-un hopes to consolidate ties with China
  Posted : 2018-09-10 11:03 Updated : 2018-09-10 14:19 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed hope to consolidate the country's "special" relations with China in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy, the North's state media said Monday. On Sunday, Kim met with Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, who was in Pyongyang to attend the North's military parade to celebrate its 70th founding anniversary. Kim expressed hope to "further solidify and deepen the special and firm relations between North Korea and China" through stepped-up high-level exchanges and close communications, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Li was quoted as saying that his country's relations with the North are getting stronger based on a "special relationship" between the leaders of the two countries. He added that China remains firm in its efforts to move the ties forward "in a sustainable and stable matter regardless of international situations." During the meeting, Li delivered Xi's personal letter to Kim, the KCNA said, without providing details on the content. Chinese media earlier reported that Xi said in the letter that the two countries have opened a "new chapter" in their bilateral ties by holding three summit meetings this year and emphasized that China remains unchanged in its push to further consolidate China-North Korean relations. (Yonhap) [China NK]
• MOFA minister unveils US$2 million medical fund at Pacific Islands Forum
  Publication Date: September 06, 2018 | MOFA Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu (fourth, right) announces Sept. 5 a US$2 million medical fund during an SDGs roundtable attended by Baron Waqa (fifth right), president of PIF host nation Nauru, and representatives of other members of the annual forum. (MOFA) Taiwan is to establish a US$2 million fund aimed at boosting medical cooperation with Pacific countries, Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu said Sept. 5 at a sustainable development goals roundtable during the Pacific Islands Forum in ally Nauru. [Taiwan] [Pacific] [Aid] [Diplomatic competition]
• China’s plan for conquest of the South Pacific
  China's militarization of South China Sea features allows its fighters to reach deep into the South Pacific, jeopardizing US bases while advancing Beijing's 'neo-colonial' ambitions By Kerry K Gershaneck Taipei, September 7, 2018 Beijing’s militarization of islands and features it claims in the South China Sea is by now widely seen as a threat to freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most strategically important waterways. What’s gone less noticed, however, is how Beijing could use those emerging forward bases to project power into the South Pacific, where critics say Beijing harbors “neo-colonial” ambitions and the United States maintains crucial naval and air force bases on Guam. \ A Pentagon report released last month that said China was likely training for air strikes against US and allied targets will have brought China’s emerging power projection capabilities into the Pacific into stark and urgent relief among policymakers in Washington. [China confrontation] [SCS] [Hysteria]
• Rewrite the ASIAN Economic Narrative
  By Brad Glosserman Brad Glosserman (brad@pacforum.org) is deputy director of and visiting professor at the Center for Rule Making Strategies, Tama University, and a senior advisor to Pacific Forum. Five years after its launch, the world still does not know what to make of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). For many, it is proof of Beijing’s intent to recreate the international financial order, put itself at the center of regional and global economic diplomacy and cooperation, empower and extend the reach of its military, and propagate its political influence. A less feverish interpretation acknowledges the gaping holes in global infrastructure that the initiative seeks to fill but focuses on shortcomings of Chinese diplomacy that the initiative has exposed. The first assessment often prevails. Blame mounting concern over China’s growing influence, a belief that Chinese leaders are visionary strategists, and growing insecurity in the West. The BRI is a big deal – it is a trillion-dollar initiative that aims to link the world with infrastructure – but five years on, its flaws are increasingly apparent. More importantly, there is a compelling counter-narrative to the BRI that has been ignored: For all the headlines, China is playing catchup. In Southeast Asia, its presence is dwarfed by that of Japan. Governments worried about a resurgent and aggressive China should dig beneath the surface to tell a different story. That alone will shift the momentum that unnerves so many observers. [China confrontation] [B&T] [Japan]
• Senior Official to Stand in for Xi at N.Korean Anniversary Parade
  By Lee Kil-seong, Kim Jin-myung September 05, 2018 10:56 Chinese President Xi Jinping will miss North Korea's founding anniversary on Sunday and send instead Li Zhanshu, the chairman of the National People's Congress and the third-highest official in the politburo. The Chinese Communist Party on Tuesday said Li will head a delegation arriving in Pyongyang on Saturday. Li ranks just below Premier Li Keqiang in the party hierarchy and is considered to be Xi's right-hand man, so sending him relieves Xi of the burden of visiting North Korea at a time when denuclearization talks have hit a fresh impasse while allowing North Korea to save face. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has disappeared from public view for the time being and his moment in the limelight of international diplomacy seems to have come to an end. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that there are no plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim to meet at the Eastern Economic Forum scheduled in Vladivostok next week, to which Kim was invited. Kim also has no plans to attend the UN General Assembly late this month despite an earlier invite from U.S. President Donald Trump. A government source here said, "If he planned to travel to the UN, that would have been confirmed by now and his de facto chief of staff Kim Chang-son would have traveled to the U.S. already." The last time he was seen in public was on Aug. 20. [China NK] [DPTK70]
• It’s Africa’s choice: AFRICOM or the New Silk Roads
  When China calls, all Africa answers. And Beijing's non-politicization of investments and non-interference in internal affairs is paying off big time By Pepe Escobar September 4, 2018 5:22 PM (UTC+8) The dogs of war – cold, hot, trade, tariffs – bark while the Chinese caravan plies the New Silk Roads. Call it a leitmotif of the young 21st century. At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, President Xi Jinping has just announced a hefty US$60 billion package to complement another US$60 billion pledged at the 2015 summit. The dailyReport Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox That breaks down to $15 billion in grants and interest-free loans; $20 billion in credit lines; a $10 billion fund for development financing; $5 billion to finance imports from Africa; and waving the debt of the poorest African nations diplomatically linked to China. When China calls, all Africa answers. First, we had ministers from 53 African nations plus the African Union (AU) Commission approving the Beijing Declaration and the FOCAC Action Plan (2019-21). Then, after the $60 billion announcement, we had Beijing signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with nine African nations – including South Africa and Egypt – related to the New Silk Roads/Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Additionally, other 20 African nations are discussing further cooperation agreements. [China Africa] [AFRICOM]
• Mao, Kim Il-sung and the 'Dongbei' region
  Posted : 2018-09-04 17:33 Updated : 2018-09-04 17:33 By Lee Seong-hyon Chinese leader Jiang Zemin (term: 1993-2003) was aghast when his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il told him, "I have to inspect northeastern China." Jiang said the word "inspect" (shicha) means making a checkup of one's own country. Since you're visiting another country, you're paying a "visit" (fangwen) to that region." Kim nonchalantly responded: "My father said northeastern China is ours." This is one of the many intrigues in China-North Korea relations. Why did Kim Jong-il (Kim Jong-un's father) claim that China's northeastern region belongs to North Korea? China's northeastern region refers to the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. It is commonly called "Dongbei." To understand North Korea's sense of "ownership" of Dongbei, we should go back to the time of the late 1950s and the early 1960s when Mao Zedong and Kim Il-sung (Kim Jong-un's grandfather) were friends. It was also a time of the Sino-Soviet split (1956?1966), the breakdown of political relations between Moscow and Beijing. China also had a hostile relationship with the U.S. Against the backdrop, China needed the support of North Korea, a socialist country, more than ever. Mao told Kim, "If North Korea were to fight the U.S., then the Dongbei region would serve as North Korea's rear base. If China were to fight the Soviet Union, the Dongbei region would be the front base, and North Korea would be the rear base." Mao told Kim, "You can manage the Dongbei region. It's yours." Kim was very pleased to hear that. [China NK] [Dongbei] [canard] [Bizarre]
• An African perspective on FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation)
  5 September, 2018 by stalinsmoustache You can read plenty of material on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Chinese newspapers, including Xi Jinping’s important speech outlining 8 initiatives and 5 ‘nos’: We follow a “five-no” approach in our relations with Africa: no interference in African countries’ pursuit of development paths that fit their national conditions; no interference in African countries’ internal affairs; no imposition of our will on African countries; no attachment of political strings to assistance to Africa; and no seeking of selfish political gains in investment and financing cooperation with Africa. However, it is worth considering African perspectives on the cooperation. One examples appears in the Nigerian news outlet, Vanguard News, entitled ‘The African Road to China‘. After retelling the story of half a century of cooperation, it observes: African leaders also need to learn from the Chinese elite who are focused, programmatic, result-oriented, patriotic, people-centred and for whom generally, the law is no respecter of status, beliefs or origins. Also, we need to learn from China which concentrates on programmes and projects that benefit the most people such that it lifted 700 million Chinese out of poverty within a short period making it the world’s model. Also, unlike the West, China is not domineering and overbearing; it does not decree that its enemies must be our enemies; it does not ask its allies to join its turf battles. [China Africa] [China model]
• Xi to Miss N.Korea's Anniversary Parade
  By Lee Kil-seong, Lee Yong-soo September 03, 2018 13:19 Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to miss North Korea's celebrations of its 70th founding anniversary after all as denuclearization talks have hit a fresh impasse. With the Sept. 9 celebrations less than a week away, there has been conspicuous silence from Beijing. Xi Jinping North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited Xi to a massive military parade in Pyongyang on the occasion when the two met earlier this year, and Xi was widely expected to accept. Former Chinese presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao announced their North Korea visit exactly a week ahead in 2001 and 2005, but so far there has been no notification about Xi's trip to any government agency, according to a source in Beijing. [Xi Jinping] [DPRK70]
• Fast mover China flexes muscles at IFA
  Posted : 2018-09-03 16:16 Updated : 2018-09-03 17:51 By Jun Ji-hye BERLIN ? Looking around the exhibition halls of the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) Berlin ? Europe's largest consumer electronics and appliance trade show that began Friday ? it felt like one in every two to three booths were occupied by Chinese firms. The Chinese firms were competitively showcasing their cutting-edge products ranging from TVs to smartphones in a bid to prove themselves as fast movers and expand their global sales. According to the IFA, 665 Chinese firms participated in the event, accounting for about 40 percent of the total. The number of Chinese companies was 10 times more than that of Korean firms, which was about 60. [China rising] [Electronics] [China competition]
• The Decade of a Rising China: 10 Years After the Financial Crisis
  by Jenny Clegg August 31, 2018 It is 10 years in September since Lehman Brothers went bankrupt bringing global capitalism to the point of collapse. Although the crash did not finally lead to a total meltdown, it triggered a slump of 1930s proportions and for most economies the last decade has been a lost decade of low growth, low investment, low productivity, marked by debt and deficit, with virtually no improvement in real incomes for the 90 per cent. The stand-out story of the period has to be the continuing rise of China. Initially, the economy was also badly hit by the crisis, but China was able to recover rapidly to emerge today as a major economic power, moving steadily closer centre stage in the global order. Since 2009, the Chinese economy has nearly tripled in size, from $4,600 billion to over $12,000 billion in 2017, overtaking Japan by 2011 for the world number 2 position. Growth at 9-10 per cent a year was rapid up to 2011, settling down over the last 6 years to a more sustainable ‘new normal’of around 7 per cent a year, still well above the world rate at 3.9 per cent. Per capita income has grown from $3,500 in 2009 to $8,800 in 2017, a rate of between 10-15 per cent a year, putting China on course to join the ranks of the high income countries in 8 years time. The urban population has grown by some 15 million a year with China creating 8-10 million jobs annually. In 2017, there were 11 million new jobs compared to India’s 1 million. As is well known, China has, since 1978, succeeded in lifting some 800 million people out of poverty. In the last five years, extreme poverty has continued to fall from 100 million to 30 million, heading towards complete elimination in 3 years. The five year plan (2011 – 2015) stipulated minimum wages rises of 13 per cent a year. This, together with the fall in poverty, is helping to improve income distribution and reduce inequality. Following recovery, China has begun to change its growth pattern, shifting from reliance on low cost export manufacturing and investment, rebalancing the economy towards domestic consumption and hi-tech levels. This bold transition shifting the very basis of the economy on to new pillars of growth is now well under way. Trade has fallen from 37 per cent of GDP in 2008 to 20 per cent currently, whilst the consumption share of GDP has risen steadily every year since 2012. Now China’s 400 million middle income consumers are a major force in driving the world economy. Between 2011 and 2017, the share of the traditional economic sectors–coal, iron, steel, cement–in the economy fell from 75 to 60 per cent, with energy, technology, healthcare and entertainment sectors becoming new growth drivers. According to ILO data, labour productivity has risen 9.6 per cent a year since 2003. Government investment is generating expansion in public infrastructure, e-commerce and high value-added electronic systems. Service sector employment has risen from 33 to 45 per cent. Today China has 109 companies in the Fortune Global 500, up from around 30 in 2008, and 10 in 2001. China’s high-speed rail network exceeds 22,000 km, and has become the largest in the world, accounting for about two-thirds of the world’s high-speed rail tracks in commercial service, greatly reducing travel times across the country from days to hours. Electricity generation continued to increase annually by over 10 per cent after 2008. [China rising]
• Border bridge’s lighting illuminates China-NK friendship
  By Deng Xiaoci Source:Global Times Published: 2018/9/2 23:13:40 Residents of Dandong, a city bordering North Korea in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, welcomed a new attraction on Saturday night: a colorful display of lights on the city's landmark bridge over the Yalu River, which was installed over the summer with some suggesting the upgrade is in honor of North Korea's forthcoming National Day. Dandong's Zhenxin district urban construction bureau started in July to replace the existing lighting system over the "Broken Bridge" which is so named because it was bombed during the war and the missing section connecting to North Korea was never repaired. A new bridge, the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge, was built alongside the Broken Bridge. The new, flashing light display was turned on Saturday, the local bureau said according to a report by the local Dandong Daily on Saturday. According to the bureau head, surnamed Xiao, the city is also working on a new lighting system for the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge that will be completed by the end of September. The goal of the lighting projects on the bridges is to improve the image of China's gateway city to North Korea and to show the country's achievements during four decades of reform and opening up, the article said. [China NK] [Symbol]
• MOFA minister advances Taiwan’s front-line Indo-Pacific role
  Publication Date: August 31, 2018 | Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu (left) and retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, ex-NATO supreme allied commander Europe, listen as Nadia Schadlow, former deputy national security adviser for strategy under the administration of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, shares her thoughts on regional policymaking during the Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue Aug. 30 in Taipei City. (MOFA) Taiwan is an ideal partner for like-minded countries seeking to advance Indo-Pacific strategies and is ready and willing to work with all parties in promoting peace, stability and rules-based order across the region, Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu said Aug. 30. As democracy is one of the most important factors underpinning a free and open Indo-Pacific, Taiwan can share its extensive experiences and assist other nations in strengthening democratic institutions and building robust civil societies, Wu said. It also has much to offer in terms of promoting greater cooperation at all levels, he added. Wu made the remarks during the Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue in Taipei City. Organized by think tanks The Prospect Foundation of Taiwan, Center for a New American Security of the U.S. and Sasakawa Peace Foundation of Japan, the one-day seminar involved nearly 200 top experts from Taiwan, Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. discussing emerging challenges of mutual concern. [Taiwan] [China confrontation] [Client] [Quadrilateral]
• The 115th Congress Aligns with the Trump Administration in Targeting China
  By Robe 2mrt Sutter Robert Sutter (sutterr@gwu.edu) is Professor of Practice of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Sutter’s latest book is Foreign Relations of The PRC: The Legacies and Constraints of China’s International Politics [second edition] (Rowman & Littlefield 2018) After a slow start in 2017, reflecting preoccupations with health care and tax reform, the 115th Congress has demonstrated remarkable activism on China policy in 2018. This Congress has broken the mold of past practice where the US Congress more often than not since the normalization of US relations with China four decades ago has served as a brake and obstacle impeding US initiatives in dealing with China. That pattern saw repeated congressional resistance to administration efforts to advance US engagement with China at the expense of other US interests that Congress valued such as relations with Taiwan and Tibet, and human rights. Today’s congressional-executive cooperation rests on the Trump administration’s overall hardening of US policy toward China. Congress is responding with widespread support and asking for more. [China confrontation] [Congress]

• The South China Sea and the Philippines’ National Security Strategy
  By Mico A. Galang Mico A. Galang (galangmico@gmail.com) is a researcher at the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP). The views expressed are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the NDCP. In July 2018, the Philippines released its first National Security Strategy (NSS). Developed to operationalize the National Security Policy (NSP) published in 2017, the NSS describes the external security environment as marked by “increased uncertainty and unpredictability” and identifies the rivalry of major powers as the “most important long-term strategic concern” of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Noting that the Philippines is between the South China Sea (SCS) and the Pacific Ocean – the area of geopolitical competition between the United States and China – the strategy document further emphasizes that the country’s geography is “both a source of strength and vulnerability” with its location and natural resources providing a “strong temptation to expansionist powers.” The remaining challenge for the Philippines is finding ways to implement the strategy.[Philippines] [SCS]
• Xi and PLA could join North Korea’s national day parade
  Speculation is mounting that the Chinese president will attend 70th anniversary celebrations in a show of renewed comradeship - but Kim Jong Un's ICBMs are not expected to be seen By Frank Chen and Andrew Salmon August 29, 2018 4:31 PM (UTC+8) Speculation is rising that Chinese President Xi Jinping – possibly accompanied by an honor guard of People’s Liberation Army troops – will appear alongside local leader Kim Jong Un at a symbolically important parade in Pyongyang next month. At a time when Washington has unleashed a trade war upon Beijing, while the denuclearization process agreed between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore at their June summit appears to be stalled, the appearance of the Chinese leader – and elite PLA troops – would send a significant cross-Pacific message about Sino-North Korean amity. [DPRK70] [China NK] [Xi Jinping]
• Claims about China’s ‘missing’ US$24 billion border on yellow journalism
  21 August 2018 Author: Alvin Camba, Johns Hopkins University Numerous reports in the past few weeks have claimed that China’s US$24 billion commitment to the Philippines has barely materialised. These stories suggest that the Philippines ‘gave up’ the South China Sea to China in exchange for investment and aid that never arrived, and that China ‘used’ the Philippines by making false investment promises to acquire geopolitical concessions. Filipino powerline technicians repair power meters near the Port of Manila, the Philippines. (Photo: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco). But a careful assessment of the projects included in the initial investment agreement demonstrates that these claims are untrue. Rather than deceptive Chinese behaviour, changes in the Philippines’ national institutions, its regulatory procedures and project-specific factors better explain the delays and cancellations. These host state factors affect Chinese and non-Chinese projects alike. [China bashing] [{Philippines] [SCS] [Media]
• China’s global currency aspirations are falling fast
  22 August 2018 Author: Priyanka Pandit, RDCY, Renmin University Over the past few months, the Chinese renminbi has been on a constant downward spiral, falling to a 13-month low against the US dollar. The ongoing dip is causing considerable concern among China’s leaders against the backdrop of a worsening tariff dispute between China and the United States. A staffer poses with 2015 edition of the 100 renminbi notes at the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, China, 12 November 2015 (Photo: Reuters/Bobby Yip). Some analysts are speculating whether the fall in the renminbi is a deliberate move by Beijing to offset the economic costs incurred by US tariffs on Chinese goods. The bilateral trade dispute is worsening problems for an already slackening Chinese economy, which is registering a declining growth rate of 6.5 per cent in the current quarter. China’s slowing growth rate is largely a result of Beijing’s efforts to tighten economic and credit conditions through aggressive deleveraging tendencies, which in turn impinge on domestic demand, investments and growth rates. To offset some of this impact, Chinese authorities announced a cyclical softening of the economy during the current business cycle. But efforts by China’s central bank to ease monetary policy and cut reserve requirement ratios are exacerbating depreciation pressure on the renminbi, which is predicted to slide further in the upcoming quarter. Trump’s trade war is only compounding these structural problems and accelerating the pace of renminbi depreciation. [Renminbi] [Trade war] [Economy]
• Shanghai Also Lifts Ban on Group Tours to Korea
  By Chae Sung-jin August 24, 2018 12:38 Shanghai authorities on Wednesday lifted a ban for some travel agencies on selling group tours to Korea, bringing the number of Chinese regions that now permit them again to five. The others are Beijing, Chongqing, Shandong Province and Wuhan. The Chinese government instituted an unofficial boycott of Korean products and services last year after the U.S. stationed a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery in Korea. Tourist numbers from China are already rebounding, and the industry hopes that other regions will follow suit. [THAAD] [China SK] [Tourism]
• Taiwan Leader's U.S. Visit Gives Boost at Home, Enrages China
  VOA News August 23, 2018 08:17 The Taiwanese president's unusually high-profile trip to the United States this month boosted her image at home but enraged Beijing, sparking China's boycott of a Taiwanese-owned coffee shop chain and possibly the latest loss of a diplomatic ally. Tsai Ing-wen gave a speech August 13 in Los Angeles and on Sunday became the first Taiwanese president since the 1970s to visit a federal facility when she toured the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. Tsai's stops on the way to see its allies in Latin America were higher profile than trips by previous presidents. That, analysts say, angered China. Beijing had asked the United States to cancel Tsai's stopovers and accused Tsai of trying to split Taiwan from China. Chinese netizens called for a boycott against the Taiwanese-owned 85C coffeehouse chain, and on Tuesday Taiwan broke ties with El Salvador, which became the fifth nation in two years to recognize China instead. [Taiwan] [China confrontation] [Straits] [Tsai Ing-wen] [Domestic] [Diplomatic truce]
• President Tsai states stance on termination of diplomatic ties with El Salvador
  Publication Date: August 22, 2018 | President Tsai Ing-wen details the government’s position on the ending of Taiwan-El Salvador relations Aug. 21 in Taipei City. (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen said Aug. 21 that the government worked tirelessly to maintain official relations with El Salvador and prevent the Central American nation from becoming a casualty of cross-strait politics. El Salvador’s interest in establishing ties with China was known for quite some time, Tsai said. Despite the assistance of like-minded countries and partners, diplomatic efforts failed to avert this sad outcome, she added. [Taiwan] [Diplomatic competition]
• Businesses beg for tariff relief as trade war with China rolls on
  By David J. Lynch August 20 at 12:06 PM The Trump administration is moving forward this week with plans to impose tariffs on a wider array of Chinese imports even as it explores the possibility of a negotiated resolution of its deepening trade conflict with China. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office Monday began an extraordinary six days of public hearings on President Trump’s plans to tax an additional $200 billion in Chinese products. The latest tariff proposals, along with earlier levies on $50 billion in Chinese imports, would mean that by next month roughly half of everything American businesses import from China would confront special taxes. Trump says the tariffs are a response to unfair Chinese trade practices, including forcing American companies to surrender their trade secrets to obtain access to the Chinese market and cyber theft of U.S. technology. Members of both parties and many industry groups agree that China is guilty of such violations. As the economic impact of the confrontation with China mounts, opponents are becoming more vocal in their opposition to the president’s chosen tariff remedy. [Trade War]
• The Need for Open Sea Lines of Communication in the South China Sea
  By Linda M.B. Paul Linda M. B. Paul (linpaul@aloha.net) is a Pacific Forum senior associate and the director of its Ocean Law and Policy Institute. The South China Sea (SCS) is the location of some of the world's busiest commercial shipping routes. Thirty percent of global maritime trade passes through the SCS. CSIS estimates that in 2016 over 64 percent of China’s maritime trade transited the SCS, while nearly 42 percent of Japan’s maritime trade and over 14 percent of US maritime trade also passed through in the same year. The value of that trade was approximately $3.4 trillion, which constitutes 21 percent of global trade. In 2016, the value of China’s trade transiting the SCS was $1.47 trillion, South Korea - $423 billion, Japan - $240 billion, Indonesia - $239 billion, and the US $208 billion. [South China Sea]
• Chinese President Xi to visit North Korea next month - Straits Times
  Reuters Staff 2 Min Read SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Pyongyang next month at the invitation of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un to attend the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper reported. [DPRK70] [Xi Jinping] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pacific-china-palau-insight/empty-hotels-idle-boats-what-happens-when-a-pacific-island-upsets-china-idUSKBN1L4036 Empty hotels, idle boats: What happens when a Pacific island upsets China Farah Master Empty hotel rooms, idle tour boats and shuttered travel agencies reveal widening fissures in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, which is caught in an escalating diplomatic tug-of-war between China and Taiwan. A view of seaside in Koror, Palau August 5, 2018. Picture taken August 5, 2018. REUTERS/Farah Master Late last year, China effectively banned tour groups to the idyllic tropical archipelago, branding it an illegal destination due to its lack of diplomatic status. [Straits] [Diplomatic truce]
• China’s response to Trump’s ‘trade war’
  13 August 2018 Author: Peter Drysdale, ANU Today the global trading system has entered an age of uncertainty: the multilateral rules-based trade regime is under assault and the liberal economic order that has underpinned trade growth and global prosperity is under threat from its chief architect, the United States. No response to this uncertainty is more important than that from China. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, 1 May 2018 (Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid). Some people think the difficulties in international economic policy that we face today all arose with the election of US President Donald Trump. That is an oversimplification. Today’s difficulties are a consequence of significant shocks to economic and trade systems through the global financial crisis as well as of long-term structural changes in the global economy that have been shaking the system for some time. These changes include the emergence of China and its accommodation in the global system. In North America itself, there are long-term structural problems that are the origin of the maldistribution of gains from international trade on which Trump built his political claim to the presidency. Trump and many of his followers blame China for these American woes, but most are structural problems of the United States’ own making and their solution is in American hands alone. They require deep institutional and policy reforms in the United States and a different approach to social policy, as well as changes to international trade policy that extend and strengthen the rules-based system. [Trump] [Trade war] [Response]
• US ‘picking and choosing’ from the Law of the Sea
  17 August 2018 Author: Mark J Valencia, NISCSS A recent article argues that China is ‘selectively choosing the parts of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that it likes and is ignoring or reinterpreting the parts that it does not like or finds inconvenient’. The argument is made on the basis that China sent a ‘spy ship’ to observe the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest joint naval exercise, held in June and July 2018. [China confrontation] [UNCLOS] [SCS]
• The US is at Risk of Losing a Trade War with China
  Jul 30, 2018 Joseph E. Stiglitz The “best” outcome of President Donald Trump’s narrow focus on the US trade deficit with China would be improvement in the bilateral balance, matched by an increase of an equal amount in the deficit with some other country (or countries). In fact, significantly reducing the bilateral trade deficit will prove difficult. NEW YORK – What was at first a trade skirmish – with US President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum – appears to be quickly morphing into a full-scale trade war with China. If the truce agreed by Europe and the US holds, the US will be doing battle mainly with China, rather than the world (of course, the trade conflict with Canada and Mexico will continue to simmer, given US demands that neither country can or should accept). Beyond the true, but by now platitudinous, assertion that everyone will lose, what can we say about the possible outcomes of Trump’s trade war? First, macroeconomics always prevails: if the United States’ domestic investment continues to exceed its savings, it will have to import capital and have a large trade deficit. Worse, because of the tax cuts enacted at the end of last year, the US fiscal deficit is reaching new records – recently projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2020 – which means that the trade deficit almost surely will increase, whatever the outcome of the trade war. The only way that won’t happen is if Trump leads the US into a recession, with incomes declining so much that investment and imports plummet. [China confrontation] [Trump] [Trade war]
• Tighter control raises speculation over Xi's N. Korea trip
  Posted : 2018-08-12 14:36 Updated : 2018-08-12 18:25 By Yi Whan-woo China is beefing up its patrols on its border with North Korea, fueling speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit Pyongyang for North Korea's founding anniversary on Sept. 9. "Such tighter patrols usually come when top Chinese or North Korean officials visit each other's country," a source familiar with Pyongyang said last week. "Kim already visited China this year and it may be Xi who will be crossing the border for the celebration of North Korea's anniversary." [China NK] [DPRK70]
• [Photo] North Korea suspends permission of Chinese group tours
  Posted on : Aug.11,2018 15:00 KST Modified on : Aug.11,2018 15:00 KST North Korea has announced that it will suspend entry of Chinese group tours from Aug. 11 to Sept. 5 due to “renovations to all hotels in Pyongyang.” Observers have speculated that the suspension may be due to the upcoming 70th Day of the Foundation of the Republic on Sept. 9. Others say the suspension might be part of preparations for a visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Screenshot of DPRK travel agency)
• Turkey sees long-term partner in China
  President Erdogan says his nation, amid crisis with Washington, may be forced to seek out 'new friends' By Altay Atli August 11, 2018 Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his nation’s currency in free fall, on Friday criticized “unilateral actions against Turkey by the United States, our ally of decades.” In an op-ed in The New York Times, he said that if such actions continue, Turkey will be required “to start looking for new friends and allies.” China is surely one of those potential “new friends,” as evidenced by the fact that economic relations between the two countries, fueled by increasing expectations triggered by the Belt and Road Initiative, have been on a significant rise recently. In the short term, as the Turkish economy goes through dire straits and the local currency continues its slide, Turkey needs – more than ever – to secure external financial resources. Access to Chinese finance is, under these circumstances, more than welcome for Ankara. Yet what Turkey expects from China as a “new friend” is more than saving the day for the economy. A 100-day action plan released by the Turkish government last week, which is hoped to pave the way toward sustainable policy implementation in every sector, mentions China multiple times. [China Turkey]
• Handling of U.S. trade dispute causes rift in Chinese leadership: sources
  Ben Blanchard, Kevin Yao A growing trade war with the United States is causing rifts within China’s Communist Party, with some critics saying that an overly nationalistic Chinese stance may have hardened the U.S. position, according to four sources close to the government. FILE PHOTO: China's President Xi Jinping addresses a media conference with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria, South Africa, July 24, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings President Xi Jinping still has a firm grip on power, but an unusual surge of criticism about economic policy and how the government has handled the trade war has revealed rare cracks in the ruling Communist Party. A backlash is being felt at the highest levels of the government, possibly hitting a close aide to Xi, his ideology chief and strategist Wang Huning, according to two sources familiar with discussions in leadership circles. A prominent and influential academic whose views have found favor in some party quarters has also come under attack for his strident views on Chinese power. [China confrontation] [Trade war] [Myopia] [Agency] [Nationalism]
• President Tsai reaffirms commitment to indigenous submarine program
  Publication Date: August 07, 2018 President Tsai Ing-wen reaffirms the government’s commitment to the indigenous submarine program at ROC Navy Command Aug. 6 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Office of the President) President Tsai Ing-wen said Aug. 6 that development of indigenous weapons systems is the backbone of the government’s national defense strategy, with production of Taiwan’s first submarine playing a key role in the process. Homegrown subs will enhance the navy’s operational capabilities while strengthening the spirit of the armed forces, Tsai said. They also represent the innovative approach of the government to meeting its obligations to the fighting men and women of Taiwan, as well as the people, she added. The president, who made the remarks during the unveiling of a monument at ROC Navy Command in Taipei City, said Taiwan is a maritime nation that must be able to patrol and protect its shipping lanes. [Taiwan] [Submarines] [Shipping lanes]
• China's two largest surveillance camera makers take a beating from US ban
  Posted : 2018-08-03 15:49 Updated : 2018-08-03 15:49 Hikvision is the world's top supplier of surveillance equipment. Alamy By Laura He Investors on Friday dumped shares of the world's top two security camera makers – Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Zhejian Dahua Technology – after they warned that a move to ban the use of Chinese made surveillance equipment by the US federal government could have wider ramifications on their business. The US Senate passed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, under which the US government will be banned from buying Chinese-made surveillance equipment from several Chinese firms. The US president is yet to sign the bill into law. The bill points to growing wariness in the US against Chinese technology on national security concerns as trade tensions simmer. [China confrontation] [Security] [China competition]
• Chinese foreign minister expresses public support of ending Korean War
  Posted on : Aug.3,2018 17:54 KST Modified on : Aug.3,2018 17:54 KST Wang Yi’s remarks draw attention around reports that China wants a “quadrilateral declaration” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is currently visiting Singapore to attend a foreign ministers’ meeting at the 24th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), said on Aug. 2 that the issue of a declaration ending the Korean war is “positive in terms of each country involved, and South and North Korea in particular, expressing their position on ending the war.” The remarks are drawing attention for coming amid recent reports that China wants a “quadrilateral declaration” adopted with South and North Korea, the US, and itself participating. Wang was speaking in response to questions about the preconditions for a declaration and China’s intent to participate during a press conference that afternoon at the Singapore Expo convention center. “I believe that everyone can announce a declaration ending the war if they do not want war to happen again,” he said. “This [statement] is fully suited to trends in the development of the current era, and it accords with the wishes of people in the individual countries, including South and North Korea,” he added. [Peace declaration]
• Blue House indicates possibility of ending Korean War through quadrilateral treaty
  Posted on : Aug.2,2018 17:16 KST Modified on : Aug.2,2018 17:16 KST Subtle shift in stance comes after July 20-22 visit from Chinese state councilor A view of the Blue House (Hankyoreh archives) On July 31, the Blue House said it was too early to say whether the declaration of the end of the Korean War – which was agreed upon in the Panmunjeom Declaration, which resulted from the inter-Korean summit on Apr. 27 – would be made by three parties or by four, but that it was not writing off the possibility of four parties. The Blue House had previously been pushing for a trilateral declaration of the end of the war by South Korea, North Korea and the US and a quadrilateral peace treaty between South Korea, North Korea, the US and China, but there are signs that it’s moving toward allowing China to participate in the declaration, too. When a senior official at the Blue House was asked during a meeting with reporters on July 31 whether the focus has been shifting from a trilateral to a quadrilateral declaration since the North Korea-US summit, the official’s response was that Seoul had never said the declaration had to be trilateral. [Peace treaty] [China]
• The Yellow Peril Comes to Washington. Is China Also Involved in “Election Meddling”!?
  Following the Israeli model?
  By Philip Giraldi Global Research, August 02, 2018 So President Donald Trump reckoned on Monday that the United States Intelligence Community (IC) just might be wrong in its assessment that Russia had sought to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election but then decided on Tuesday that he misspoke and had the greatest confidence in the IC and now agrees that they were correct in their judgment. But Donald Trump, interestingly, added something about there being “others” that also had been involved in the election in an attempt to subvert it, though he was not specific and the national media has chosen not to pursue the admittedly cryptic comment. He was almost certainly referring to China both due to possible motive and the possession of the necessary resources to carry out such an operation. Indeed, there are reports that China hacked the 30,000 Hillary Clinton emails that are apparently still missing. Just how one interferes in an election in a large country with diverse sources of information and numerous polling stations located in different states using different systems is, of course, problematical. The United States has interfered in elections everywhere, including in Russia under Boris Yeltsin. It engaged in regime change in Iran, Chile, and Guatemala by supporting conservative elements in the military which obligingly staged coups. In Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. forces invaded and overthrew the governments while in Libya the change in regime was largely brought about by encouraging rebels while bombing government forces. The same model has been applied in Syria, though without much success because Damascus actually was bold enough to resist. So how do the Chinese “others” bring about “change” short of a full-scale invasion by the People’s Liberation Army? I do not know anything about actual Chinese plans to interfere in future American elections and gain influence over the resulting newly elected government but would like to speculate on just how they might go about that onerous task. [China confrontation] [Influence] [Interference]
• Jeju Naval Parade to Go Ahead Despite Nimbys
  By Oh Jae-yong August 01, 2018 13:04 The International Fleet Review will be held at a naval base in Jeju on Oct. 10-14 despite protests from locals who did not want the noise and commotion in their backyard. A Navy spokesman told reporters on Tuesday, "We decided to hold the International Fleet Review in Jeju to have an opportunity to heal the scars of conflict caused in the process of building the port, to achieve reconciliation and to find a win-win solution between civilians and the military." This year's fleet review is the third and marks the 70th anniversary of the armed forces. The Navy plans a parade on Oct. 12. The naval base will be opened to the public on Oct. 13-14, and Korean and foreign naval vessels will also be accessible to civilian visitors. Visitors will be introduced to the cultures of various participating countries with hands-on events and performances. Adm. Sim Seung-seob, the chief of naval operations, thanked residents of Jeju and Gangjeong Village, where the port was built, "for helping make it possible to hold the fleet review." [China confrontation] [US dominance] [Jeju] [Tribute]
• Defense Reform Plans Leave S.Korea Dangerously Exposed
  July 30, 2018 13:32 The government announced plans last Friday to downsize the number of drafted soldiers by 118,000 and shorten the mandatory draft from 21 to 18 months as part of defense reforms. No sooner had the plan been announced than Chinese, Japanese and U.S. military jets and warships engaged in a war of nerves in South Korean skies and seas. China sent yet another surveillance aircraft into South Korea's air defense identification zone without the customary warning. It flew around 90 km east of Gangneung, Gangwon Province and stayed inside the zone for no fewer than four hours and 17 minutes. At the same time, Chinese Navy boats also approached too close to Korean shores. This was the fourth time this year alone that a Chinese surveillance aircraft breached the identification zone. [MISCOM] [China confrontation]
• Behind-the-Scenes Talks Underway to End Korean War
  By Kim Jin-myung July 31, 2018 10:27 Behind-the-scenes negotiations between the two Koreas, the U.S. and China are underway to declare a formal end to the Korean War. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi made a secret visit to Seoul this month and met with South Korea's national security chief Chung Eui-yong to discuss the issue. Chung then traveled to Washington and China's Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou visited Pyongyang. A source in Seoul said, "North Korea asked for help in its pursuit of a declaration ending the war." China favors a peace treaty instead because that will be legally binding on all sides. [Peace Treaty] [China]
• Washington Has Turned on China. Have Americans?
  By Craig Kafura Craig Kafura (ckafura@thechicagocouncil.org) is a research associate for public opinion and foreign policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a Pacific Forum Young Leader. You can follow him on Twitter @ckafura. There is perhaps no more important bilateral relationship in the world than the one between the United States and China. But that relationship may now be characterized more by competition than by cooperation. The Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance on the economic relationship, focusing on the US-China trade deficit and imposing tariffs on Chinese goods. The national security discussion has also pivoted. The Obama administration’s 2015 National Security Strategy is long past, with its welcome of “the rise of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous China” and its aim “to develop a constructive relationship.” The Trump administration’s 2017 National Security Strategy states bluntly that “China…want[s] to shape a world antithetical to U.S. values and interests.” As Wang Jisi of Peking University writes in Foreign Affairs, “a new American consensus is emerging … that China is a major ‘strategic competitor’ and ‘revisionist power’ that threatens US interests.” A cool US view of China-US relations While elite rhetoric around the US-China relationship has changed significantly in recent years, public views remain more moderate. Polling data from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs shows the US public is divided, neither embracing nor rejecting China. Despite many dramatic changes in China-US relations over the past 40 years, US attitudes toward China have remained stable. In a thermometer rating scale, where 0 represents a cold, very unfavorable feeling and 100 represents a warm, very favorable feeling, Americans today rate China an average of 45 degree. Forty years ago, in 1978, Americans rated China nearly the same: 44 out of 100. Americans are also divided over whether the US and China are mostly rivals (49 percent) or mostly partners (50 percent). This split on the US-China relationship has been consistent since the question was first asked in 2006, when 49 percent of Americans described China as a rival and 41 percent thought of China as a partner. China: growing power, but not a critical threat While Americans feel less warmly toward China than other nations, those less favorable views are not rooted in a view of Chinese power as a threat: only minorities of the publicdescribe China’s economic power (31 percent) and China’s military power (39 percent) as critical threats to the US. This puts Chinese power far behind other critical threats facing the US, such as North Korea’s nuclear program (78 percent), Russia’s territorial ambitions (47 percent), and even climate change (46 percent). [China confrontation] [Public opinion]
• China discusses lifting sanctions on Korean firms
  Posted : 2018-07-31 16:46 Updated : 2018-07-31 22:29 Seoul's top security advisor Chung Eui-yong, left, shakes hands with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, during Yang's visit to Seoul, March 29, in this file photo. Korea Times file By Kim Yoo-chul A senior Chinese official visited South Korea last month to discuss lifting unofficial sanctions Beijing has imposed on Korean companies following Seoul's deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system. "My understanding is Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, discussed THAAD-related issues in a recent meeting with Seoul's top security adviser Chung Eui-yong," a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters on the condition of anonymity, Tuesday. The presidential office confirmed the senior Chinese official visited South Korea in mid-July. However, he declined to comment about what topics were discussed or whether the two saw progress in key pending issues that the two countries are interested in. "The meeting was closed-door as they needed to have open communication touching on various issues," said the official, adding the two agreed not to reveal details about the meeting. "In general, the mood of the meeting was good and this wasn't a meeting with specific purposes in which the two countries wanted to reach agreements on some issues," he added. Earlier, the foreign ministries of China and South Korea released "coordinated statements," announcing that the two countries would move to repair their once healthy partnership. Back in 2016, South Korea decided to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system here despite heavy opposition from residents living near the location of the battery. China opposed the THAAD deployment claiming its advanced radar could monitor its key military facilities. [THAAD] [China SK]

• Duterte’s Underappreciated Foreign Policy Gains
  By Lucio Blanco Pitlo III Lucio Blanco Pitlo (lpitlo@ateneo.edu) is a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation; lecturer at the School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University; and contributing editor for the Asian Politics & Policy Journal. Criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign policy largely focuses on his rhetoric. Some have described his policies as defeatist and an attempt to appease China, especially in relation to the West Philippine Sea (WPS). At the same time, he is seen as confrontational toward the US and Europe for what Duterte considers unwanted interference in Philippine domestic affairs. As chief architect of the country’s foreign policy and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the president’s word is taken seriously and is taken by some as an expression of state policy. However, Duterte’s unstatesmanlike persona and audacious – often vulgar – language makes it difficult to use his rhetoric as the primary basis for ascertaining his independent foreign policy. Beyond the rhetoric, however, the administration has undertaken significant steps – symbolic, actual, and enduring – to demonstrate its resolve in the WPS. First, Duterte’s administration sent the highest-level official delegation to the Kalayaan (Spratlys) Islands in recent memory, a publicized visit that other claimants, including Vietnam and China, have yet to attempt. [Duterte] [South China Sea] [China confrontation]
• Korea may fall victim to US-China trade war
  Posted : 2018-07-23 15:55 Updated : 2018-07-24 00:31 By Park Hyong-ki South Korea is likely to fall victim to the escalating trade dispute among the United States, China and the European Union, as the row could develop into a currency war, analysts said Monday. The concern is brewing as U.S. President Donald Trump accused China and the EU, Sunday, of manipulating their respective currency markets. The fallout stemming from the U.S.'s trade protectionism policy will spread over to the global currency market, according to experts, dealing a severe blow to the Korean economy, which is heavily dependent on the U.S. and China. [Trade War] [Collateral damage] [China confrontation]
• China Doubles Oil Shipments to N.Korea After Kim's Visit
  July 19, 2018 12:14 China has resumed supplies of fertilizer and food to North Korea and doubled oil shipments after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's third visit to China in June. The move has exacerbated fears that China can effectively sabotage international sanctions against the North and thus scupper denuclearization efforts. Though the exact figure is not known, China sent an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 tons of fertilizer to the North, according to sources in China. In 2013, China supplied the North with 200,000 tons of fertilizer. Kwon Tae-jin of the GS&J Institute, an agricultural think tank in Seoul, said, "There are different ways of calculating harvest rates for different types of fertilizer and soil. But in case of urea fertilizer, it's possible to produce two tons of food more for each ton of fertilizer." "Beijing's policy is to continue exchange and cooperation with Pyongyang as long as they don't violate UN sanctions," one source said. "It seems China sent the latest supplies of fertilizer on the pretext of humanitarian relief." China also dramatically increased oil shipments to the North. A source in Beijing said it nearly doubled crude oil supplies to the North through pipelines from Dandong since Kim's recent visits. "Some 30,000 to 40,000 tons of oil is enough in the summer to maintain the lowest possible flow of oil in the pipelines to ensure that they don't clog, and about 80,000 tons in winter," the source added. "Though it's summer now China has recently increased flow to the winter level." The UN Security Council has limited crude oil shipments to North Korea to 4 million barrels or 560,000 tons a year. If China sends 80,000 tons of oil to the North every month, that already brings the amount to 960,000 tons a year. North Korea in turn ships minerals and medicinal herbs to China, and a lot of food is smuggled in from China as border security loosened since Kim's China visits. Food prices in the North are stabilizing. In June, large trucks carrying North Korean iron ore were spotted crossing the bridge from Namyang, North Hamgyong Province to Tumen in the Chinese province of Jilin, even though exports of iron ore are banned by the UNSC. But it is still difficult for China and North Korea to resume larger-scale cooperation projects. "Despite its promise of large-scale aid to Kim, it's not easy for China to continue because that would violate UN sanctions," said Cho Bong-hyun at the IBK Economic Research Institute. "It seems that China is giving the North just enough aid to get some breathing space." [China NK] [Sanctions] [Oil]
• MAC minister details Taiwan’s cross-strait policy in Washington
  Publication Date: July 19, 2018 | MAC Minister Chen Ming-tong elaborates on the government’s cross-strait policy during an event hosted by The Heritage Foundation and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy July 18 in Washington. (CNA) Taiwan will never relinquish its sovereignty in exchange for an illusory peace, nor will its 23 million people ever allow their destiny to be decided by the other side of the strait, according to Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong July 18. In light of recent changes, the government is willing to consider future cross-strait interactions with a more open attitude and flexible policy while engaging in pragmatic communication and dialogue, Chen said. But China must stop words and actions harmful to Taiwan and restrain internal factors detrimental to positive development, he added. Chen made the comments during a keynote address at an international conference on the opportunities and challenges of cross-strait relations in Washington. Hosted by U.S.-headquartered think tank The Heritage Foundation and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the one-day event featured top academics, experts and U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee for the Asia-Pacific. [Straits] [Heritage]
• China emerges as loophole in NK sanctions
  Posted : 2018-07-18 16:52 Updated : 2018-07-18 17:50 By Kim Bo-eun The discovery that vessels allegedly shipping North Korean coal to South Korea last year were run by Chinese companies raises concern at a time when China has been attempting to ease UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions imposed on the North, despite a lack of progress in denuclearization talks. The findings also raise suspicions over whether China was involved in other evasions of sanctions on North Korea. A UNSC report stated Tuesday that a Panama and a Sierra Leone flagged vessel brought 9,000 tons of coal to the South Korean ports of Incheon and Pohang in October last year. Other vessels initially took coal from North Korea to Russia, where the Panama and Sierra Leone-registered vessels allegedly picked it up and brought it to South Korea. While investigations are ongoing into whether the coal was from North Korea, if this is found to be true, it would be a violation of UNSC sanctions that ban North Korea from exporting coal, and member states from procuring it. Meanwhile, documents from the Asia-Pacific Region Port State Control Committee state that the Panama and Sierra Leone registered vessels were run by a company based in Dalian, Lianoing Province, China. The Panama-registered Sky Angel that entered Incheon Port was run by Dalian Sky Ocean International Shipping. The Sky Angel later registered as a Vanuatu vessel. The Sierra Leone-registered Rich Glory that entered the southeastern port of Pohang was found to be owned by Sanhe Marine, another Chinese company based in Dalian. Moreover, a dispute arose over the South Korean government's responsibility as it did not prevent the vessels from arriving in Incheon and Pohang and unloading the coal. The government did not seize the vessels at the time due to a lack of evidence, according to the foreign ministry, which is seeking to ascertain who imported the coal. Additionally, the government did not take any measures when the vessels returned to South Korea four months later in February. The Rich Glory and Sky Angel underwent safety inspections at Incheon and Gunsan, but were not seized. [China NK] [Sanctions]
• Bury Me With My Comrades: Memorializing Mao's Sent-Down Youth
  Magnus Fiskesjö July 15, 2018 Volume 16 | Issue 14 | Number 4 Abstract Over the last decade or so, China has seen an unprecedented building boom of museums and memorials. One curious new genre is the museums for Mao-era "Cultural Revolution" youth "sent down" to the countryside by Mao during the 1960s and 1970s. After Mao's death, they struggled to return to the cities. Surviving returnees have recently established several museums commemorating their suffering and sacrifice, even though the topic is politically fraught and the period's history is strictly censored in official museums and histories. One museum, the Shanghai Educated Youth Museum, doubles as a memorial site and a collective cemetery for former sent-down youth who wish to be buried together. This paper locates these memorials and burial grounds in their historical and political context. It also reflects the Shanghai institutions' copying of the design and architecture of the Korea and Vietnam war memorials in Washington D.C. [Cultural Revolution]
• N.Korea Drums up Investment in China
  By Choi Hyun-mook, Kim Myong-song July 10, 2018 11:18 North Korean economic officials are busy drumming up investment in China by telling businesses there that international sanctions will end soon, Radio Free Asia reported Monday. RFA quoted a Chinese trader in Dandong as saying that North Korean bureaucrats swarming the city to drum up investment from Chinese businesspeople. International sanctions have taken a harsh toll on North Korea's exports. Last year, when China tightened sanctions against North Korea, the North's trade shrank 15 percent compared to 2016. According to a report by Seoul's Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency on Monday, North Korea's trade volume totaled just US$5.55 billion in 2017, down 15 percent from the previous year. Exports plunged 37.2 percent to $1.77 billion, while imports inched up 1.8 percent to $3.78 billion, translating into a $2.01 billion trade deficit, up a whopping 125.5 percent on-year. But that only increased North Korea's economic dependency on China. Even as the North's trade with China dropped 13.2 percent, China's proportion of the North's trade rose to a record 94.8 percent. Meanwhile, North Korea has called on South Korea to stick to the terms of an agreement signed by the leaders of the two Koreas at their summit earlier this year, which include South Korean investments in North Korea's railways and roads. Propaganda outlet Meari accused Seoul of "using sanctions as an excuse" to delay acting on the terms of the agreement. [China NK] [FDI]
• Decoding the Sino-North Korean Borderlands
  By Adam Cathcart, Christopher Green and Steven Denney | July 09, 2018 | Scholars who focus on borders and “borderlands” find their work to be in relatively high public demand at the moment. For a case in point, look no further than Reese Jones, the University of Hawaii-based author of Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move. As the United States is going through another Trump-induced paroxysm of immigration policy changes, controversy, and drama, conscientious readers are looking for writing and approaches that offer the chance to understand the broader dimensions and elements of border controls and find policies that heighten rather than alleviate human suffering. The Chinese-North Korean border, paradoxically, has in recent years become far less of a symbol of precisely these agonizing issues of migration and citizenship. The focus on the border foremost as a portal for North Korean escapees into China has relented somewhat since Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011. Simultaneously, the famine of the late 1990s has begun to recede into memory, as a new generation emerges that did not share that collective experience. US and United Nations pressures on China and North Korea on the freedom of movement issue, or the exodus of North Koreans, seem to have abated substantially, even in the wake of a major UN commission report of 2014 which was intended to galvanize change. [China NK] [Migration]
• South Korea would suffer serious damage in US-China trade war, analysts say
  Posted on : Jul.9,2018 17:41 KST Modified on : Jul.9,2018 17:41 KST Korea’s China-dependent exports focused on capital and intermediate goods US trade deficit with China South Korea’s highly export-dependent economy would suffer serious damage in the event of a trade war between the US and China upsetting the global trade order, analysts are predicting. As of last year, China accounted for 25 percent of South Korea’s trade. Under the circumstances, a blow to the Chinese economy from intensifying trade conflicts with the US would inevitably have an impact on South Korean businesses involved in exports. With the US applying sweeping import regulations in areas including steel and automobiles, the loss of trade with China would usher things from bad to worse for related South Korean industries. [China confrontation] [Trade war] [Collateral]
• Leaked Chinese Memo Warns Of "Thucydides Trap" With US, "War Is Unavoidable"
  Profile picture for user Tyler Durden by Tyler Durden Sat, 07/07/2018 - 07:45 A series of leaked internal documents reveal that China's military reforms are aimed at allowing Beijing to "manage a crisis, contain a conflict, win a war" and overtake the United States in military strength, according to the Express. The leaked documents were published by the Central Military Commission in February for the purpose of spreading President Xi Jinping’s “thought on strengthening the armed forces”. If the reforms go ahead, they will lead to heightened tensions with China’s neighbouring countries, including Japan, in the East and South China Seas and the US. -Express “As we open up and expand our national interests beyond borders, we desperately need a comprehensive protection of our own security around the globe,” read the leaked documents, which adds that a strong military is the best way to "escape the obsession that war is unavoidable between an emerging power and a ruling hegemony". It's worth noting that in March Beijing rolled out their largest defense budget in three years. [China confrontation] [Conflict]
• It’s time for Europe to learn from China in engaging in Africa
  By He Wenping and Hisham Abu Bakr Metwally Source: Global Times Published: 2018/7/5 22:43:40 The just-concluded EU Summit on migration has come up with measures like securing centers for migrants to process asylum claims, strengthening external border controls, and boosting financing for Turkey and countries in North Africa. But these are old solutions to old problems. Since 2015, the EU has been working at full capacity to overcome the migration crisis. EU member states received over 1.2 million first-time asylum applications in 2015, more than double that of the previous year. But it seems that the European continent is still working in the same old way to try to prevent the entry of immigrants and not to address the causes of migration. Even if we assume these measures bring success in reducing immigration for some time, the EU will later be surprised when migrants use other means and methods to migrate, because the causes of migration still exist. The root of migration is poverty. The African continent has suffered occupation and war for many decades. Many African countries have not yet been able to achieve the path of reform and development. This has put the people of these countries under unbearable pressure from poverty, ignorance and disease. They have pushed themselves into the abyss and tried to cross the border to reach Europe. They have faced danger and horror, believing a chance at a better future is worth dying for, if necessary. [China Africa] [Development] [Poverty] [Migration]
• Central Bank forecasts limited impact on Taiwan from US-China trade war
  Publication Date: July 06, 2018 | Taiwan’s Central Bank stands ready to act in response to a potential U.S.-China trade war. (Staff photo/Meg Chang) Taiwan is expected to emerge largely unscathed from a potential U.S.-China trade war, but the government is keeping a close eye on developments and stands ready to act, according to the Central Bank July 5. The U.S. is implementing tariffs in response to China’s unfair business practices related to the forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property, the Central Bank said, adding that this action has devalued major Asian currencies, heightened market volatility and could drag other economies into a broader trade dispute. [Trade war] [Taiwan]
• Curbs on Chinese investment could hit Detroit and Silicon Valley
  Paul Lienert U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to block Chinese investment in U.S. companies could be trouble for a number of American automotive and technology companies using Chinese funds to develop electric and self-driving cars and related services, from Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) to dozens of Silicon Valley startups. Chinese companies in the past five years have funded at least 80 U.S. transportation startups, with a combined valuation of more than $100 billion, while also pouring billions into established firms such as Tesla, according to a Reuters analysis of publicly available data. (GRAPHIC: Intertwined investments - tmsnrt.rs/2KNBzoP) Sponsored [ODI] [China confrontation]
• China caps stars' pay to prevent 'money worship'
  Posted : 2018-07-04 17:04 Updated : 2018-07-04 17:53 By Dong Sun-hwa, Jung Min-ho China's government will cap the pay of stars as part of an effort to crack down on tax evasion and prevent the culture of "money worship" in the entertainment industry. According to new rules, actors and actresses in Chinese movies and TV shows will have their pay capped at 40 percent of total production costs. Moreover, leading stars cannot be paid more than 70 percent of the total cast pay. The government did not specify the reasons for the action, but says it needs to solve the problems of "sky-high pay" for stars and "tax evasion and other issues." It said such problems could lower the quality of movies and TV shows and eventually lead to the culture of "money worship." The government warned that it will regularly check whether the new rules are implemented correctly and violators will face punishment. Top star Fan Bingbing may have contributed to creating the new rules after allegedly attempting to dodge taxes and being involved in a double contract. The same issue came to the fore in Korea recently, following reports that actor Lee Byung-hun makes 150 million won ($134,000) for filming each episode of the coming drama "Mr. Sunshine," while most of the production crew have to live on meager salaries. [Inequality]
• Exclusive: China presses Europe for anti-U.S. alliance on trade
  Robin Emmott, Noah Barkin China is putting pressure on the European Union to issue a strong joint statement against President Donald Trump’s trade policies at a summit later this month but is facing resistance, European officials said. In meetings in Brussels, Berlin and Beijing, senior Chinese officials, including Vice Premier Liu He and the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, have proposed an alliance between the two economic powers and offered to open more of the Chinese market in a gesture of goodwill. One proposal has been for China and the European Union to launch joint action against the United States at the World Trade Organisation. But the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, has rejected the idea of allying with Beijing against Washington, five EU officials and diplomats told Reuters, ahead of a Sino-European summit in Beijing on July 16-17. Instead, the summit is expected to produce a modest communique, which affirms the commitment of both sides to the multilateral trading system and promises to set up a working group on modernizing the WTO, EU officials said. [EU] [Allegiance] [Self harm]
• Kim Jong-un Visits Chinese Border Region
  By Kim Myong-song July 02, 2018 12:53 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited two areas in North Pyongan Province near the Chinese border on Friday and Saturday, the official [North] Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday. It was his first public outing since his June 19-20 meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The outing suggests he is interested in getting cross-border business up and running fast. North Pyongan Province is home to Hwanggumpyong and Wihwa Island, where a joint economic zone between China and North Korea is planned. Since a lavish groundbreaking ceremony in June 2011, construction proceeded at a snail's pace until stopping altogether after the brutal execution of Kim's uncle Jang Song-taek, who was in charge of business with China, in December 2013. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits North Pyongan Province, in these combined images released on Sunday by [North] Korean Central TV. Inspecting a cosmetics factory in Sinuiju, Kim said, "It is important to completely eliminate manual labor and modernize production processes." Sinuiju is between Dandong and the Apnok River and serves as a hub of China-North Korea trade. As relations with China warm rapidly, official and unofficial cross-border business is expected to increase rapidly. Premier Pak Pong-ju accompanied Kim during his recent trip to Beijing, and a group of North Korean party officials visited China to tour examples of its economic miracle. Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun on Sunday said Kim asked Xi to ease sanctions during their last summit. China and Russia in a statement to UN Security Council members last week urged the relaxation of sanctions against North Korea, according to the daily. [China NK] [SEZ] [Sanctions]

• MOFA welcomes appointment of new AIT head Christensen
  Publication Date: June 28, 2018 | William Brent Christensen’s appointment as director of the AIT Taipei Office is welcomed June 27 by the MOFA. (CNA) The appointment of William Brent Christensen as new director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan is welcomed June 27 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Describing Christensen as a senior diplomat with considerable experience of Taiwan-U.S. relations, the MOFA said that he has advanced numerous policies strengthening ties over his nearly three-decade career. These include Taiwan’s inclusion in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program since 2012, as well as the establishment in 2015 of the Taiwan-U.S. Global Cooperation and Training Framework, a platform for expanding collaboration on major regional and international issues, according to the MOFA. Other initiatives Christensen promoted include the International Environmental Partnership and the Pacific Islands Leadership Program, launched in 2014 and 2012, respectively, the MOFA said. He also helped facilitate the visits of senior U.S. officials such as Gina McCarthy, then head of the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2014, as well as Charles Rivkin, then assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, the following year. [US Taiwan]
  • William Brent Christensen Announced as Director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan
    June 27, 2018 ) The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) is pleased to announce the selection of Mr. William Brent Christensen as the new Director of its Taipei office, succeeding Mr. Kin W. Moy beginning summer 2018. The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 created the American Institute in Taiwan to conduct the commercial, cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan. Mr. Christensen has been in the United States Foreign Service for more than 29 years and has extensive experience in senior positions relating to Taiwan and China. Mr. Christensen was Deputy Director of the American Institute in Taiwan’s Taipei office. Prior to that, he was Director of the State Department’s Office of Taiwan Coordination, where he had a primary role in formulating U.S. policy toward Taiwan. He has served three assignments at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the most recent being Environment, Science, Technology and Health Counselor. Mr. Christensen has also served as a Senior Level Career Development Advisor in the State Department’s Human Resources Bureau. Prior to that assignment, he served as the Foreign Policy Advisor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS). Other overseas postings include Hong Kong and South Africa. Mr. Christensen also served as a Congressional Fellow on the staff of Senator Olympia Snowe. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force. [US Taiwan]
• Be outraged about kids in cages. But save some ire for the worst refugee offender: China
  By Markos Kounalakis Special to McClatchy June 21, 2018 05:00 AM Updated June 21, 2018 05:00 AM Caging kids at the U.S. border is reprehensible. But as first ladies, governors, celebrities, and citizens of all political stripes line up and strike out against the inhumane practice of separating children from parents seeking refuge, everyone should save some ire and outrage for one of the world’s greatest offenders and dissemblers of refugee rights: China. Despite having signed onto the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, China has gone to incredible lengths to redefine and reclassify foreigners who seek asylum on Chinese territory, allowing an appearance of having received “foreign” refugees. In fact, China is practicing the same type of refugee policy it pursues when it comes to international trade. It is willing to export its massive population at high numbers, send them abroad for education, work, and to establish cultural beachheads and corporate outposts (as with steel), but is unwilling and vehemently opposed to accepting a modicum of duty-free imports or unwashed masses. China, unfortunately, is not alone. Russia and Turkey use refugees as weapons, Italy’s new government is stalking them and preparing them for deportation, Hungary makes it clear that they are unwelcome public targets. Increasingly, the rest of the West sees them as an unmanageable burden or parasitic horde who threaten nativist cultures, take jobs, drain welfare, change the national character, overwhelm communities, breed terrorists, and create chaos. Refugees and their children are having a hard time finding a new home. [China bashing] [False balance] [Refugee reception]
• N.Korea-China Exchanges Multiply Fast
  By Lee Kil-seong June 22, 2018 09:31 North Korea and China are rapidly boosting exchanges that could significantly blunt international sanctions against the rogue regime. North Korea's Air Koryo will launch a direct flight to Xian, the capital of China's Shaanxi Province next month, bringing regular flights to China to five. It already flies to Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, and a Chengdu route will open on June 28. Local media in Xian reported the decision on Wednesday, just as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un returned home after winding up his third trip to China. The flights will serve mainly package tour groups going to Pyongyang from July that will bring in much-needed valuta for the North Korean regime. Air Koryo flight attendants walk through Pyongyang Sunan International Airport in April 2017. /Newsis Kim has displayed signs that he wants to adopt the Chinese model of capitalism, leaving a message in the guest book that he "deeply admires" farming innovations he was shown at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The facility focuses on research about industrializing agriculture, including hydroponic farming and horticulture in urban areas. His father Kim Jong-il also visited the academy in January 2006 but seemed unwilling or unable to adopt its innovations or those of any of the other Chinese enterprises he was shown. Kim Jong-un also visited a rail traffic control center in Beijing under the China Investment Corporation. He inspected the subway control and automated ticket sales systems and was briefed on Beijing's history of subway operations and its prospect of growth. This suggests that agriculture and railways will become key parts in North Korea-China economic cooperation. The two facilities are related to China's sweeping "One Belt, One Road" initiative, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. "Both organizations are part of China's ambitious 'One Belt, One Road' initiative, created to spread the country's global influence by lending other countries money for big infrastructure projects built by Chinese companies," the daily said. [China NK] [Sanctions]
• Is A War With China On The Horizon?
  June 20, 2018 by Michael T. Klare On May 30th, Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced a momentous shift in American global strategic policy. From now on, he decreed, the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), which oversees all U.S. military forces in Asia, will be called the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). The name change, Mattis explained, reflects “the increasing connectivity between the Indian and Pacific Oceans,” as well as Washington’s determination to remain the dominant power in both. What? You didn’t hear about this anywhere? And even now, you’re not exactly blown away, right? Well, such a name change may not sound like much, but someday you may look back and realize that it couldn’t have been more consequential or ominous. Think of it as a signal that the U.S. military is already setting the stage for an eventual confrontation with China. [China confrontation] [Conflict] [Quadrilateral]
• President Trump moves to Navarro-Navarro Land
  White House trade adviser's hawkish report on China's economy denotes dangerous shift in American leader's policy thinking By David P. Goldman June 21, 2018 “Just remember, we’re twice the size — our economy — twice the size of China,” US President Donald Trump told reporters June 1. The president is catastrophically misinformed. In terms of purchasing power parity, China’s economy overtook the US in 2013, according to the World Bank. Trump meant that China is small enough to be bullied by the United States. That might be the worst estimation of relative strength since Napoleon III launched a war on Prussia in 1870. The United States proposes to undertake a trade war while it needs to borrow $1 trillion a year to fund its government deficit for many years to come, and must borrow a large portion of that money overseas. The most practical man of business, John Maynard Keynes, wrote, might be the mental slave of a defunct economist. Sadly, the president appears to be the mental slave of a living one, namely White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, whose just-published report blames China’s economic success on “aggressive acts, policies and practices that fall outside global norms and rules.” Navarro’s report denotes a shift in Trump’s thinking; a month ago, the US president overruled his own Commerce Department’s ban on chip sales to China’s telecommunications giant ZTE, and proposed instead a fine and other controls. After the US Senate repudiated the compromise in an 85-10 vote Monday night, though, Trump appears to have decided to do his opponents one better, and show that he is tougher on China than anyone else. Navarro’s report complains that China acquires US technology through open sources (that is, freely available publications) and puts it into a data base. It also complains that China reverse engineers American products, a practice that it concedes “may not be illegal.” And it claims that the 300,000 Chinese who study or work in the United States are stealing American secrets, although it offers no estimate of how many of them do this or how many secrets are stolen. It cites past reports documenting state-sponsored Chinese hacking of American data, although it makes no attempt to estimate how much of China’s growth can be attributed to data theft. [China confrontation] [Navarro] [Trade war]
• Black Swan Trips Alarm, Fouls Moderate Outlook on China’s Rise
  By Robert Sutter Robert Sutter (sutterr@gwu.edu) is professor of practice of international affairs at the George Washington University. Sutter’s latest book is Foreign Relations of The PRC: The Legacies and Constraints of China’s International Politics [second edition] (Rowman & Littlefield 2018) I have long had a moderate outlook on China’s rise, a view that did not fundamentally change despite widely publicized challenges China poses to US leadership. The constraints on and limitations of China’s actual power and influence remain substantial. China is not dominant in Asia and is not in a position to undertake global leadership, replacing the United States. The US retains the capacity to counter or otherwise deal with China’s challenges. Unfortunately, my thinking did not take sufficient account of China’s headlong advance to control the advanced technological industries seen as essential to US power. China’s drive was well known. Its motive was defensive – to protect China in the face of anticipated US dominance in these fields. Monitoring the remarkable Chinese purchases of high-technology firms in the US and other developed countries and the seemingly ever-closer collaboration between Chinese state-influenced firms and US-based and other international high-technology firms shows China’s goals have gone well beyond defensive. Further investigation and consultation with knowledgeable US analysts show not only unexpected Chinese strengths, but major US weaknesses in dealing with this acute challenge. The US seems too conflicted and distracted to come up with effective measures to counter Beijing’s pursuit of dominance in high-technology industries. This “black swan” development prompts my alarm over the China threat. Ultimately, Beijing does not need to engage in an across the board effort to achieve a power shift in Asian and world leadership. As it achieves dominance in high-technology industries essential to future US power, a broader power shift will follow. [China confrontation] [China rise] [High-tech]
• Robust China-N.Korea ties instill positive energy to region
  Global Times Published: 2018/6/20 22:03:41 Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, visited China from June 19 to 20. It's his third visit to China in the past three months and has garnered worldwide attention. Instead of publicizing information after Kim leaves, per usual, China released information about his visit and his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his stay. The change is noticed and has been regarded as a sign of the North Korean leader's greater transparency on foreign affairs. Kim's visit took place just one week after the US-North Korea summit in Singapore and amid a simmering China-US trade war. The Korean Peninsula issue was at the top of the agenda during the Xi-Kim meeting. Since Kim paid his first visit to China in March, the peninsula situation has gained a momentum of steady development. Beijing has been making constructive efforts to promote denuclearization and lasting peace on the peninsula. Some people attempted to figure out the special meaning of Kim's China visit at a time of an escalating China-US trade tensions. Kim's three China visits indicate that China-North Korea relations have recovered and developed well. Outside parties should support this development rather than overly interpret it. As two sovereign states, China and North Korea have the right to develop friendly relations. Facts have proven that since the outbreak of the North Korean nuclear crisis in the 1990s, stable Sino-North Korean relations have played a positive role in maintaining regional peace and stability. Beijing has never used its relationship with Pyongyang to undermine the stability of the peninsula. Some Chinese scholars hold that the China-North Korea relationship could develop into a new strategic partnership if the two make an effort to strengthen bilateral ties in the future. Such a strategic partnership would play a constructive role in the region. North Korea's desire for peaceful development, to ease relations with other countries and build a new international environment has presented an opportunity for Sino-North Korean cooperation. Opening up is an inevitability if a country wants to develop. China will be a reliable strategic partner capable of supporting North Korea's political security during its course of opening up. China stresses principles and honors commitments. It never targets any third parties in its relations with others, nor does it pursue sphere of influence. Countries which have diplomatic relations with China are all politically independent. None has been regarded as a geopolitical tool. In short, development of China-North Korea relations has shown robust momentum and a bright future. It's hoped that the outside world will positively respond to the two countries' bilateral relations. [China NK] [Kim_Xi_June2018]
• Toward a New Maritime Strategy in the South China Sea
  By Patrick M. Cronin and Melodie Ha Dr. Patrick M. Cronin (pcronin@cnas.org) is senior director of and Melodie Ha is a Joseph S. Nye, Jr. national security intern with the Asia-Pacific Security Program of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). China’s buildup of armed forces and installations on disputed islands in the South China Sea highlights twin ambitions of solidifying expansive territorial claims and demonstrating Beijing’s growing military reach out to the second island chain and beyond. Landing long-range H-6K bombers on China’s largest outpost in the Paracel archipelago could presage similar moves on the Subi, Mischief, and Fiery Cross Reefs in the Spratly Islands. The fortification of South China Sea installations is both a byproduct of and a means to so-called gray-zone challenges to the existing order. China seeks to change the status quo through incremental actions, mobilizing both military and paramilitary forces, and threats of coercion – but stopping short of steps that might trigger conflict. [China confrontation] [South China Sea] [MISCOM]
• Strategizing in the Wake of the Singapore Summit: The Kim-Xi Meeting in Beijing. Crisis in Beijing-Washington Relations
  Trip takes place just one week after historic summit in Singapore By Abayomi Azikiwe Global Research, June 21, 2018 Chairman Kim Jong un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and his wife Ri Sol Ju paid yet another visit to the People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping on June 19. This is the third time in as many months that the head of the Worker’s Party of Korea (WPK) has held face-to-face talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing. The two Asian heads-of-state held discussions on the recent developments involving the ongoing dialogue between the Republic of Korea (south) and the DPRK over issues of normalizing relations and potential unification. These important questions along with the summit meeting held with United States President Donald Trump on June 12 in Singapore have created tremendous interests throughout the international community. [Kim_Xi_June18]
• Three Traps in Building the Indo-Pacific Narrative Thus Far
  By Huong Le Thu Huong Le Thu (le2huongl@gmail.com) is a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Defense and Strategy Program. Japan’s idea of Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP), first debuted about a decade ago, is having a second chance with new spin. This time, the project is being collectively promoted by the US, Australia, and India as well, and has won signs of support by France and even the UK. This renaissance signals an important mobilization among ‘like-minded’ states. Beyond ongoing deliberation on what FOIP means and whether its objectives and strategies are clear, the language associated with the FOIP has already created concerns. A FOIP narrative that seeks buy-in from supporters and partners must avoid the following three traps. [China confrontation] [Quadrilateral]
• Third meeting between Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping
  20 June, 2018 Chinese papers have already reported on Kim Jong Un’s third visit to China and to meet with Xi Jinping over the last couple of days, but I have been waiting for KCNA to report, especially since they always have the best pictures. A selection from the lengthy report at KCNA: At the talks the result of the historic DPRK-U.S. summit, which was successfully held amidst the unusual interest and expectation of the international community, and appreciation, views and stand on it were informed each other. And beneficial views on a series of issues of mutual concern including the prospect for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula were exchanged and a shared understanding on the discussed issues achieved. [Kim_Xi_june18]
• With tariffs, Trump starts unraveling a quarter-century of U.S.-China economic ties
  Trump sets $50 billion in China tariffs, escalating trade war President Trump announced hefty tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports on June 15, sparking an immediate response from Beijing. (Reuters) by David J. Lynch and Emily Rauhala June 15 at 6:54 PM Email the author President Trump imposed tariffs Friday on $50 billion in ­Chinese products, signaling his willingness to unwind nearly a ­quarter-century of growing commercial links between the world’s two largest economies unless Beijing agrees to transform the way it conducts business. The decision marked the president’s boldest step so far to implement his “America First” strategy, which he promises will shrink the $811 billion merchandise trade deficit and return lost manufacturing jobs to the United States. But Trump’s aggressive approach is rattling American corporate leaders and his Republican allies in Congress, as Chinese officials show no sign of capitulating. It took little more than an hour for the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing to fire back at the president with a late-night statement pledging to erect trade barriers of the “same scale and the same strength.” China is targeting agricultural goods, cars and energy in a bid to hit the president’s supporters in farm states and the industrial Midwest. [Trump] [China confrontation] [Trade war] [Response]
• Kim Jong-un Flies Home on Chinese Plane
  By Kim Myung-song, Kim Jin-myung June 13, 2018 11:09 The front page of North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun on Wednesday /Newsis North Korean leader Kim Jong-un left Singapore late Tuesday evening after his historic meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. He used the same chartered Chinese airplane as on arrival. But the route was a carefully guarded secret. Diplomats say there is a good chance he stopped in Beijing for debriefing by Chinese President Xi Jinping for what would be their third meeting in as many months. Trump left Singapore on Tuesday evening and stopped by U.S. military bases in Guam and Hawaii on his way back to Washington, the White House said. Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii constitute the U.S. military's key footholds in the Asia-Pacific region. Trump had used his triumphal press conference after the summit to bewail the cost of supporting U.S. allies in the region in the apparent conviction that such allegiances are a one-way street. [Singapore summit] [China NK]
• Taiwan welcomes outcome of Trump-Kim summit in Singapore
  Publication Date: June 13, 2018 | A+ The MOFA welcomes the outcome of the June 12 Trump-Kim summit in Singapore. (Staff photo/Chin Hung-hao) The outcome of the summit between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un June 12 in Singapore is welcomed by Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Trump and Kim reached a consensus and signed a document on matters relating to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and U.S.-North Korea relations, the MOFA said. The meeting is of great significance to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific as it creates new opportunities for resolving long-standing issues in a peaceful manner, the ministry added. [Singapore summit] [Taiwan]
• President Tsai lauds robust Taiwan-Kingdom of Eswatini ties
  Publication Date: June 11, 2018 | President Tsai Ing-wen (second right), Vice President Chen Chien-jen (right), King Mswati III (center) and Queen Inkhosikati LaMotsa (second left) enjoy a cultural performance June 8 at the Office of the President in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Office of the President) President Tsai Ing-wen said June 8 that Taiwan is committed to strengthening the robust partnership with the Kingdom of Eswatini through expanding mutually beneficial cooperation and trade. [Taiwan] [Swaziland]
• China Pats Itself on Back for Role in Trump-Kim Jong-un Summit
  By Lee Kil-seong June 12, 2018 10:05 China is patting itself on the back for its ancillary role in the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump. The state-run Global Times daily on Monday crowed, "China has played an important role in setting stage for the Trump-Kim summit" -- by providing a charter plane that took Kim to Singapore. It claimed Kim's journey to Singapore aboard the Air China plane carries huge symbolic meaning and demonstrates Beijing's "wholehearted support" for the North as well as its intention to continue playing a role on the Korean Peninsula. /Yonhap It said China plays an "indispensable" role in helping North Korea join the international community and could also help the North open up its economy. It also talked up Beijing for offering "crucial momentum" in ensuring that the summit proceeds. Kim met Chinese President Xi Jinping twice in the last few months, the last time just before Trump canceled the summit citing North Korea's "tremendous anger." Kim's plane was the same Boeing 747 that Chinese Premier Le Keqiang uses on overseas trips. [Singapore summit] [China]
• China and DPRK working closely together
  11 June, 2018 With the various coverages of the meeting tomorrow between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump, a small but important detail may not have received the attention it deserves. Kim Jong Un and his team flew in an Air China plane from Pyongyang to Singapore. Kim has a plane that he can use, so why a Chinese plane? It is not any plane, but one of those used by members of the Chinese Politburo for overseas travel. The message is clear: the DPRK has the backing of China in the current process. Indeed, since Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping met in March in Beijing (with a follow-up meeting in Dalian), there have been numerous occasions of close consultation and collaboration. As usual, the most reliable coverage with the best photographs can be found at KCNA and Rodong Sinmun (here, here and here). Some images of the trip, from Pyongyang’s new international airport to Singapore: [China NK]
• After US withdrawal, Iran embraces China
  5 June 2018 Author: Simon Theobald, ANU On 8 May 2018, US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that had provided Iran with relief from economic sanctions in return for a freeze on its program of uranium enrichment. Although there is a grace period for US companies presently operating in the Islamic Republic to wind down their operations, economic sanctions will follow, putting pressure once again on the Iranian economy. Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing on 13 May 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Thomas Peter.) Not less than a week later, Iran’s charismatic Foreign Minister and one of the chief architects of the nuclear deal, Javad Zarif, was in Beijing meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. As Zarif does a global lap shoring up support for the wavering deal, it should surprise no one that China is at the centre of Iran’s economic horizons. [Renege] [China Iran]
• China says probe sheds no light on mystery illness striking U.S. diplomats
  The entrance of the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China. (Sue-Lin Wong/Reuters) by Simon Denyer and Carol Morello June 7 at 9:50 AM Email the author BEIJING — A Chinese government investigation has shed no light on why a U.S. diplomat fell ill at the consulate in Guangzhou after hearing mysterious sounds, an official said Thursday. On Wednesday, the State Department said it was evacuating several more Americans from Guangzhou for further health screenings. That follows the initial evacuation of a government employee, who had reported hearing strange noises in his apartment and exhibiting symptoms of brain injury. On Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry said investigators looked into the case after being told about the first incident. “China and relevant authorities conducted an investigation and gave feedback to the United States,” spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news conference. “We haven’t found the cause or clues that would lead to the situation mentioned by the United States.”
  Separately, a group of researchers at the University of Michigan suggested that ultrasound signals from two or more transmitters could have accidentally interfered with each other to produce an audible signal. The ultrasound signals could have come from eavesdropping devices, from jammers meant to block eavesdropping, or even from ultrasound pest repellents, the researchers said, raising the possibility that whatever or whoever caused the noise may have had no intent to harm. [Sonic] [Self harm]
• This Ohio factory thought it could bring U.S. jobs back from China. Then Trump got involved.
  by David J. Lynch June 6 at 5:30 PM Email the author 2:25 'I'm in a very tough spot:' Factory owner on Trump tariffs The Trump administration's tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are hitting close to home at a metal stamping plant in Cleveland. (Simon Brubaker/The Washington Post) CLEVELAND — Bill Adler was invited last year to bid on a contract to make commercial sausage stuffers for a company that wanted to replace its Chinese supplier. The customer had just one non­negotiable demand: Match China’s price. Adler, owner of metal-parts maker Stripmatic Products, thought he could. But even as he readied his proposal, talk of President Trump’s steel tariffs sent the price of Stripmatic’s main raw material soaring. In April, with prices up nearly 50 percent from October and the first wave of tariffs in place, Adler’s bid failed. His costs were too high. Today, instead of taking business from China, Adler worries about hanging onto the work he has. He hopes tha [Trump] [China] [Tariffs] [Self harm]
• Air China to resume Beijing-Pyongyang flights
  Posted on : Jun.6,2018 15:50 KST Modified on : Jun.6,2018 15:50 KST State-owned airline’s flights to North Korea indication of improved relations and cooperation On June 5, Air China’s web page began allowing reservations for flights to Pyongyang departing on June 6. (Air China website) The state-owned airline Air China plans to resume service to Pyongyang after suspending its routes late last year citing insufficient demand. Air China will be resuming Beijing-Pyongyang service three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting with flight CA121 from Beijing on June 6. As of June 5, the airline’s web page allowed reservations from a flight departing Beijing at 1:25 pm on June and arriving in Pyongyang at 4:20 the same afternoon. The cost was 4,690 yuan (US$732) for a business class ticket and 2,940 yuan (US$459) for economy. Combined with Air Koryo’s service on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, this means seven flights a week will be traveling the Beijing-Pyongyang route. The airline explained that its decision to resume service was “based on market demand.” When service between the two cities was previously suspended after a Pyongyang-Beijing flight on the evening of Nov. 20 last year, the reason given by the airline was “unsatisfactory performance”; the new explanation implies the situation has completely turned around in the six months since. Exchange and cooperation have been on the rise between North Korea and China since then, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting twice for summits with Chinese President Xi Jinping. North Korea has sent a goodwill observing delegation from its Workers’ Party of Korea to China, and Air Koryo charter flight service between Pyongyang and the inland city of Chengdu is scheduled to begin late this month. [China NK]
• What China wants from a U.S.-North Korea summit — and why it makes Trump nervous
  By Don Lee Jun 04, 2018 | 11:55 AM | Washington After five years of practically shunning North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with him twice this spring. The two Communist allies are pictured here in the second meeting in northern China. (AFP/Getty Images) In the head-snapping drama of the off-again, on-again U.S.-North Korea summit, the unpredictable lead actors, President Trump and Kim Jong Un, hold center stage. But off in the wings, China is controlling some of the key action — and may help dictate the ending. Until recently, Beijing seemed to share Washington’s growing worry about Pyongyang’s increasingly powerful nuclear tests and ballistic missiles. Armed with a United Nations resolution, Chinese President Xi Jinping began squeezing his Communist “little brother” with the toughest economic sanctions ever. [Kim_Trump_talks18] [China NK]
• U.S. weighs more South China Sea patrols to confront 'new reality' of China
  Greg Torode, Idrees Ali SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United States is considering intensified naval patrols in the South China Sea in a bid to challenge China’s growing militarization of the waterway, actions that could further raise the stakes in one of the world’s most volatile areas The Pentagon is weighing a more assertive program of so-called freedom-of-navigation operations close to Chinese installations on disputed reefs, two U.S. officials and Western and Asian diplomats close to discussions said. The officials declined to say how close they were to finalizing a decision. Such moves could involve longer patrols, ones involving larger numbers of ships or operations involving closer surveillance of Chinese facilities in the area, which now include electronic jamming equipment and advanced military radars. U.S. officials are also pushing international allies and partners to increase their own naval deployments through the vital trade route as China strengthens its military capabilities on both the Paracel and Spratly islands, the diplomats said, even if they stopped short of directly challenging Chinese holdings. [China confrontation] [South China Sea] [FONOP]
• China and the Korean Peninsula: Kim holds the cards now
  30 May 2018 Author: Jeongseok Lee, Princeton University Amid the surprising diplomatic breakthrough on the Korean Peninsula, there have been dramatic changes in China’s relations with North and South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping, in Dalian, China in this undated photo released on 9 May 2018 (Photo: Reuters/Korean Central News Agency). Around this time last year, China was imposing economic sanctions against both Koreas. Pressured and alarmed by US President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash ‘fire and fury’, China has taken tougher economic measures against North Korea despite Pyongyang’s blatant criticism that Beijing was ‘crossing the red line’. China’s relations with South Korea also hit a low point in 2017 due to the feud over Seoul’s decision to deploy the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defence system and China’s subsequent economic retaliation. Even after agreeing to reconcile with Seoul in October 2017, China kept pressuring South Korea for an explicit pledge to restrain the operation of THAAD’s long-range radar system. Yet since North and South Korea agreed to hold a summit and President Trump accepted Pyongyang’s proposal for direct talks in March 2018, China has rushed to improve its relations with the two Koreas. Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for the first time since Kim came to power in 2011. In the meeting, Xi urged that the two countries’ friendship ‘should not and will not change’. [China NK] [China SK] [THAAD]
• Mattis warns of Chinese 'intimidation'; says U.S. seeks 'results-oriented' ties
  Idrees Ali The United States is willing to work with China on a “results- oriented” relationship, but Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea were coercive and the Pentagon would “compete vigorously” if needed, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday. South Korea's Defence Minister Song Young-moo leaves after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis on the sidelines of the IISS Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore June 2, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su The comments by Mattis, speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, come at a time of increased tension between the two nations in the South China Sea and highlight how President Donald Trump’s administration is looking to balance China’s cooperation on North Korea while dealing with its activities in the disputed sea. “China’s policy in the South China Sea stands in stark contrast to the openness that our strategy promotes, it calls into question China’s broader goals,” said Mattis, who said he would be traveling to Beijing this month. “The U.S. will continue to pursue a constructive, results-oriented relationship with China, cooperation whenever possible will be the name of the game and competing vigorously where we must ... of course we recognize any sustainable Indo-Pacific order has a role for China,” he said [China confrontation] [South China Sea] [Mattis]
• China May Get World's Largest Gas Field Because of U.S. Sanctions Against Iran
  By Tom O'Connor On 5/30/18 at 5:54 PM World China Iran France Total oil and gas Energy natural gas Iran Nuclear Deal Iran has threatened to give petroleum giant Total's stake in the South Pars gas fields to China if the French company could not secure protection from U.S. nuclear-related sanctions. Total signed a $4.8 billion contract to develop phase 11 of the South Pars—by far the world's largest natural gas field—last July, after the 2015 nuclear deal struck between the U.S., Iran and five other world powers saw a rolling back of sanctions against the revolutionary Shiite Muslim nation in exchange for it cutting nuclear production. Trump's May 8 withdrawal from the nuclear accord, however, has put this investment at risk and Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which already claims 30 percent of the project, could take the French supercompany's 50.1 percent stake. "Total has 60 days to negotiate with the U.S. administration while the French government can also use these 60 days to negotiate with the U.S. administration so that Total can stay in Iran," Zanganeh said in a statement, according to The Financial Times. "If the U.S. administration does not agree with Total staying in Iran, China will replace this company," he added. [Iran deal] [Renege] [Consequences] [France] [China]
• Pentagon: US military has a lot of experience 'taking down small islands' in Pacific
  By Ellen Mitchell - 05/31/18 05:50 PM EDT 355 The Pentagon on Thursday said it would continue to seek China's cooperation on North Korea, but made clear it could devastate Beijing’s assets should provocations in the South China Sea arise. “We continue to seek areas to cooperate with China where we can, but where we can’t we’re prepared to certainly protect both U.S. and allied interest in the region,” Director of the Joint Staff Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told reporters at the Pentagon. “I would just tell you that the United States military has had a lot of experience in the Western Pacific taking down small islands,” McKenzie said, when asked if the United States has the ability to “blow apart” one of China's disputed, man-made islands in the South China Sea. He later clarified that he was referring to U.S. military operations during World War II. “It’s just a fact we had a lot of experience in the Second World War taking down small islands that are isolated, so that's a core competency of the U.S. military that we’ve done before. [You] shouldn't read anything more into that than a simple statement of historical fact,” he said. [China confrontation] [South China Sea] [Pentagon] [Bluster]
• Navarro Rebukes Mnuchin for Declaring China Trade War ‘On Hold’
  By Jenny Leonard and Rich Miller May 31, 2018, 1:01 AM GMT+12 Updated on May 31, 2018, 10:38 AM GMT+12 • White House trade adviser says U.S. ‘ready for anything’ • Commerce’s Ross due in Beijing for negotiations from June 2-4 Trump Goes Ahead With China Tariffs White House trade adviser Peter Navarro criticized Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for declaring the U.S.-China trade war was on hold, calling the remarks an “unfortunate sound bite” and acknowledging there’s a dispute that needs to be resolved. “What we’re having with China is a trade dispute, plain and simple,” Navarro said in an interview broadcast Wednesday with National Public Radio. “We lost the trade war long ago” with deals such as Nafta and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, he said. [Navarro] [China confrontation] [Trade War]
• Harris: China 'dreams of hegemony in Asia'
  Posted : 2018-05-31 13:39 By Jung Min-ho Admiral Harry Harris, who is expected to become the next U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said Wednesday that China's "dream of hegemony" is Washington's biggest long-term challenge, CNN reported. Harris made the comment as he handed over the reins of the U.S. Pacific Command to Adm. Phil Davidson at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Harris has been at the helm of the most expansive U.S. military command for three years. "North Korea remains our most imminent threat and a nuclear-capable North Korea with missiles that can reach the United States is unacceptable," he was quoted as saying. But, he also noted, "China remains our biggest long-term challenge. Without focused involvement and engagement by the United States and our allies and partners, China will realize its dream of hegemony in Asia." [Harry Harris] [China confrontation] [Seapower]

• As Chinese ‘Crepe’ Catches On Abroad, a Fight to Preserve Its Soul
  By Mike Ives and Tiffany May May 29, 2018 HONG KONG — When is a pancake not a pancake? The unassuming jianbing, an eggy street-food snack from China that resembles a French crepe, is increasingly trendy abroad — a symbol of Beijing’s growing soft power. It even inspired the creation of a superhero character in a hit Chinese comedy, “Pancake Man.” But in the Chinese city of Tianjin, a local trade association sees the snack’s soaring popularity — and variety — as a threat. Over the weekend, it imposed rules that attempt to standardize the jianbing, apparently as a way of saving the soul of northern China’s quintessential street food. The rules have prompted head-scratching among Chinese eaters, and even some metaphysical speculation about what makes a jianbing in the first place. The rules say that Tianjin’s jianbing vendors should hew to a fixed recipe and a precise pancake-diameter range of 15 to 17.7 inches, according to photographs of the rules that were posted online by Chinese state media outlets. The rules also say that a jianbing should be served in packaging that lists its expiration date and the name, address and phone number of its creator.
• MOFA protests China’s efforts to force IATA, member airlines into changing Taiwan’s designation
  Publication Date: May 29, 2018 | The MOFA urges IATA and its member airlines to reject China’s efforts to change Taiwan’s designation on their websites. (Staff photo/Chin Hung-hao) China’s attempts to force Switzerland-headquartered International Air Transport Association and its member airlines into changing Taiwan’s designation on their websites to “Taiwan, China” are protested in the strongest possible terms, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs May 28. Officials stationed in the country’s embassies and representative offices abroad are investigating the latest letter-writing campaign by China and conveying the government’s stance on the matter to IATA and the carriers, the MOFA said. No effort will be spared in defending Taiwan’s designation and upholding the dignity and sovereignty of the country, the ministry added. [Taiwan] [Straits] [One China policy]
• How Trump is losing the high-tech fight with China
  27 May 2018 Author: Andrew Kennedy, ANU The high-tech rivalry between the United States and China is getting ugly. So far in 2018, the Trump administration has blocked high-tech acquisitions by Chinese firms, complained about Chinese technology licensing practices at the World Trade Organization and threatened tariffs on Chinese high-tech imports.The administration has also banned US companies from selling parts to Chinese phone maker ZTE, though the President has promised to revisit this decision. For its part, China has brandished its own tariffs while also making promises to protect foreign intellectual property and further open the Chinese economy. Bilateral talks remain underway. A sign of ZTE Corp is pictured at its service centre in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, 14 May 2018 (Photo: Reuters/Stringer). Trump would like the world to believe the US government has finally taken the offensive against China. But it has not: China’s government is the one playing offence in the realm of high-tech innovation. With plenty of encouragement from Beijing, China has emerged as the world’s second-largest investor in research and development (R&D). It spent US$279 billion on R&D last year, with most of this investment coming from business. China is now poised to overtake the United States as the world’s top R&D spender within the next decade. China also makes great efforts to lure back high-tech talent from overseas. In recent years, the number of Chinese students returning to China from abroad has been around 80 per cent of those going overseas — up from 31 per cent in 2007. As a result of all this activity, China is putting points on the board. China’s score in the prestigious ‘Nature Index’, which tracks article publication in the leading science journals, jumped from 24 per cent to 40 per cent of the US total from 2012 to 2016. In the corporate world, 376 Chinese firms were among the world’s top 2500 R&D spenders in 2017 [China rising] [R&D] [Decline]
• A ‘new normal’ in the South China Sea?
  26 May 2018 Author: Mark J Valencia, National Institute for South China Sea Studies The United States and China have apparently reached a tacit agreement to disagree and maintain a leaky status quo in the South China Sea. Not coincidentally, relations on this issue between ASEAN claimants and between ASEAN and China are more or less at the same place. Warships and fighter jets of Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea, 12 April 2018 (Photo: Reuters/Stringer). In this ‘new normal’, the United States will continue its freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) challenging what it views as China’s (and others’) ‘illegal’ maritime claims. But it will not publicise them as China views doing so as purposely stirring up domestic Chinese nationalists. The United States will also continue to argue — some would say disingenuously — that it is defending the freedom of navigation that is threatened by China’s ‘militarisation’ of the features it occupies and in doing so is upholding ‘international law and order’. [South China Sea] [China confrontation] [FONOP]
• China’s integral role in Korean War peace talks
  27 May 2018 Author: Quinn Marschik and Min hee Jo, Center for the National Interest The Inter-Korean Summit on 27 April 2018 made history when North Korea and South Korea agreed to negotiate a peace treaty to end the Korean War through talks that will include the United States and possibly China. The United States may prefer to limit China’s role in future negotiations as much as possible. But the Trump administration should examine what China brings to the table considering its historical relationship with North and South Korea, its past role in international negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and its power. [Peace Treaty] [China]
• Close Kim Jong-un Aide Visits China
  By Lee Kil-seong May 28, 2018 11:54 A close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been spotted in China, raising speculation of another looming visit to Beijing by Kim. Japanese media reported that Kim Chang-son, a senior official at North Korea's State Affairs Commission, was spotted entering the VIP lounge of Beijing Capital International Airport on Saturday afternoon before boarding a 2 p.m. flight to Pyongyang. North Korean officials enter the VIP lounge at Beijing Capital International Airport on Saturday. /Yonhap He was accompanied by Kim Song-nam, a China expert at the Workers Party, and the two stayed at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Secrecy was tight. A Chinese government car was seen spiriting away a passenger who disembarked from an Air Koryo flight last Thursday, with airport staff using large umbrellas to cover the official. Kim Chang-son reportedly screens all documents that are read by the North Korean leader. Chinese railway authorities issued a notice of a halt in traffic in China's northeastern region between Monday and June 12. They said the measure was part of routine maintenance, but the same steps were taken when Kim Jong-un visited Beijing by train in March. [China NK]
• Another Kim-Xi summit 'possible'
  Posted : 2018-05-27 16:16 Updated : 2018-05-28 13:35 By Yi Whan-woo Kim Chang-son, de facto chief of staff to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was seen in Beijing on May 26, fueling speculation that the latter may be discussing another summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping following the ones in March and early May. Diplomatic sources said Kim Chang-son was seen at Beijing Capital International Airport, where he boarded an Air Koryo flight bound for Pyongyang at 2 p.m. He was accompanied by Kim Song-nam, deputy chief of the international bureau of the North Korea's ruling Workers' Party. "There's no concrete evidence at the moment that the person seen is Kim Chang-son," a source said. "But if is found that Kim Chang-son stayed in Beijing, it could be a visit for party-to-party exchanges between North Korea and China." Another source said the trip to Beijing could mean another China visit by Kim Jong-un. The third source said Kim Chang-son was in Beijing on May 24 en route to Singapore for the North Korea-U.S. summit preparations, but that he had revised his schedule after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled the summit. "There is a possibility that Kim prepared for a Singapore visit in Beijing but saw a twist in his plan due to Trump's announcement," the source said. "Kim Chang-son serves as a guide to Kim Jong-un's schedule, so there is a possibility." Meanwhile, Hong Kong media reported that the train service bound for Beijing from China's northeast region would be suspended on May 27 and 28 as well as on June 13 and 14. The route passes trough Dandong, Dalian, Fushun and Shenyang in Liaoning Province; Changchun in Jilin Province; and Harbin in Heilongjiang Province. The reports add to speculation that Kim Jong-un may visit China again on his special train. When Kim visited China in late March, train services were suspended in the northeast region, and Kim's train arrived in Beijing via Dandong. For decades, North Korean leaders, amid rumors that they feared being assassinated, did not use planes when traveling abroad until Kim flew on his private jet, Chammae-1, to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Dalian from May 7 to 8. [China NK]
• North Korea walks tightrope between US and China
  Posted : 2018-05-27 16:12 Updated : 2018-05-28 13:34 By Yi Whan-woo North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be pursuing balanced diplomacy between the United States and China in a bid to hold the summit with U.S. President Donald Trump while maintaining Pyongyang's decades-old alliance with Beijing. During his surprise talks with President Moon Jae-in, May 26, Kim said he is committed to meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
• China 'hopes Trump-Kim summit can happen as planned'
  Posted : 2018-05-27 17:02 Updated : 2018-05-27 17:02 China's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday it hoped a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, originally set for Singapore next month, could happen as planned and be successful. Direct dialogue between the leaders of the United States and North Korea is crucial to resolving the nuclear issue, the ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters. (REUTERS) [Revival]
• Tsai announces termination of diplomatic ties with Burkina Faso
  Publication Date: May 25, 2018 | President Tsai Ing-wen announces the termination of diplomatic relations with Burkina Faso at Office of the President May 24 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Office of the President) President Tsai Ing-wen said May 24 that the government has terminated official relations with Burkina Faso and refuses to engage in a dollar diplomacy battle for diplomatic allies with China. “China’s serial acts of repression against Taiwan in the diplomatic sphere are a clear display of unease and lack of confidence on their part,” Tsai said during a news conference at the Office of the President in Taipei City. This insecurity stems from the recent tangible progress in economic and security relations between Taiwan and other like-minded nations such as the U.S., she added. [Straits] [Diplomatic truce]
• Chinese Sanctions Against N.Korea Weaken
  By Lee Kil-seong May 23, 2018 13:30 Chinese trucks are the latest of a slew of small signs that China is relaxing sanctions against North Korea. Although banned for export to North Korea under UN sanctions, Chinese trucks were on prominent display at a trade fair in Pyongyang, NK News reported Tuesday. The report comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted, "China must continue to be strong and tight on the Border of North Korea until a deal is made. The word is that recently the Border has become much more porous and more has been filtering in." China rebutted the charge, saying it is "strictly fulfilling its international obligations." The trucks' display does not mean North Korean customers can buy them for immediate delivery but sends a worrying message. Chinese trucks are parked outside a trade fair in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this screen grab from the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang's Facebook page. Three Foton trucks made by state-owned Chinese carmaker BAIC can be seen in photos of the fair the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang put on Facebook. UN Security Council sanctions that China supported ban the export of all vehicles to North Korea. Since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's surprise visit to Beijing in late March, there have been reports that Chinese officials have been turning a blind eye to North Korean laborers returning to China. They are coming back in groups or 10 or 20 rather than in large groups to avoid being too conspicuous, a source in the Chinese border city of Dandong told RFA. Chinese police are taking no notice. One restaurant that has been employing about a dozen North Korean women for the last two weeks is right across from the police station. The UNSC bans the dispatch of new North Korean laborers overseas or renewing the visas of existing ones. The new workers apparently come on a border pass that is only supposed to be valid for a month, but in reality passes valid for more than six months are issued. Chinese Foreign Minister Lu Kang said China and the North are only maintaining "normal exchanges" as friendly neighbors. [China NK] [Sanctions]
• Pentagon disinvites China from major naval exercise over South China Sea buildup
  China landed bombers at Woody Island in the disputed Paracel Islands, according to a Chinese news report broadcast on May 19. (CCTV) by Missy Ryan May 23 at 6:56 PM Email the author The Pentagon disinvited China from participating in a major naval exercise on Wednesday, signaling mounting U.S. anger over Beijing’s expanded military footprint in disputed areas of the South China Sea. Lt. Col. Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department had withdrawn an earlier invitation to the Chinese navy to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) drill, a biennial naval exercise that involves more than two dozen nations, over Beijing’s decision to place anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles and electronic jammers on the Spratly Islands. [China confrontation] [Escalation] [RIMPAC] [South China Sea]
• China is winning Trump’s trade war
  by Heather Long May 20 at 6:20 PM President Trump on April 9 maintained that he has a "great relationship" with China as trade tensions escalate. (Photo: Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) It was easy to miss the U.S.-China trade statement that the White House released Saturday, right in the midst of royal wedding mania. But it's hard to hide that China looks as if it's winning President Trump's trade skirmish — so far. The statement said that, after several days of talks, the Chinese agreed to “substantially” reduce the United States' $375 billion trade deficit with China and that the details would be worked out later. It was noticeably vague. Notice China didn't agree to a specific amount. On Friday, Trump's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, was telling reporters that the Chinese had agreed to reduce the deficit by “at least” $200 billion. China quickly denied that, and, a day later, the official statement didn't have a concrete number, a seeming victory for the Chinese. [Trump] [China confrontation] [Trade war] [Trade imbalance] [IPR]
• China is making Mekong friends
  19 May 2018 Author: Nguyen Khac Giang, VEPR Since Chinese President Xi Jinping took over power in 2012, Southeast Asia has become a focal point of China’s geopolitical ambitions. Instead of the clandestine and illegal tactics seen under Mao Zedong, the current strategy combines two major approaches: building Chinese-led institutional mechanisms and buying support with a flood of aid, concessional loans and investments. China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives at the National Convention Center during the Mekong Greater Sub-Region Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, 31 March 2018 (Photo: Minh Hoang/Pool via Reuters). This strategy is clearly illustrated by the stellar rise of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), an ambitious Chinese initiative that involves the six countries of the Mekong sub-region: China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. At the first LMC summit in 2016, China promised 10 billion RMB (US$1.6 billion) in preferential loans and US$10 billion in credit to the five Mekong countries, while the next year saw a new set of government concessional loans with a total value of US$1.1 billion and US$5 billion in credit for 45 ‘early-harvest’ projects under the mechanism. [China Mekong]
• Why Is So Much Research on the State Inadequate for Analysing the Socialist State?
  21 May, 2018 by stalinsmoustache While researching my book on the socialist state, I have been digging into the literature. There is plenty of it, although I have been focusing on theoretical material and on research relating to specific features of the Chinese state. To my dismay, I have been struck by the inadequacy of most of this research. Why? The philosophical assumptions are determined by the nature of the European liberal nation-state, or more accurately, the bourgeois state. In what follows, I deal with three topics: research on state theory; research on state practices; and the ways researchers dismiss work that comes from within socialist states. [State] [Socialism]
• North Korean spy 'vanishes in China'
  Posted : 2018-05-21 13:41 Updated : 2018-05-21 13:41 North Korea has sent investigators to China to search for a North Korean spy stationed in Shenyang who disappeared in February, according to a Japanese report on Monday. / Scene from "Secretly, Greatly" By Ko Dong-hwan A North Korean senior spy in China possibly went into hiding in February with the aim of defecting, Tokyo Shimbun reported Monday. The spy, responsible for collecting intelligence from China and Russia about possible threats to the Kim Jong-un regime, had been staying at a Shenyang hotel in Liaoning Province. He then reportedly disappeared in late February, according to the report, which cited a Beijing correspondent with a North Korean informant. Pyongyang reportedly knew that the spy, possibly carrying "a large amount of foreign currency," was in possession of confidential intelligence critical to the regime, which has sent investigators to try to find him in China. The report said the spy, in his 50s, followed Kim's orders this year to set up an office that tracks down defectors and their supporters. The man reportedly is a descendant of Pyongyang's royal Baekdu lineage. [Canard]
• China agrees to buy ‘significantly’ more from the U.S., but doesn’t commit to specific amount
  by David J. Lynch May 19 at 2:26 PM Email the author White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow pauses as he speaks to media in the rain outside the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, Friday, May 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The United States and China said Saturday that two days of “constructive” talks between American and Chinese officials in Washington had led to an agreement for China to buy more goods and services — including “meaningful increases in United States agriculture and energy exports” — as the two countries work to defuse a brewing trade war. But a joint statement released by the White House did not contain a specific target for reducing the $375 billion trade deficit between the two countries, suggesting the White House had not secured the $200 billion reduction that senior Trump administration officials had said was forthcoming. The joint statement said the U.S. would dispatch a team to China to work out the details, which also may include expanded trade in manufactured goods and stronger “cooperation” in enforcement of intellectual property protections. The statement, which had been expected Friday evening after the talks ended, said that the goal is to “substantially reduce the United States trade deficit in goods with China.” [China confrontation] [Trade war]
• Enter Malaysia’s New Political Order
  By Yang Razali Kassim Yang Razali Kassim is senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. This article was originally published in RSIS Commentary and can be found here. In the wake of the seismic change that was Malaysia’s 14th general election on May 9, 2018, two aftershocks are now playing out. The first, amid the euphoria of victory, sees the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition taking ground-breaking but cautious steps to put in place not just a new government but also the seeds of what could be a new political order. The second, as part of this changed landscape, sees the defeated Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition bracing for an unfamiliar and uncertain future, with its anchor party, UMNO, under threat of deregistration. These two aftershocks are moving in tandem as they usher in Malaysia’s new era. Uniquely this post-BN, post-UMNO phase of the country’s political evolution is being led by two colorful personalities who have become national icons but were once allies turned rivals and now allies again ? Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim. It was their statesmanly act of transcending their bitter differences in favor of political reconciliation that launched not just a Malay tsunami but a “people’s tsunami” that toppled the old order. It was a titanic feat that finally removed the surprisingly indefatigable former Prime Minister Najib Razak and, in a historic move, ended the 60-year dominance of UMNO. The road ahead for Malaysian politics will be one of evolution and change. [Malaysia] [Mahathir]
• Has China Compromised Int'l Sanctions Against N.Korea?
  By Lee Kil-seong May 18, 2018 12:38 Ever since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held two summits with Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has increased supplies of crude oil to North Korea and female workers are streaming across the border again, Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday. These are among the latest signs suggesting China may have compromised international sanctions against North Korea, which has suddenly become more abrasive again in its rhetoric against the West after Kim met Xi for the second time in as many months. One source in the Chinese border city of Dandong told RFA that China is rumored to be sending North Korea 80 tanker trucks a day filled with crude oil. Each oil tanker truck holds 60 tons of crude oil, adding up to 4,800 tons a day. That would clearly violate the 4 million barrel limit -- around 640,000 tons or 1,754 tons a day -- the UN has set. [Sanctions] [China NK]
• Chinese spies promised to take care of ex-CIA officer for life, prosecutors say
  By Rachel Weiner May 18 at 2:24 PM Email the author Chinese spies promised to take care of a former CIA officer for life if he handed over information on clandestine activities in their country, federal prosecutors say. Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 53, pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court in Alexandria to charges of conspiracy to commit espionage and illegal retention of classified information. When he was arrested in January, Lee was charged only with the latter crime, although many in government believe him to be a mole who devastated the agency’s sources in China. Some of those human sources were killed. But court papers do not link Lee to those deaths. Prosecutors say they can prove that Lee communicated repeatedly with Chinese spies and prepared documents at their request. At the same time, authorities say, he was receiving unusual amounts of cash. [China confrontation] [CIA] [Espionage] [Diaspora]
• . The man who did for Mao – a review of a biography of Simon Leys by Philippe Paquet
  David Coward 17 May 2018 In 1932, Malcolm Muggeridge, then based in Moscow for the Manchester Guardian, filed reports of what he had found out about Soviet Russia, from the food shortages and forced labour to the deaths of 3 million people following the collectivization of agriculture in the Ukraine. His copy was censored and he was ridiculed by the liberal establishment, which preferred the Webbs’ rosier view of the New Civilization in the East. Muggeridge concluded that people believe lies not because they are plausible but because they want to believe them. In 1936, when André Gide returned from Russia having seen for himself that the great Soviet Experiment was to Utopia what Stalin’s show trials were to justice, he too learned that there is no convincing people who do not wish to be convinced. Such, since then, has been the common fate of anyone who denounces causes which endear themselves to people dazzled by propaganda, fake news and their own agendas. Simon Leys fared rather better than most. His denunciation of the Cultural Revolution in 1971 was declared slanderous and he was blacklisted by the Paris intelligentsia, who blocked his application for a lectureship at Paris VII at Nanterre. Yet he is chiefly remembered as the Man Who Did For Mao. He was born Pierre Ryckmans in 1935 into one of Belgium’s great families. His father was a publisher and among his uncles were a governor-general of the Congo, a specialist in Arabic epigraphy and “Bob”, an African missionary and expert in medical law. [China confrontation] [Mao Zedong]
• N.Korean Officials 'to Learn from China's Market Opening'
  By Lee Kil-seong May 17, 2018 12:54 Municipal and provincial party chiefs from North Korea who visited China this week said openly they were there to learn from China's new open economy. China's state-run CCTV reported Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the delegation led by Workers Party Vice Chairman Pak Tae-song. Xi urged them to further develop bilateral relations and hailed the visit as a "concrete measure" resulting from two summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "We support the improvement of North-South [Korean] relations, the promotion of dialogue between North Korea and the U.S., denuclearization on the peninsula and North Korea's development of its economy," Xi said. Chinese President Xi Jinping (front row center) poses with a group of North Korean party officials in Beijing, China on Wednesday. /Xinhua-Yonhap Pak said he and his group were in China "upholding the order of Chairman Kim Jong-un to learn from China's economic development and market-opening experience for our goals of economic development." It was the first visit to China by provincial party chiefs, who are the equivalent of governors and mayors, since October 2010, and this time they were given a much more prominent reception. They are expected to tour China's "Silicon Valley" in Beijing's Haidian district, agricultural research institutes and regional cities. [China model] [Media]
• North Korean delegation takes surprise visit to China shortly after Kim Jong-un’s second visit
  Posted on : May.16,2018 17:19 KST Modified on : May.16,2018 17:19 KST “Goodwill observation group” hints at possible economic reform and opening North Korea’s state-run paper Rodong Sinmun ran a story about a “goodwill observation group” that took a surprise visit to China on May 14. Amid growing interest in cooperation between North Korea and China following two summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping just 40 days apart, a high-ranking delegation of North Korean officials paid a surprise visit to China on May 14, visiting high-tech economic and agricultural sites in the country over the course of two days. North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun and Korean Central News Agency reported that a “goodwill observation group from the North Korean Workers’ Party” (KWP) led by KWP Vice Chairman Pak Tae-song had departed Pyongyang en route to China on May 14. The group also included Kim Nung-o, KWP committee chair for North Pyongan Province; Kim Su-gil, KWP committee chair for Pyongyang; and Ryu Myong-son, vice director of the KWP International Department (presumed to be a former bureau chief in the Ministry of Agriculture). The group’s visit to China appears to be a follow-up measure to the new strategic line adopted in the 3rd Plenary Session of the 7th KWP Central Committee, namely to “focus all energy on building a socialist economy.” [China model]
• Xi emphasizes friendship 'sealed in blood' with North Korea
  Posted : 2018-05-17 09:37 Updated : 2018-05-17 16:48 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping / AFP Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with visiting North Korean ruling party officials and emphasized the importance of advancing a friendship "sealed in blood" between the two countries, the North's state-run media reported Thursday. The group led by Pak Thae-song, a member of the Political Bureau and vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, arrived in Beijing on Monday. He is accompanied by senior party officials representing major provinces and cities. "Welcoming the friendship group's visit to China, Xi Jinping said that China is attaching very importance to the work to propel the traditional friendship between the two countries sealed in blood to a higher stage as required by the new era," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English report. [China NK] [Xi Jinping]
• Trump Orders Help For Chinese Phone-Maker After China Approves Money For Trump Project
  Trump will profit from Indonesian resort project that will get $500 million in Chinese loans in a deal sealed days before before his tweet ordering help for ZTE. By S.V. Date WASHINGTON – A mere 72 hours after the Chinese government agreed to put a half-billion dollars into an Indonesian project that will personally enrich Donald Trump, the president ordered a bailout for a Chinese-government-owned cellphone maker. “President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast,” Trump announced on Twitter Sunday morning. “Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!” Trump did not mention in that tweet or its follow-ups that on Thursday, the developer of a theme park resort outside of Jakarta had signed a deal to receive as much as $500 million in Chinese government loans, as well as another $500 million from Chinese banks, according to Agence France-Presse. Trump’s family business, the Trump Organization, has a deal to license the Trump name to the resort, which includes a golf course and hotels. Trump, despite his campaign promises to turn over his businesses and have no involvement with them, has still not fully divested himself of his businesses, and continues to profit from them. “You do a good deal for him, he does a good deal for you. Quid pro quo,” said Richard Painter, the White House ethics lawyer for former President George W. Bush and now a Democratic candidate for Senate in Minnesota. [Trump] [China confrontation] [ZTE] [Corruption]
• China still matters
  Posted : 2018-05-15 09:42 Updated : 2018-05-15 15:07 By Hwang Jae-ho On May 4, a week after the Inter-Korean Summit, President Moon Jae-in and President Xi Jinping finally held their first phone conversation. No one knows whether Moon had tried to phone earlier, but the result was quite pleasing because both agreed on close cooperation during the process of "Declaration of the end of war" and "Peace Treaty." Although the recent online conversation eased the controversy regarding the "China Passing (isolation)," we again witnessed how challenging and susceptible the road to peace can be; what we went through with China this time has become an effective vaccination for the further big picture, the "Peace Regime."
• North Korean delegation visits China: reports
  Posted : 2018-05-14 15:19 Updated : 2018-05-14 17:33 A North Korean delegation arrived in Beijing on Monday, Japanese media said, as the two allies step up diplomatic contacts ahead of a landmark meeting between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump. Japanese broadcaster NHK showed images of officials leaving the VIP area of the Chinese capital's airport. The broadcaster said later the group had arrived at the Diaoyutai government guest house although the identity of the visitors was not immediately known. The report comes a week after Kim made his second trip to China in less than two months to again meet with President Xi Jinping. [China NK]
• China to deliver world's largest amphibious aircraft by 2022
  May 14, 2018, 1:09 pm SGT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China expects to deliver its domestically developed AG600, the world's largest amphibious aircraft, to customers by 2022, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported late on Sunday (May 13) citing the plane's manufacturer. "We are endeavouring to get the airworthiness certification from the civil aviation authorities by 2021, and deliver it to the customers by 2022," Xinhua quoted Huang Lingcai, the plane's chief designer at state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), as saying. China developed the AG600 as part of a drive to modernise its military, amid a more muscular approach to territorial disputes in places like the South China Sea that has rattled nerves in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States. It made its maiden flight in China in December. Huang also said the aircraft would make more flights this year, including its first takeoff from water. AVIC has spent about eight years developing the aircraft, which is roughly the size of a Boeing Co 737 and is designed to carry out marine rescues and battle forest fires. It has a range of up to 4,500 km and is designed to be able to take off and land in two metre waves. Powered by four turboprop engines, the AG600 can carry 50 people during maritime search-and-rescue missions, and can scoop up 12 metric tons of water within 20 seconds for fire fighting trips, according to state media. In December, state media said that the aircraft had received 17 orders so far from Chinese government departments and Chinese companies. [Dual use] [Media] [China confrontation]
• China's first home-built aircraft carrier begins sea trials [PHOTOS]
  Posted : 2018-05-13 14:57 Updated : 2018-05-13 16:47 In this April 26, 2017, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, China's newly-built aircraft carrier Liaoning is transferred from dry dock into the water at a launch ceremony at a shipyard in Dalian. / AP China's first entirely home-built aircraft carrier began sea trials Sunday in a sign of the growing sophistication of the country's domestic arms industry. The still-unnamed ship left dock in the northern port of Dalian at 7:00 a.m. to ''test the reliability and stability of its propulsion and other system,'' the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The Liaoning provincial maritime safety bureau issued an order for shipping to avoid a section of ocean southeast of the city between Sunday and Friday. The 50,000-ton carrier will likely be formally commissioned sometime before 2020 following the completion of sea trials and the arrival of its full air complement. [Carrier]
• Latest China Summit 'Came at Kim Jong-un's Urging'
  By Lee Kil-seong May 10, 2018 10:12 The latest North Korea-China summit on Monday and Tuesday in Dalian was proposed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the revelation during a media briefing in Beijing. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (center) talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the beach of Banchuidao Island in Dalian, China on Tuesday, in this photo from the Rodong Sinmun daily on Wednesday. /Yonhap Kim addressed Chinese President Xi Jinping as "respected and beloved Comrade Xi" in a thank-you letter he sent on his way home from Dalian on Tuesday, according to the North's official KCNA news agency. He thanked Xi "for having warmly welcomed us and provided hospitality." [Kim_Xi_DalianMay18]
• Kim Jong-un's 2nd China Trip Sparks Fears of Weakening Sanctions
  By Kim Myong-song May 09, 2018 12:41 North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un's second China visit less than two months on Monday and Tuesday is raising concerns that Beijing could fatally weaken international sanctions that have forced the regime to the negotiating table. UN Security Council resolutions severely limit oil exports to North Korea as well as joint ventures with the North and were effective only thanks to China's cooperation under U.S. pressure. Now there are concerns that Xi could open backdoor trade channels with North Korea for fear of being sidelined in denuclearization talks. © This is copyrighted material owned by Digital Chosun Inc. No part of it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. [Kim_Xi_Dalian18] [Sanctions]
• 'Top-Ranking N.Korean Official in Secret China Visit'
  By Lee Kil-seong May 08, 2018 11:44 North Korea has sent a high-ranking official to the northern Chinese port of Dalian ahead of the U.S.-North Korea summit amid massive security in the business hub. One source in Dalian said security was "hugely beefed up in downtown Dalian on Sunday night, and the same was the case around Dalian Airport from Monday morning until 2 p.m." "Considering the level of security in Dalian, we are considering all possibilities" including that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un came for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, another source there said. But China may simply have invited a high-ranking North Korean official to attend a ceremony marking the test voyage of China's first homegrown aircraft carrier. Maritime officials in Liaoning Province have issued an alert for a military operation from May 4 to 11 and prohibited other vessels from entering its northern waters. [Carrier] [China NK]
• Kim Jong-un visiting China: reports
  Posted : 2018-05-08 14:23 Updated : 2018-05-08 15:08 By Park Si-soo, Oh Young-jin North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is visiting the Chinese city of Dalian to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, according to reports. If the reports are true, Kim seems to be involved in last-minute diplomatic coordination with Xi before his historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has said the date and place for the summit with Kim are set, saying "stay tuned." The Chinese foreign ministry remained silent over the rumors. South Korea's foreign ministry hinted at Kim visiting China, but did not specify. A foreign ministry official told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that the ministry "keeps an eye on what's happening." The official said he has "nothing to share, with nothing officially announced yet in Beijing." South Korea's Yonhap News Agency first reported on "a high-ranking North Korean official visiting Dalian" on Monday. Citing multiple anonymous sources, the news wire said the official flew in a private plane and arrived at Dalian airport on Monday amid heavy security. Yonhap did not identify the official. But rumors are spreading on Chinese social media that it is Kim. Seoul-based broadcaster KBS reported that Dalian airport was closed to the public from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday and roads around the Bangchuidao Guesthouse in the city were also closed Monday afternoon. The guesthouse is normally reserved for foreign VIP visitors. There is speculation that the North Korean official is visiting to attend the launch of China's first domestically built aircraft carrier, the Type 001A. [Carrier] [China NK]
• What China wants from North Korea
  Beijing's desire for stability has played a bigger role than recognized in Kim Jong-un's volte-face decision to negotiate his nuclear position By Bertil Lintner May 7, 2018 North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) shaking hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) during their meeting at an undisclosed location in North Korea on May 3, 2018. Photo: AFP via KCNA While the world waits to learn when and where United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will hold their historic summit, it’s still not exactly clear why Kim has agreed to negotiate. While new United Nations imposed economic sanctions and Trump’s threatening tweets to press his “bigger button” to rain nuclear “fire and fury” on North Korea have no doubt had some impact, it’s China’s fear of instability and even war on its border that’s more likely behind Kim’s change of heart. [March18_Initiative] [China hope]
• Mao's grandson, rumored to be dead in North Korea, makes public appearance
  Posted : 2018-05-06 13:39 Updated : 2018-05-06 14:19 Mao Xinyu, left, poses for a group photo during his visit to China State Shipbuilding Corp. on May 4, 2018, in this picture posted on the company's website. / Yonhap Mao Xinyu, the only grandson of Mao Zedong, made a public appearance last week, silencing a rumor that he was among 32 Chinese tourists killed in a traffic accident in North Korea last month. A Hong Kong newspaper on Sunday published a photo of Major General Mao visiting China State Shipbuilding Corp. on Friday. He and other officials looked around the company research institute and laboratories. The accident occurred on April 22 when a bus crashed off a bridge in North Hwanghae Province. Four North Koreans were also killed. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang the following day and expressed "deep sorrow," according to the North's state media. The Chinese government publicly identified 26 victims but withheld the names of eight others. A media outlet reported that Mao, 48, was among the unidentified victims. He is the only son of Mao Anqing, the last surviving son of Mao Zedong. Mao Anqing died in 2007. Mao Xinyu became China's youngest general in 2009. He is said to have visited North Korea five times. [Mao Xinyu] [Canard]
• John Bolton would 'risk military conflict with China to achieve goals'
  Posted : 2018-04-12 10:42 Updated : 2018-04-12 10:42 National Security Advisor John Bolton listens to US President Donald J. Trump speak to the media before a meeting with his military leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington DC, April 9. / EPA-Yonhap By Zhenhua Lu, US correspondent The new US national security adviser is willing to risk a military conflict with China to achieve President Donald Trump's goals for America, two former senior US officials have told the South China Morning Post. John Bolton, who is fond of quoting the ancient Roman battle philosophy, "If you want peace, prepare for war", would use military force to coerce compliance from China – which an increasingly hawkish White House has painted as a competitor, if not an adversary, the former officials who worked with Bolton said in interviews. Bolton, who began his new job on Monday, also seeks to challenge Beijing over its "one China" policy on Taiwan, a move that would certainly inflame tensions amid a looming US-China trade war. Speculation grew over the weekend that Bolton could visit Taiwan in June when the new American Institute on the self-governed island is slated to open, The Economist reported. The institute represents US interests in the absence of formal ties. But while Bolton is seen as a military hawk who shares the "Make America Great Again" world view that underpinned Trump's 2016 election campaign, the president is believed to oppose the idea of hostilities with another nation. Those opposing views would tend to set the stage for a potentially contentious relationship between Bolton and Trump on certain US foreign policy and security matters. [John Bolton] [China confrontation] [Conflict]
• President Moon Jae-in talks with Xi Jinping to complete rounds of “telephone diplomacy” with leaders of US, China, Japan and Russia
  Posted on : May.5,2018 15:00 KST Modified on : May.5,2018 15:00 KST President Moon and Xi agree to “maintain and strengthen communication” toward a declaration of the Korean War’s end South Korean President Moon Jae-in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the telephone in the Blue House on May 4. South Korean President Moon Jae-in called Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 4 to share the outcome of the Apr. 27 inter-Korean summit, concluding his “telephone diplomacy” efforts with the leaders of the US, China, Japan and Russia. President Moon previously had a 75-minute telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump on Apr. 28, the day after the inter-Korean summit at Panmunjeom. On Apr. 29, he spoke by telephone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking for their support and cooperation regarding the Panmunjeom Declaration he had agreed upon with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. [China SK]
• Experts say China is necessary for officially ending Korean War
  Posted on : May.4,2018 18:48 KST Modified on : May.4,2018 18:48 KST Excluding China may create “an obstacle to initiating negotiations for a peace treaty” The participants of Academic conference called “The First Year of the Moon Jae-in Administration and an Appraisal of the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit” held at Kim Dae-jung Library in Yonsei University on May 3. From the left are pictured Jeong Se-hyun, director of the Korea Peace Forum; Rep. Lee Hae-chan, a lawmaker for the Democratic Party; Park Myeong-rim, a professor at Yonsei University and director of the Kim Dae-jung Library; and Kim Hong-gul, chairman the Democratic Party’s Committee for National Unity Amid a debate about whether China needs to join South Korea, North Korea and the US in declaring the end of the Korean War – as South and North Korea agreed to do sometime this year in their Panmunjeom Declaration on Apr. 27 – experts contend that China should be allowed to participate. Since the declaration of the end of the war is the starting point for entering into a peace treaty, they argue, the declaration should be made by all four parties, and not just three. During an academic conference called “The First Year of the Moon Jae-in Administration and an Appraisal of the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit” that was held at Kim Dae-jung Library at Yonsei University on May 3, Jeong Se-hyun, former Minister of Unification and director of the Korea Peace Forum, said that the Blue House’s position that South Korea, North Korea and the US would declare the end of the war on their own “might create an obstacle to initiating negotiations for a peace treaty.” “I assume that the South Korean government’s position is the result of coordination with the US, but it needs to be adjusted if possible. The government needs to rethink whether a declaration of the end of the war would be legally valid if it excluded China, which is a party to the armistice agreement,” Jeong said. [Peace Treaty] [China] [China confrontation]
• How China looks at the inter-Korean summit
  Posted : 2018-05-05 10:25 Updated : 2018-05-05 17:10 By Hwang Jae-ho The inter-Korean summit on April 27 left a deeply moving impression. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had a historical moment at Panmunjeom, crossing the border to each other's country holding hands. Watching them walking together and sharing a big hug was barely imaginable after the Korean Peninsula recently seemed just one step from war. Furthermore, the Panmunjeom Declaration is de facto the declaration of the end of war between the North and South. In other words, the neighboring states of the Korean Peninsula should also prepare to greet a new security environment. China, as an old external power of Korea, seems to be considering its own interest from various angles as well as congratulating on the well-done summit. In this sense, I've held an email interview with Gaoyue Fan, an authoritative Chinese militarist. Gaoyue Fan, a retired senior colonel, is now a guest professor at the Collaborative Innovation Center for Security and Development of Western Frontier China, Sichuan University. He was director of the U.S. and Europe Military Research Office at the PLA Academy of Military Science (AMS) in Beijing. His research interests include U.S. military affairs, international security and cooperation, international arms control and disarmament. [Summit18] [Détente]
• US, China in talks over THAAD withdrawal
  Posted : 2018-05-04 16:59 Updated : 2018-05-05 10:32 By Na Jeong-ju, Yi Whan-woo The U.S. and China are discussing a possible withdrawal of a U.S. missile defense system from South Korea as part of a grand bargain over North Korea's nuclear program, multiple sources familiar with the talks said. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, deployed in South Korea last year, has been a bone of contention with China. China has doubted U.S. claims that the system has the sole purpose of destroying missiles from North Korea, insisting its covert mission is to spy on Chinese airspace. "Withdrawing the THAAD system from South Korea is part of a peace roadmap being discussed between Washington and Beijing after denuclearizing North Korea," a source told The Korea Times. "Washington knows well that it is impossible to seek deals with the North without cooperation from China. And China wants the U.S. to get rid of the THAAD system from South Korea." Another source said the THAAD system in South Korea is among China's bargaining chips in seeking resolution of the North Korea nuclear problem. [THAAD] [US China]
• U.S. and China swap hard-line lists of demands at trade talks in Beijing
  Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin walks through a hotel lobby in Beijing during trade talks Thursday. (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images) by Simon Denyer and David J. Lynch May 4 Email the author BEIJING — Two days of inconclusive U.S.-China talks ended here Friday amid signs that the Trump administration is demanding dramatic concessions that challenge core elements of China’s economic system and its ambitions for future development. China said “big differences” remained as a high-level U.S. government delegation headed home, although it said consensus had been reached on some issues. Given China’s equally uncompromising stance, it was unclear where the two sides had found common ground. U.S. envoys are likely to have met stiff resistance, given their demands for fundamental revisions in how the Chinese leadership manages foreign trade and its domestic economy. The demands included a $200 billion cut in the U.S. trade deficit with China by 2020. [China confrontation] [Trade]
• Here's What Koreans Are Seeing When They Look Toward the West
  Don't be fooled. The unification of Korea is being led by Beijing, not Trump. By Vijay Prashad / Independent Media Institute May 2, 2018, 5:15 AM GMT No doubt that it was an emotional moment last Friday, when North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in stepped over the boundary line that separates the two Koreas. That Kim invited Moon into North Korea for an unscripted moment was particularly poignant. It was equally important to listen carefully to their speeches, with both sides eager to affirm the unity of the Korean people. It is this fundamental feeling of unity that drove the two sides to finally begin serious steps to end the war in Korea that began in 1950. It is also important to register that the people of both sides of the boundary marker have long felt frustrated, used as they have been as hostages in a great power struggle that has little to do with their own lives and desires. Caution is necessary. Can there be a real peace with a massive military deployment by the United States inside Korea and around it? There are at least 35,000 U.S. troops in several bases across South Korea and an additional 40,000 U.S. troops at its bases in Japan. U.S. warships routinely skirt the Korean waters and U.S. bombers fly from Guam and Alaska to threaten North Korea. When Kim told Moon that he would consider a complete end to North Korea’s nuclear program, was this prudent? What are previous examples before the Korean people of such unilateral disarmament or even of reunification? [NK deal] [China]
• Behind Erik Prince’s China venture
  The Blackwater founder has cut a lucrative security-training deal with Chinese insiders. But is it against U.S. interests? The International Security Defense College in Beijing is a private security training school that is overseen by Frontier Services Group, which was founded by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL who created Blackwater. (For The Washington Post) By Marc Fisher, Ian Shapira and Emily Rauhala May 4, 2018 Beijing’s International Security Defense College, which boasts of becoming “the largest private security training school in China,” sits behind a 45-foot-high exterior wall and a barricade. Inside the compound, trainers with police and military experience teach classes on tackling detainees, handling hostage situations and thwarting terrorist attacks. The school is overseen by Frontier Services Group, a Hong Kong-based company founded by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL who created Blackwater, a security firm that played a major and controversial role in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Eric Prince] [China confrontation]
• Mao's Grandson 'Among N.Korean Bus Crash Victims'
  By Lee Kil-seong May 02, 2018 12:28 The only grandson of former Chinese strongman Mao Zedong is rumored to have been among the casualties in a bus accident in North Korea last month that killed 32 Chinese tourists, Radio France International reported on Tuesday citing sources in China. Mao Xinyu According to RFI, most of the tourists who died in the accident in North Hwanghae Province were either children of Chinese soldiers who fought with North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War or members of a group revering Mao. Mao Xinyu (48) is rumored to have been among the victims. That would explain North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's unusually swift and humble response to the tragedy. Kim apologized to the Chinese ambassador and visited survivors in hospital the day after the accident, as well as seeing the victims' bodies off at the train station. U.S.-based Chinese-language broadcaster New Tang Dynasty Television reported that Mao Xinyu had visited North Korea five times before and even met nation founder Kim Il-sung in 1986 and 1990. If the rumors are true, both Mao Zedong's son and grandson died in North Korea. His oldest son Anying was killed fighting in the Korean War, and the tourists on the bus were apparently visiting his grave. The Chinese government has not revealed the names of the victims. Some pro-Beijing news media reported the names of 26 tourists including members of the Maoist group, but the identities of the remaining eight are unknown. [Mao Xinyu] [Canard]
• China Denies Mao's Grandson Died in N.Korean Bus Crash
  By Lee Kil-seong May 03, 2018 09:53 China on Wednesday denied rumors that the only grandson of former Chinese strongman Mao Zedong was among the casualties in a bus accident in North Korea last month. Responding to a written request by the Chosun Ilbo, The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the rumors are "groundless" but did not give details about the whereabouts of Mao Xinyu (48). The rumors were first reported by the Chinese-language version of Radio Free International on Tuesday, citing sources who said the 32 people killed in the crash were members of a group that reveres Mao Zedong and included the children of several soldiers who fought on North Korea's side in the Korean War. A post on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, on Wednesday said Mao Xinyu is "alive and well in Beijing." Kai Lei, a senior reporter with Hong Kong-based newspaper Wen Wei Po, wrote, "I can confidently say that the rumors are false." Kai, who has 360,000 followers on Weibo, said he is a close friend of Mao Xinyu and added he never joined any tour group that headed to North Korea and was living in Beijing until Tuesday. Duowei News, a Chinese-language news outlet in the U.S., claimed the reason why the Chinese government has not published a list of victims of the North Korean bus crash is that they are not high-ranking officials or other prominent figures. Duowei also reported that Mao Xinyu, a major-general in the Chinese military, is too senior a figure to travel to North Korea on a package tour, and there would be no reason for Beijing to be silent about his death. [Mao Xinyu] [Canard]
• China's senior diplomat meets North Korea foreign minister
  Posted : 2018-05-03 09:12 Updated : 2018-05-03 09:12 China's state councillor Wang Yi attends a meeting with North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in Pyongyang in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, Thursday. / Reuters Beijing hopes that talks between the United States and North Korea will be "smooth and achieve substantial progress", China's foreign minister said on Wednesday (May 2) during a rare visit to Pyongyang as the Asian superpower tries to mend ties with its nuclear-armed neighbour. The two-day visit by Wang Yi - the highest-ranking Chinese official to travel to North Korea in years ? follows a landmark inter-Korean summit and precedes a meeting between the North's leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in coming weeks. Beijing "fully backs ... (North Korea's) efforts to achieve the goal of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula," Wang said during talks with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. [China NK] [Wang Yi]
• U.S. says will be consequences for China's South China Sea militarization
  Reuters Staff The United States has raised concerns with China about its latest militarization of the South China Sea and there will be near-term and long-term consequences for the action, the White House said on Thursday. U.S. news network CNBC reported on Wednesday that China had installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three of its outposts in the South China Sea. It cited sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence. Asked about the report, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a regular news briefing: “We’re well aware of China’s militarization of the South China Sea. We’ve raised concerns directly with the Chinese about this and there will be near-term and long-term consequences.” [China confrontation] [South China Sea]
• MOFA welcomes Inter-Korean Summit
  Publication Date: April 30, 2018 | Crowds gather April 27 in Seoul to watch the historic meeting of South and North Korean leaders Moon Jae-in (right) and Kim Jong Un at the Peace House in Panmunjom. (CNA) Taiwan welcomes the Inter-Korean Summit and staunchly supports efforts to reduce tensions and denuclearize the peninsula, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said April 27. It is hoped that all parties concerned will continue to resolve issues through peaceful dialogue, the MOFA said. As an important member of the East Asian region, Taiwan will closely monitor related developments and work with the international community to promote regional peace, stability and prosperity, the ministry added. [Taiwan] [Summit18]
• Another Chinese Spy Plane Buzzes Korea's Air Defense Zone
  By Jun Hyun-suk April 30, 2018 10:19 Another Chinese military plane flew into Korea's air defense identification zone without warning on Saturday, the day after the latest inter-Korean summit. It approached about 74 km east of Gangneung, Gangwon Province before turning back. It was third such incursion this year. The aircraft entered the zone northwest of the submerged rocks of Ieo around 10:45 a.m. Saturday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff here. It is presumed to have been a Y-9 intelligence gathering aircraft capable of monitoring electronic communications. It flew first through an area between Jeju and Ieo, coming much closer to actual Korean airspace than on previous occasions. [China SK] [ADIZ]
• Taiwan’s Diplomatic Isolation Increases as Dominican Republic Recognizes China
  By Austin Ramzy May 1, 2018 HONG KONG — The Dominican Republic said it had established ties with China, a move that furthers the international isolation of Taiwan, with which it simultaneously severed diplomatic relations. The decision was announced by Flavio Darío Espinal, an adviser to the government of the Dominican Republic, and the foreign ministers of China and the Dominican Republic signed a joint communiqué Tuesday morning in Beijing. Mr. Espinal emphasized the likelihood of increased trade after establishing formal relations with the world’s second largest economy and the prospect of making the Dominican Republic a destination for Chinese tourists. He said that despite not having official ties, trade between the two countries was worth about $2 billion, making the Dominican Republic China’s second largest trading partner in Central America and the Caribbean. “Now that we have established diplomatic relations, the growth potential of our commercial ties is immense,” he told reporters Monday evening. [Taiwan] [Diplomatic recognition] [China-Taiwan competition] [Diplomatic truce] [DPP]
• China's top diplomat to visit North Korea this week
  Posted : 2018-04-30 16:07 Updated : 2018-04-30 16:11 China's foreign minister will visit North Korea this week, his office said Monday (April 30), becoming the highest-ranking Chinese official to travel there in years as Beijing moves to further improve ties with Pyongyang days after a landmark inter-Korean summit. The Chinese foreign ministry said in a brief statement that Wang Yi will visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday at the invitation of his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong-ho. The two met in Beijing in early April, days after talks between President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Chinese capital – the first meeting between the leaders since Kim inherited power from his father Kim Jong Il in 2011. Wang will be the first Chinese foreign minister to visit the North since 2007, a lapse that highlights the rough patch that relations between the Cold War-era allies has gone through in recent years. Former premier Wen Jiabao visited Pyongyang in 2009. China has backed a series of United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme. But Beijing is likely eager to avoid being marginalised in the wave of diplomacy that has led to last Friday's historic summit between Kim and the South's President Moon Jae In. Now Kim is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks at a time and place that have yet to be decided. The North Korean leader has also invited Xi to visit Pyongyang, but no date has been set yet. [China NK] [Wang Yi]

• China in the Pacific: where there’s smoke, there’s mirrors
  23 April 2018 Author: Jon Fraenkel, Victory University of Wellington A Fairfax news report that ‘preliminary discussions’ were held between the Chinese and Vanuatu governments about the establishment of a naval base at a Beijing-funded wharf in Luganville is causing quite a stir in Australia. The US$87 million wharf was funded by a loan from China’s EXIM bank to allow cruise ships to dock on the island. But some US and Australian intelligence analysts fear that it could provide port facilities for Chinese warships less than 2000 kilometres from Australia’s east coast. [China confrontation] [South Pacific] [Hysteria] [Bases] [Australia]
• Taiwan thanks US for proposed Indo-Pacific strategic vision bill
  Publication Date: April 27, 2018 | The proposed Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 is the latest in a series of U.S. legislative efforts seeking to strengthen Taiwan-U.S. ties (CNA) The introduction of a bill into the U.S. Senate aiming to develop a long-term strategic vision and comprehensive, multifaceted and principled U.S. policy for the Indo-Pacific is welcomed by the government and people of Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs April 26. Serving as a policy framework for demonstrating U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 aims to enhance U.S. leadership in the region and strengthen cooperation with democratic partners in economic engagement and security interests, as well as promoting shared values. Proposed April 24 by Sen. Cory Gardner and co-sponsored by Sens. Ben Cardin, Ed Markey, Marco Rubio and Todd Young, the bill also backs regular U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and encourages diplomatic and defense contacts between the two sides in line with the Taiwan Relations Act and Six Assurances. [Taiwan] [Arms sales] [China confrontation]
• The Origins of the Belt and Road Initiative
  A mountain cannot turn, but a road can (shan bu zhuan lu zhuan). So goes an old Chinese saying. And another: A friend made is a road paved; an enemy created is a wall built (jiaoge pengyou duo tiao lu, shuge diren duo du qiang) I have begun with these sayings, since they indicate how the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) arises from Chinese tradition and culture. But this is not all, for it also emerges from Chinese socialism. Both are relevant in a creative interaction. Before explaining, it is worth noting how others perceive the BRI. As the worldwide project became evident and as it was officially launched in 2016, some began deploying old categories, derived from Europe. ‘Creditor colonialism’ is one, first coined in India, where British colonialism has left a deep and lasting impression. That is, a piece of infrastructure is built in a country, with a long-term debt incurred. More generally, some have suggested that the Belt and Road Initiative is just another form of colonialism per se, in which China is seeking to influence and dominate more and more places throughout the world. On this matter, it is worth recalling an old (Danish) saying: a thief always thinks everyone else is a thief. In other words, if one comes from a background of international colonialism, then one views the activities of others in the same light. [B&R]
• North Korea's Kim sees off wounded Chinese tourists [PHOTOS]
  Posted : 2018-04-26 09:37 Updated : 2018-04-26 11:02 North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un talks to a Chinese tourist, who was injured in a bus accident in North Korea, at Pyongyang Station, Wednesday, before the tourist returns to China. / Yonhap North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un personally saw off a train repatriating the bodies of dozens of Chinese tourists who were killed in a bus accident as he issued a fresh apology to Beijing over the tragedy, state media reported Thursday. Thirty-two Chinese tourists and four North Koreans perished when a bus they were travelling in plunged off a bridge south of Pyongyang Sunday night, according to Chinese officials. Two other Chinese nationals were injured. Beijing is the isolated regime's sole major ally, providing an important economic and political buffer against international opprobrium. The crash has sparked a series of rare mea culpas on North Korea's tightly controlled propaganda network in which Kim has taken centre stage both in responding to the crash and apologising to China. In two new dispatches on Thursday morning, the North's state-run KCNA news agency said Kim went to Pyongyang's station on Wednesday evening "to see off a special purpose train carrying the bodies of Chinese who were killed and the wounded in a tragic traffic accident". The KCNA report described Kim personally making arrangements for the train and offering "words of consolation" to the survivors. [Tourism] [Accident]
• Russia and China Militaries Reach ‘New Heights’ Together, Agree to Challenge U.S. in Middle East
  By Tom O'Connor On 4/24/18 at 3:58 PM Russia and China have pledged to strengthen their bilateral military and political ties as part of a strategic cooperation that challenges U.S. interests, especially to Washington's stance on Middle East allies Syria and Iran. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met Tuesday with Air Force General Xu Qiliang, deputy vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, and other regional military officials as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the eastern city of Qingdao. As increasingly powerful Russia and China build up their clout on the world stage, they sought a more united front against the U.S., which frequently challenged their rise. [China Russia]
• Report on United States human rights abuses in 2017
  The Information Office of the State Council in China has published its annual report on human rights abuses in the United States. You can find a full copy of the report here, and a news summary at Xinhua News. While the report details abuses of civil rights, systemic racial discrimination, increasing flaws in US-style democracy, and flagrant abuse of human rights in other countries, an underlying theme concerns the right to economic wellbeing (a basic principle of Chinese Marxist approaches to human rights). [Human rights]
• Foreign minister presents diplomacy medal to Heritage Foundation founder
  Publication Date: April 24, 2018 | MOFA Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu (right) and Edwin J. Feulner, founder of The Heritage Foundation, toast the health of Taiwan-U.S. ties April 23 in Taipei City. (MOFA) Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu awarded April 23 the Grand Medal of Diplomacy to Edwin J. Feulner, founder of Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation, for his decadeslong contributions to strengthening Taiwan-U.S. relations. Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Wu expressed gratitude to Feulner for his staunch support of Taiwan’s democracy, freedom and prosperity. A long-standing friend of the nation, Feulner backs a bilateral free trade agreement and regular arms sales to Taiwan, he said. [Taiwan] [Heritage Foundation]
• Kim Jong Un Pays Consolatory Visits to Chinese Embassy and Hospital
  Submitted by KCNA on Tue, 04/24/2018 - 08:38 Pyongyang, April 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, visited the Chinese embassy here at 6:30 a.m. Monday to express his deep sympathy over an unexpected bus overturn accident that claimed heavy casualties among Chinese tourists to the DPRK. He expressed heartfelt sympathy and deep condolences to Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and president of the People's Republic of China, the party and government of China and the bereaved families of the victims. He said that the unexpected accident brought bitter sorrow to his heart and that he couldn't control his grief at the thought of the bereaved families who lost their blood relatives. The Korean people take the tragic accident as their own misfortune, he said, stressing that the party and government of the DPRK would take follow-up measures with utmost sincerity with a wish to alleviate the pain of the bereaved families even a bit. Ambassador Li Jinjun, hardly repressing his deep impression over the fact that Chairman Kim Jong Un personally visited the embassy early at dawn, busy as his schedule was, and expressed heartfelt condolences and sympathy, said that he would immediately report it to General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Chinese party and government and convey it to the bereaved families as it is. The ambassador said that they came to realize once again how much Chairman Kim Jong Un, the party, government and people of the DPRK value the traditional China-DPRK friendship, adding that this has been evidently proven again to be unbreakable and great friendship. He stressed that they would closely cooperate with the Korean comrades in taking follow-up measures over the accident. The respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un visited the hospital on Monday evening and personally learned about the treatment of the wounded. He called on the wounded and warmly sympathized with them and consulted the future treatment with medical workers of the government hospital while learning about the conditions of patients. The ambassador and staff members of the Chinese embassy here repeatedly expressed gratitude to Chairman Kim Jong Un for showing deep care and personally taking detailed measures as regards the recent sudden accident though he is busy with his important political schedule. -0- [China NK] [Tourism] [Accident] [Kim Jong Un] [Communication]
• US admiral outlines new military buildup to counter China
  The man nominated to run the US Pacific Command spells out his plans to contain Beijing on a number of fronts, from the oceans to space By Bill Gertz April 24, 2018 The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers conducting an exercise in the Philippine Sea. Photo: US Navy via AFP The American admiral slated to head the US Pacific Command is planning a buildup of American forces in the region along with closer alliances as part of the Pentagon’s new strategy to counter China. Admiral Philip Davidson, the nominee for the command job, revealed in little-noticed testimony to a US Senate committee how he will restructure the 375,000 military and civilian personnel, 200 ships and nearly 1,100 aircraft in the region. If confirmed for the position, a prospect likely in the coming weeks, Davidson said he would “recalibrate” the command in line with the Pentagon’s new national defense strategy. “This effort entails ensuring the continued combat readiness of assigned forces in the western Pacific; developing an updated footprint that accounts for China’s rapid modernization and pursuing agreements with host nations that allow the United States to project power when necessary,” Davidson stated in written answers to questions posed by the panel. [China confrontation] [Seapower] [Philip Davidson]
• Chinese arms makers pitching for more orders in SE Asia
  A large group of Chinese shipbuilders and aircraft makers have been making a bid to tap robust demand in the region By Asia Times staff April 20, 2018 Littoral mission ships were among the made-in-China craft on display at the biennial Defense Services Asia trade fair and conference for defense technology and security systems, which finished earlier this week in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia placed orders with the state-owned China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co, Ltd (CSOC) for several patrol ships to boost its fleet. [Arms sales] [China rising]
• How China’s winemakers succeeded (without stealing)
  Unlike cars or electronics, making good wine doesn’t require proprietary technology. Any serious student can learn the techniques by reading, going to school or finding a mentor By Cynthia Howson and Pierre Ly April 21, 2018 8:07 PM (UTC+8) Joint ventures between Western and Chinese companies are in the news over accusations – including those of President Donald Trump – that China uses them to steal intellectual property from foreign competitors in industries like cars and technology. Less well known, however, are the joint ventures between French and Chinese winemakers, which offer a notable counterpoint to this narrative of international rivalry – or foreign exploitation, depending on your perspective. [Wine] [IJV] [Image]
• A Dialectical Leap?
  Is China undergoing a historical dialectical leap? This question has been at the forefront my thoughts of late, for reasons I am still formulating. It comes from the experience, each time I arrive in China, of stepping into a future society. I have written of that feeling elsewhere, so here I want to analyse the question of the leap itself. A common perception among many Chinese is that China needs to ‘catch up’ to other countries deemed more ‘advanced’. It matters little what the catching up might mean, whether technology, medicine, social security, scholarship, social morality and so on. The model may be the United States (for reasons that puzzle me), Germany, Scandinavia or even – believe it or not – Australia. True, the perception is less common today, but it used to be pervasive not so many years ago. But as more and more Chinese go overseas, for travel, work or study, they are beginning to experience a dislocation. If it is one of countries I have mentioned, the bewilderment is due to the sense that the country they perceived as ‘advanced’ has in many respects slipped ‘behind’. Many of the daily realities to which they have become accustomed in China simply do not exist in such places, or if they do, they are piecemeal and disorganised.
• Xi to Visit Pyongyang Right After N.Korea-U.S. Summit
  By Lee Kil-seong April 19, 2018 12:02 Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Pyongyang in June, reports said Wednesday. Beijing is moving fast for fear of being left out of the geopolitical game as North Korea and the U.S. are making preparations for a summit. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited Xi during a surprise visit to Beijing in late March. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying only said Wednesday she had no detailed information to provide about a possible visit. But she did not deny the reports, adding that China and North Korea have "a tradition" of high-level mutual visits. The leaders of North Korea and China have studiously ignored each other over the past five years as North Korea angered Beijing with a series of nuclear and missile tests and China joined international sanctions against the regime. Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February 2013, only a month ahead of Xi's inauguration. Enraged, Xi kept Kim's special envoy Choe Ryong-hae waiting for two days in May that year when he wanted to brief him on Pyongyang's nuclear program. Relations reached their nadir after the assassination of Kim's half-brother Jong-nam, who was under Chinese government protection, in Malaysia last year. Senior Chinese diplomat Song Tao (left) shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, in this photo released by the [North] Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday. Xi was at first expected to visit Pyongyang around July 27, the 65th anniversary of armistice of the Korean War, or Sept. 9, the anniversary of the North Korean regime's founding. But Beijing seems to have concluded that it cannot afford to idle the time away. China's official People's Daily in an editorial on Wednesday insisted on the importance of China's role, saying friendship and cooperation between Beijing and Pyongyang will play a constructive role on the Korean Peninsula. Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, U.S. President Donald Trump thanked Xi for being "incredibly generous" in helping enforce sanctions on the North. "They've never been this way with the United States," he claimed. "They have more respect for us, perhaps our leadership... President Xi has been very strong on the [North Korean] border, much stronger than anyone thought they would be." [Xi Jinping] [China NK]
• Xi to Visit N.Korea in June
  April 17, 2018 10:42 Chinese President Xi Jinping is to visit North Korea in June for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Japan's Yomiuiri Shimbun reported on Monday. Quoting sources in North Korea and China, senior Chinese diplomat Song Tao discussed the plans when he went to Pyongyang last week along with a group of Chinese artists. Xi is expected to visit in late May or early June, after the U.S.-North Korea summit to discuss issues arising from the talks. It would be the first visit to North Korea by a Chinese president since Hu Jintao back in 2005. Kim invited Xi when he visited Beijing last month. Already China is weakening sanctions against its ally. Radio Free Asia on Sunday said Chinese-North Korean joint venture projects are quickly resuming. Citing a source in North Hamgyong Province, RFA said new apartments are being built in the Rajin-Sonbong special economic zone as projects that had been put on ice resume. [China NK] [Xi Jinping]
• Kim Jong-un's Wife Gets New Honorific Title
  By Kim Myong-song April 16, 2018 11:49 The North Korean regime is raising the profile of leader Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju, giving her a new honorific title and showcasing more of her public activities. The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday that Ri attended a performance of "Giselle" by the visiting National Ballet of China along with Workers Party officials but without her husband. KCNA said "revered first lady" Ri Sol-ju attended the performance with apparatchiks Choe Ryong-hae, Kim Yo-jong, Kim Yong-chol and Ri Su-yong. The normal designation has been "comrade." The last time the state media used "revered first lady" was in 1974, referring to nation founder Kim Il-sung's wife Kim Song-ae. Ri Sol-ju (left) accompanies her husband, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in a meeting with Chinese senior diplomat Song Tao (right) in Pyongyang on Saturday in this picture released by the [North] Korean Central News Agency. A researcher at a state-run think tank here said, "Ri Sol-ju is playing a suitable role in repackaging Kim Jong-un as the leader of a normal nation. This sets her up to play the role of first lady in summits with South Korea and the U.S." Meanwhile, North Korea rolled out the red carpet for a 200-member Chinese delegation led by Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, who arrived in Pyongyang on Friday to mark the 106th birthday of Kim Il-sung.
  Kim Jong-un met Song twice including for a banquet, while his sister Kim Yo-jong greeted the Chinese diplomat at the airport. [Ri Sol Ju] [China NK]
• Why Gaddafi's Gold Dinars, Petro-Yuan Pose No Threat to US Dollar Dominance… Yet
  According to a Sputnik interview with Ekaterina Blinova on the 5th of April 2018, “Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel argues that the Chinese Petroyuan can’t compete with the Petrodollar as long as China is not a major energy producer” / In reality however, the Petroyuan does not need Chinese oil any more than the Petrodollar needed American oil to be underpinned with. [China Russia] [Petroyuan] [Reserve]
• Hold high the mighty banner of Xi Jinping Thought
  Posted by stalinsmoustache These sorts of banners are everywhere in China now, especially after the 19th congress of the CPC last year and then the two sessions this year: Translated: ‘Hold high the mighty banner of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; comprehensively implement the vigorous spirit of the party’s 19th congress’. This one is at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, but I find all manner of banners and posters everywhere I go. You really have to be here to get a sense of how much has shifted even in the last year. Marxism is forefront and centre in more and more places: in government policy; the renewed study of Mao Zedong; bookshops full of communist material, from Mao to Xi, let alone Marx and Engels; the best students flocking to schools of programs of Marxism; news and media engaging in in-depth examinations of its many dimensions; clarification of the practices of socialist rule of law, socialist market economy, socialist democracy and governance, and how this works out in international relations; people calling each other ‘comrade’ (example set by ‘Comrade Xi Jinping’). The list could go on for much longer. It certainly sets me thinking and trying to understand further what is an extraordinary development. Not only does the relatively ‘liberal’ decade of the 1990s and even early 200os seem like a distant – and increasingly bad – memory, but I never thought I would live to see days like these, just as the USA and the ‘world disorder’ it had established is unravelling so fast. [Xi Jinping] [Mao Zedong]
• Will Bolton and Trump Start the First Sino-American War?
  by Charles Pierson April 10, 2018 When America launches a preemptive attack on North Korea, will the US find itself at war with China? This is not an idle question. On Monday, the fiercest advocate of a preemptive attack on North Korea, John R. Bolton, joined the Trump Administration. Bolton, a former US Ambassador to the UN, replaces H. R. McMaster as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. Bolton is the gold standard against which all other hawks are measured. Bolton pushed for war in Iraq and continues to think that invading Iraq was the right thing to do. He has long clamored for regime change in North Korea (and Iran…and Syria…and Cuba). [John Bolton] [Sino-American war]
• Piles of Coal at N.Korean Port Ready for Shipments
  By Kim Myong-song April 10, 2018 11:20 Commercial satellite imagery shows a new open-air coal storage yard at Nampo port in North Korea, as well as piles of coal in a nearby area and a large ship loaded with coal, Voice of America reported on Monday. The North seems to be preparing to export the coal to China amid a recent thaw in bilateral relations, even though that is banned under UN Security Council sanctions. Analysis of satellite images shot on March 14 by Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, France's national space research center, and Airbus show large piles of coal in an area north of a container terminal at Nampo port. At one coal terminal about 1.8 km west of this area, a vast amount of coal is piled up against a wall. Several trains that are believed to transport coal are standing near the storage yard. Coal is loaded on a barge at Nampo port in North Korea, in this satellite image taken on March 14. A large barge is also docked in the port. The 170 m-long ship has five hatch covers, one of which is open, showing that the cargo bay is filled with coal. UN sanctions completely ban the North from exporting coal, but the UN Panel of Experts on North Korea has said that ships carrying North Korean coal are still sailing to third countries by indirect routes or manipulating automatic identification system data. This raises fears that China is resuming coal imports from the North. The Chinese Commerce Ministry officially announced on its website on Monday that it is participating in UN sanctions against the North by banning exports of 32 items that can be diverted to the production of weapons of mass destruction. But back doors can be opened any time. [Coal] [Exports] [China NK] [Sanctions]
• Farmers who propelled Trump to presidency fear becoming pawns in trade war
  Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), left, speaks with Matthew Schauenburg of Platteville, Wis., during a listening session. On tariffs, Kind says China is cheating, but says it’s “time to build an international coalition to stand up to them, not to go it alone.” (Jessica Reilly/AP) By David Weigel April 8 at 4:12 PM Email the author MANKATO, Minn. — Many of the farmers who helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency fear becoming pawns in his escalating trade war with China, which threatens markets for soybeans, corn and other lifeblood crops in the Upper Midwest. But Jim Hagedorn, a former GOP congressional aide and Treasury official running for an open House seat, says they should keep their faith in Trump. “He understands just how important it is to these rural areas that we have these markets,” Hagedorn said in an interview at his campaign office. “Do I understand that the president has the prerogative to go out and negotiate? Of course I do. But I trust that in the end, he’s going to do everything possible to make sure that we help everyone in the United States, including our farmers.” Trump’s aggressive attacks on China over trade are putting Republicans such as Hagedorn in a difficult spot — torn between siding with Trump and acknowledging the economic peril to many of their constituents. [Trade war] [Domestic] [Pawns]
• Thailand's Kra Canal: China's Way Around the Malacca Strait
  A 200-year-old dream might finally become a reality under China’s Belt and Road. By Rhea Menon April 06, 2018 The establishment of a Kra Canal in Thailand may soon become a reality as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The canal would permit ships to bypass the Malacca Strait, a crucial maritime chokepoint, amplifying the strategic significance of the project. Throughout history, there have been multiple attempts by the Thai monarchy and European colonists to capitalize on the commercial and strategic importance of the region by constructing a canal across the narrow isthmus that connects Thailand to the Malay peninsula. In recent times, China’s global vision of a new Maritime Silk Road has renewed the attention on the possibility of developing the Kra Canal. The modern Kra or Thai Canal project would be connected to the various Chinese infrastructure and connectivity projects in the region. The maritime portion of the BRI is an ambitious connectivity project that aims at linking Southeast Asia to Europe through the Indian Ocean. In the last two decades, the construction of new ports and maritime facilities has contributed to the increasing competition among nations in the Indian Ocean region. As China continues to expand its presence across the maritime domain, the establishment of infrastructure projects, like the Kra Canal, is likely to influence the new emerging security architecture in the Indo-Pacific. [Chokepoint] [Malacca Strait]
• Korea to raise THAAD issue with China
  Posted : 2018-04-08 16:28 Updated : 2018-04-08 17:10 By Kang Seung-woo Korea and China will hold high-level economic talks for the first time in two years, amid budding signs of a diplomatic thaw, according to the foreign ministry, Sunday. Whether Beijing will effectively lift its economic retaliation against Seoul over the latter's deployment of a U.S. missile defense system here is likely to be high on the meeting agenda. "The two governments have agreed in principle to hold the 22nd Korea-China Joint Economic Committee meeting in Beijing later this month," said a foreign ministry official. [China SK] [THAAD]
• China threatens to hit back as Trump seeks additional tariffs on $100 billion worth of Chinese goods
  by Damian Paletta, Heather Long and Emily Rauhala April 6 at 7:46 PM The United States and China dug in for a protracted trade war Friday, with the Chinese government saying it would “fight at any cost” President Trump’s threat to slap new tariffs on $100 billion in Chinese goods. [Trade war]
• Trump’s Right to Say He’s Not Launching a Trade War With China. He’s Doing Something Bigger.
  No one likes trade friction, but after decades of failing to stop Chinese theft of American intellectual property, there are no more no-cost solutions.
  Gordon G. Chang
  04.06.18 4:58 AM ET Hours ago, President Trump, acting under the authority of Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, instructed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to consider the imposition of tariffs on $100 billion of Chinese goods. These tariffs are on top of those Lighthizer proposed Tuesday on $50 billion of China’s products. All these duties are intended to remedy China’s theft of American intellectual property. “We are not in a trade war with China,” President Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. The president is correct. What looks like a trade war is really a struggle for the control of the technologies that will dominate coming decades. [China confrontation] [Trade war] [China competition] [Technology] [MISCOM]
• The benefits of lifting the presidential (and vice-presidential) term limits in China
  Amidst all the uninformed opinions about the constitutional changes at China’s recent two sessions of parliament, this piece by Eric Li is the most balanced I have read (in the Global Times.). The only point with I disagree somewhat concerns the merging party and state. The reason is that Xi Jinping has been promoting China’s unique multi-party system more than ever before. The nine political parties all play a role. Why Xi’s lifting of term limits is a good thing SHANGHAI — Western media and the Chinese chattering classes have been in an uproar since China’s National People’s Congress approved constitutional changes that included lifting the two-term presidential limit. China approves “president for life,” proclaimed Western media. But this misinterprets the nature of the development. And the world appears to be overlooking consequential political reforms taking place in China that will impact our collective future for the better. The presidential term limit has no bearing on how long a top Chinese leader can stay in power and lifting it by no means allows anyone to rule for life. In fact, the position of real power — the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee — has never had term limits. The most recent draft of China’s constitution, written in 1982, set the presidency as a symbolic head of state, with no actual power. Although the two offices happened to have been occupied by the same person for more than 25 years since Jiang Zemin, the institutional mechanics of the offices are rather separate. [Xi Jinping] [CPC]
• Xi Showered Kim Jong-un with Gifts During Visit
  By Kim Jin-myung April 05, 2018 10:31 Chinese President Xi Jinping gave North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju at least 2.47 million yuan or W415 million worth of gifts when they visited Beijing, according to Hong Kong's Apple Daily on Tuesday (US$1=W1,063). Most of the gifts were luxury goods that are banned from export to the North by the UN Security Council. Analyzing footage from North Korean state TV, the paper estimated a large vase Xi gave Kim at 500,000 yuan, and plates and porcelain teacups at 20,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan each. Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) presents a porcelain vase (pictured left) to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in this screen grab from [North] Korean Central Television on March 29. The North Korean leader was also given 11 bottles of a prized distilled liquor called Moutai, five of them dating back beyond 1980 and six distilled during the 1990s. That makes the older ones so rare that they retail at an estimated 1.25 million yuan. A ruby ornament Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan gave to Ri cost at least 30,000 yuan, and a silk blouse and brooch cost 6,000 yuan. UNSC sanctions ban such gifts to North Korean officials, putting the limit on US$100 per item and no luxury goods. [Kim_Xi_March18] [Sanctions] [Media]
• Can America and China avoid mutual trade destruction?
  President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images) By Editorial Board April 4 at 7:32 PM THE UNITED STATES and China are not in a trade war, yet. By law, the Trump administration cannot impose the tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods it just threatened until American interest groups have had a month to lobby for and against them. Actual tariffs, and the inevitable Chinese retaliation against the list of American products Beijing targeted Tuesday, are probably months away. Which raises the questions: Is there still time to avoid a mutually destructive conflict, and if so, how?
  Ideally, there would be a negotiated solution addressing long-standing and legitimate American commercial complaints against China. [China confrontation] [China competition] [Trade war] [Continuity]
• Washington's Hardening On China - Key Decisions Ahead
  By Robert Sutter Robert Sutter (sutterr@gwu.edu) is professor of practice of international affairs at George Washington University. Sutter’s latest book is US-China Relations: Perilous Past, Uncertain Present [third edition] (Rowman & Littlefield 2018). Tracking the debate over China policy in Washington shows remarkable hardening over the past two years. There are now routine calls for US push back and toughening against expansionist and predatory Chinese practices carried out by an increasingly assertive and challenging Communist party-led dictatorship. Those arguing for continuing constructive engagement are on the defensive as Trump administration leaders depict China’s challenge in stark terms as a “whole of government” plan to weaken the United States and undermine its interests, while attempting to dominate the international economy and re-establish China’s historical sphere of influence in Asia. In contrast, key domestic US constituencies remain ambivalent about the newly perceived China danger. Recent public opinion data in the US reflects a wary but hardly alarmed attitude, one that is at odds with the Trump administration’s grim view. Business interests are increasingly critical of China but their willingness to accept the consequences of protracted confrontation with China is far from clear. The media also remain ambivalent, especially about tradeoffs between the risks of hardening and the benefits of engagement. [China confrontation]
• China Strikes Back at the U.S. With Its Own Tariffs
  By Keith Bradsher and Steven Lee Myers april 4, 2018 SHANGHAI — China hit back at the United States on Wednesday with proposed tariffs on American soybeans, cars, chemicals and other goods, in a move likely to spark fears that the countries’ escalating confrontation could become an all-out trade war. Moving with unusual speed, Chinese officials outlined plans to make it more costly to import 106 categories of American goods into China. The move came just hours after the Trump administration detailed its plan to impose tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese-made steel, aircraft parts, televisions and other products. China’s new tariffs will amount to 25 percent on the American products. While Beijing did not immediately specify the value of the American goods that would be affected, government officials have said it would be roughly equal to the tariffs the Trump administration detailed on Tuesday. The American products come largely from Republican-dominated states, where lawmakers might be expected to have some influence with President Trump and could persuade him to back down from his latest trade demands. [Trade war] [Response] [Pressure]
• The U.S. wrote the rules for global trade. Now China is using them against Trump.
  Trade tensions escalated between the U.S. and China with Beijing slapping tariffs on 128 U.S. goods, from scrap aluminum and pork to nuts, wine and fruits. (Reuters) by David J. Lynch April 2 at 6:56 PM Email the author The Chinese government designed its first concrete response to President Trump’s recent wave of protectionist policies to inflict noticeable political and economic pain upon the United States while remaining within the bounds of global trade rules. China imposed tariffs on a relatively modest $3 billion in American imports. But by hitting numerous products, including fruit, wine, ginseng and pork, that affect congressional districts across the country, China demonstrated that it can exert pressure within the American system. The goal was to demonstrate resolve without escalation and to encourage disadvantaged farmers and workers to complain to their elected representatives. Beijing is prepared to engage in a slugging match, but its preferred solution to the deepening trade dispute remains a diplomatic outcome, analysts said. [Trade war] [Response]

• Xi reasserts role in Korean game with summons to Kim
  Kim Jong-un’s ‘surprise’ visit to Beijing was expected by experts as part of groundwork prior to critical summits By Andrew Salmon March 28, 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd right) and wife Peng Liyuan (right) are seen with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol Ju in Beijing on March 27. The North Korean leader received a warm welcome during a secretive trip as both sides sought to repair frayed ties ahead of landmark summits with Seoul and Washington. Photo: AFP/ via North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. Chinese President Xi Jinping has placed himself back at the center of the game, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to Beijing adds yet another piece to the fast-shifting diplomatic chess board that is the Korean peninsula. At a time when the youthful and diplomatically inexperienced Kim is preparing for separate summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump, the meeting appears to herald a warming in recently frosty relations between Beijing and Pyongyang. [China NK] [Kim_Xi_March18]
• Kim Jong-un Plays All Ends Against the Middle
  By Kim Jin-myung March 29, 2018 12:34 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is playing all ends against the middle with a surprise visit to Beijing whose aim seemed to be to further fracture international cooperation over North Korea. Kim may also be trying to boost his leverage in upcoming summits with South Korea and the U.S. in April and May by mending fences with his sole ally. Kim is proving an adept manipulator, driving a wedge between South Korea and the U.S. and taking advantage of China's fierce trade dispute with the U.S. China is unlikely to halt sanctions against North Korea immediately, but they will inevitably be eased once relations with Pyongyang improve since there are so many possible backdoors. [Kim_Xi_March18]
• Kim Jong-un Wants 'Phased' Approach to Denuclearization
  By Pak Soo-chan March 29, 2018 09:16 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, "The issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be resolved if South Korea and the U.S. respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability." The Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Kim as saying this requires "phased and simultaneous steps for peace." This is the first time Kim has mentioned denuclearization. The "phased and simultaneous steps" sound like the old tactics of his father Kim Jong-il that involved gradual freezing and scrapping of the North's nuclear weapons in exchange for eased sanctions, economic aid and security guarantees by South Korea and the U.S. but saw North Korea renege on each of its promises. [Kim_Xi_March18] [Denuclearisation]
• Why petro-yuan may become biggest game-changer of all time in capital markets
  Published time: 28 Mar, 2018 11:44 Edited time: 28 Mar, 2018 12:04 The historic launch of the long-awaited trading of Chinese crude futures this week has stirred up a heated debate among analysts as to whether the new commodity product will prosper or flop. © Kim Kyung Hoon No respect for elders: China's new oil benchmark crushing old-timer Brent Some market analysts expressed doubts over the success of the petro-yuan, citing Beijing’s yearning for total control over trading as one of the key reasons for a potential bust. “The government has been eager to encourage liquidity and paper trading, but of course the issue with paper trading is speculative trading that the government wants to keep at bay,” Michal Meidan, an analyst at energy market consultancy Energy Aspects, told Bloomberg prior to the launch. Meanwhile, the high costs of oil storage for delivery into the Shanghai Futures Exchange may scare potential investors away from the new contracts, according to industry analysts. “Storage plays a crucial role in linking cash and futures markets. Many speculators, such as proprietary traders and hedge funds, may be scared away,” said Jian Yang, a research director at the JP Morgan Center for Commodities in the University of Colorado Denver, as quoted by the agency. However, China's yuan-backed oil futures managed to make a strong debut on Monday with overnight trade volumes initially outstripping transactions of internationally recognized benchmark Brent. Some 62,500 contracts reportedly changed hands during the first session, as domestic and international oil investors joined the trading. The impressive start gives deeper cause for optimism about the newcomer with some analysts qualifying oil futures denominated in China’s currency as a game-changer in the world of financial trading. “This is the single biggest change in capital markets, maybe of all time,” said Hayden Briscoe, APAC head of fixed income at UBS Asset Management, as quoted by Reuters. [Reserve] [Petroyuan] [Oil]
• On Strengthening US-Taiwan Relations
  By David G. Brown David G. Brown (dgbrown@jhu.edu) is a visiting scholar in the China Studies program at Johns Hopkins, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). For the past 18 months, China has been putting increasing economic, diplomatic, military, and psychological pressure on Taiwan to get President Tsai Ing-wen to accept Beijing’s one China position. Predictably, Washington has responded to these pressures by strengthen its support for and ties with Taipei. The US Congress has adopted legislation recommending further enhancements to political and security ties. Beijing has objected to the Taiwan Travel Act and to provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act, while ignoring the reality that these actions were in large part a reaction to its pressures on the Tsai administration. Since the new congressional acts are sense-of-congress legislation, the Trump administration has flexibility on how they will be implemented. Past practice provides some guidelines on how these new tools can be used to the best advantage. The most important guideline is that changes should be implemented in close consultation with Taiwan. Consultation is particularly important now because President Trump’s tweets and posturing have created considerable anxiety in Taiwan. [China confrontation] [Taiwan] [Trump] [Tweet]
• Seoul Welcomes Kim Jong-un's China Visit
  By Jeong Woo-sang March 30, 2018 10:23 Seoul on Thursday cautiously welcomed North Korean leader Kin Jong-un's recent visit to China but made no comment on Kim's proposal of a "phased and simultaneous" approach to denuclearization. Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Kim's "announcement of his willingness to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula" is "highly significant." He added that having China on board in fresh negotiations would help achieve stability on the Korean Peninsula. Cheong Wa Dae prefers a "package settlement" of dealing with the nuclear issue and establishing a peace treaty, while the U.S. wants "complete, verifiable and irreversible" steps to ending the North's nuclear program first. [Kim_Xi_march18] [Spin]
• Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping together in Beijing
  Posted by stalinsmoustache After noting a distinct change in tone in Chinese assessments of the DPRK only a few days ago, it turns out that Xi Jinping invited Kim Jong Un to Beijing. As is the custom with such visits, the news appears after the meeting is over. Let me pick up some of the comments in the Xinhua account (although all the major Chinese news outlets are carrying the story). [Kim_Xi_March18]
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
  By Benjamin Ho and Hoo Chiew-Ping Benjamin Ho is an associate research fellow with the China Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University and concurrently a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Hoo Chiew-Ping is a senior lecturer at the National University of Malaysia and an associate fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS-Asia). Following recent changes to the Chinese constitution that allow President Xi to extend his leadership beyond two-term limits, many commentators – both inside and outside China – have raised concerns over how this would affect China’s international relations. In “How China is Challenging American Dominance in Asia,” The New York Times noted that “the stakes could hardly be higher [given] the two powers are seeking to reshape the economies and political systems of the world’s most populous region in its own image.” Separately, Professor Wang Gungwu highlighted lessons from China’s history whereby party infighting led to the country being weakened and torn apart when faced with external invasion, reaffirming that “only a strong party can save China and such a party needs sustained leadership” provided the impetus for Xi to ensure that he would remain in power to forestall potential challenges that would impede China’s growth. [China global strategy] [Hegemony]
• Kim Jong Un Is Making a Surprise China Visit, Sources Say
  Bloomberg News March 27, 2018, 4:40 AM GMT+13 Updated on March 27, 2018, 5:16 PM GMT+13 First trip outside isolated state since taking power in 2011 Mysterious move comes weeks after Trump agreed to meet Kim Kim Jong Un made a surprise visit to Beijing on his first known trip outside North Korea according to sources. Kim Jong Un made a surprise visit to Beijing on his first known trip outside North Korea since taking power in 2011, three people with knowledge of the visit said. Further details of his trip, including how long Kim would stay and who he would meet, were not immediately available. The people asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information. Speculation about a possible visit by a high-ranking North Korean official circulated around the Chinese capital Monday, after Japan’s Kyodo News reported that a special train may have carried Kim through the northeastern border city of Dandong. Nippon TV showed footage of a train arriving Monday in Beijing that looked similar to one used by Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, to visit the country shortly before his death in 2011. The unannounced visit is the latest in series of diplomatic power plays in Asia as U.S. President Donald Trump’s battle to lower the U.S. trade deficit becomes entangled with his effort to get Kim to give up his nuclear weapons. Chinese President Xi Jinping has found himself preparing for a trade war with Trump even after supporting progressive rounds of United Nations sanctions against the Kim regime. The U.S. appears to have had no advance knowledge of Kim’s visit. White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters on Monday that he couldn’t confirm reports of the trip and “we don’t know if they’re necessarily true.” A State Department spokesman, Julia Mason, responded to questions about the report with a single sentence: “We’d refer you to the Chinese.” [China NK] [Kim Jong Un]
• Kim Jong-un 'on Secret China Visit'
  By Kim Soo-hye, Lee Kil-seong March 27, 2018 09:36 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un or someone close to him is believed to be on a secret state visit to China. Security has been heightened around a 100 m radius of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, while a convoy of 20 luxury sedans has been spotted including cars owned by the North Korean Embassy. Earlier on Monday, Japanese media reported that a special train from North Korea was captured on camera arriving at Beijing railway station under heavy protection. The 21-carriage train was painted green with yellow lines. Armed police were stationed along the railroad. Japan's NNN cable channel reported that the train was "very similar" to the one used by former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il when he visited Beijing back in 2011. A black limousine (in red circle) travels under escort of Chinese police in Beijing on Monday, in this picture posted on Chinese social network Weibo by a citizen. The Daily NK website also cited sources in China as saying a huge fence screen was set up at Dandong railway station bordering North Korea. Kim has been out of the public eye for more than three weeks since meeting a South Korean delegation on March 5 amid speculation that he is hard at work preparing for scheduled summits with South Korea and the U.S. A high-ranking government source here said, "It's true that a special train from North Korea went to China, but we can't verify who is on board." Others speculate that Kim sent his sister Yo-jong, who also attended the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang last month. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that she does not know anything about the rumors. [China NK] [Kim Jong Un] [Kim Yo Jong]
• Kim Jong-un makes surprise visit to China: reports
  Posted : 2018-03-27 07:53 Updated : 2018-03-27 13:35 A military honor guard is seen marching away after a convoy of vehicles enter the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse where top North Korean leaders have been known to stay on previous trips to Beijing, China, Monday. / AP-Yonhap North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has visited China, Bloomberg reported on Monday citing three unnamed sources, in what would be his first known overseas trip since taking power in 2011 and ahead of a potential summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Details of his visit including its purpose and itinerary were not yet known, Bloomberg said. Japanese media reported earlier on Monday that a high-ranking Pyongyang official appeared to have arrived by train in Beijing. Kyodo, citing sources close to the matter, said the visit of the official was intended to improve ties between Beijing and Pyongyang that have been frayed by North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and China's backing of tough sanctions against North Korea at the United Nations Security Council. The visit could not immediately be confirmed by Reuters. Footage from Nippon News Network, owned by Nippon TV, showed what an announcer described as a green train carriage with yellow horizontal lines, part of a 21-car train, similar to the kind that Kim's late father, Kim Jong Il, rode when he visited Beijing in 2011. [China NK] [Kim Jong Un]
• Is Kim Jong-un Visiting Beijing? Online Video Fuels Speculation
  By Chris Buckley and Choe Sang-Hun March 26, 2018 Photo A military honor guard was spotted Monday in Beijing after a convoy of vehicles entered the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where top North Korean leaders have been known to stay on visits to China. Credit Ng Han Guan/Associated Press BEIJING — A video that appeared to show the arrival in Beijing of an old-style green train of the kind that has been used by North Korea’s leaders fueled intense speculation on Monday that a high-level North Korean delegation, perhaps even one led by Kim Jong-un, was meeting Chinese leaders ahead of Mr. Kim’s planned meetings with President Trump and South Korea’s president. There was no official pronouncement from China or North Korea about the train and its passengers. The South Korean press, which usually monitors North Korean official movements carefully, was circumspect on Monday night about the speculation. But the Japanese broadcaster NTV showed footage of what it said was the train arriving in Beijing. It said that green cars with yellow stripes were similar to those used by Mr. Kim’s father and predecessor as leader, Kim Jong-il, when he visited China in 2011, raising the possibility that the younger Mr. Kim or a powerful envoy may be visiting Beijing. [China NK] [Kim Jong Un]
• Wind of change
  An old Chinese saying goes: When the wind of change blows, some build walls, while others build windmills (Feng xiang zhuan bian shi, you ren zhu qiang, you ren zao feng che). So who is going to come out of the looming ‘trade war’ in front? [Trade war]
• North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leaves Beijing after surprise visit
  Security returns to normal in Chinese capital as armoured train pulls out with head of restive state on board PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 27 March, 2018, 6:07pm UPDATED : Tuesday, 27 March, 2018, 7:45pm Security at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and Beijing railway station quickly returned to normal on Tuesday afternoon after the distinctive green train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set off on its return journey to Pyongyang. A little over two hours after the armoured express was reported to have pulled out it was business as usual, according to South China Morning Post journalists at the scene. Two sources, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed that the mystery guest was Kim. “It wasn’t his sister, it was Kim himself,” one said. [China NK] [Kim Jong Un]
• Trump's tariffs on China intensify fears of global trade war
  Interview with Sean Thomas, RT International, Moscow, 23 March [China confrontation] [Trade war] [Tariffs] [Response]
• China air force drills again in South China Sea, Western Pacific
  Reuters Staff China’s air force has held another round of drills in the disputed South China Sea and the Western Pacific after passing though Japan’s southern islands, the air force said on Sunday, calling such exercises the best preparation for war. FILE PHOTO: Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters/File Photo China is in the midst of an ambitious military modernization program overseen by President Xi Jinping with a heavy focus on its air force and navy, from building stealth fighters to adding aircraft carriers. China insists it has no hostile intent, but its sabre-rattling in the busy South China Sea waterway, and around Taiwan, has touched a nerve in the region and in Washington. [China confrontation] [Military exercises] [Media]
• China won’t cave in to Trump’s trade bluster
  Source: Global Times Published: 2018/3/25 23:18:39 The trade row between China and the US has been a hot topic at the China Development Forum in Beijing where executives and scholars, including those from the US, warned of the risks of a trade war. "The trade war must be avoided at all cost, like nuclear war," Larry Summers, former US treasury secretary was quoted as saying. But it seems the conceited US government won't listen to reason. The White House said Friday that the US move to raise tariffs against China was already beginning to get results and "many other countries are now negotiating fair trade deals with us." But when China's Ministry of Commerce reacts to the Section 301 investigation with retaliatory measures against tens of billions of dollars in US goods, the US won't be so conceited. The US has been wielding sticks worldwide over the past year. Washington needs to be taught a real lesson and such a lesson can only be taught by China, the world's second largest economy. Some people think China should tolerate trade frictions and let other countries take the lead. But as a world trade powerhouse, China has to strive for its own interests. [Trump] [China confrontation] [Trade War] [Response]
• U.S. House panel to probe China military footprint in Africa: chairman
  Reuters Staff U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said his committee will investigate China’s efforts to gain military and economic power in Africa. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 24, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts The California Republican told “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” that China’s investment in African countries would allow Beijing to strengthen its grip over world trade. [China confrontation] [Africa]
• China urges US to lower threshold for talks with DPRK
  By Curtis Stone (People's Daily Online) 17:01, February 28, 2018 Lu Kang According to Reuters, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday the United States should lower the threshold for talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), while Pyongyang should in return show willingness towards denuclearization. It is important the United States and the DPRK sit down for talks. At a regular press conference on Wednesday, a reporter asked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang what opinions the Chinese side has on this issue. Lu said China has repeatedly stressed that the core of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is a security problem, the settlement of which hinges on the DPRK and the United States. Thus, to truly solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and fundamentally transform the situation, direct talks between the two parties is indispensable. To promote this process, China supports “lowering the threshold” and “simultaneous small steps” as a way to carry out bilateral and multilateral talks. Thus, both parties should set aside some unacceptable premises for the resumption of dialogue. In particular, they should not regard the future issues that need resolving during the dialogue as a prerequisite for restarting the dialogue. “As long as there is talk, everything is possible,” Lu said. With regard to denuclearization, China’s position is consistent and clear: Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula conforms to the common interests of all sides. “This is the unwavering position of the international community, including China,” Lu said. “Strike when the iron is hot,” Lu said. The Chinese proverb means to make good use of an opportunity while it lasts. China hopes the current efforts to improve relations between the Two Koreas will encourage direct talks between the DPRK and the United States and settle the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, once and for all, through peaceful dialogue. [US NK Negotiations] [China]
• Navarro’s snake oil will sicken the world
  George Koo By George Koo March 24, 2018 1:18 PM (UTC+8) Why would a Harvard PhD economist and tenured university professor make ridiculous assertions about China that no self-respecting economist would claim ownership of? This question is hanging over prominent China-basher and director of the White House National Trade Council, Peter Navarro. I went for answers to Professor John Graham, who had been Navarro’s colleague at the University of California at Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business. He joined the faculty in 1989, the same year as Navarro. Now that Navarro has left to join the Trump administration, Graham has taken over Navarro’s course on China. “I am not sure I know why,” Graham said. “In sum, the three books he’s written about China are xenophobic trash. They contain some truths, but Navarro cherry-picks the data to prove his points. Ultimately it’s nothing but yellow journalism.” Graham went on to say, “Navarro has no first-hand familiarity of China, doesn’t show any understanding of China and doesn’t speak Chinese. When asked how many times he’s been to China, he evades and doesn’t answer.” A former UC Irvine professor and colleague confirmed this, saying, “He generally avoided people who actually knew something about the country.” [Navarro] [China confrontation] [Gordon Chang]
  • The Revenge of Gordon Chang and the Coming Collapse of China?
    By Peter Navarro In July of 2001, Gordon Chang predicted an inevitable meltdown of the Chinese Communist Party in his best-selling book The Coming Collapse of China. Since that time, China’s economy has increased by more than 8-fold to surpass even the United States on a purchasing parity power basis. Oops? In Chang’s defense, he could not have anticipated the colossal blunder of President Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress in paving China’s ruthlessly mercantilist way into the World Trade Organization just five months after his book was published. That mother of all unfair trade deals - a well-deserved target of both the Sanders and Trump presidential campaigns - kept China’s Great Walls of Protectionism largely intact. However, it also opened U.S. markets to a flood of illegally subsidized Chinese imports - and catalyzed the offshoring of millions of American manufacturing jobs. Since China’s entry into the WTO in 2001, the center of the world’s manufacturing base has seismically shifted as the People’s Republic of Unfair Trade Practices has used a dizzying array of illegal export subsidies, currency manipulation, intellectual property theft, sweat shop labor, and pollution havens to seize market share from both Europe and North America. To date, more than 70,000 American factories have closed, over 20 million Americans have been put out of work, and Chinese Communist Party leaders have laughed at Gordon Chang - and all the way to their Swiss, Panamanian, and Cayman Island bank accounts. China’s mercantilist WTO windfall notwithstanding, there are nonetheless growing signs that the collapse of China as Gordon Chang once predicted - and David Shambaugh is now intimating at - may soon be at hand. As Exhibit A of the signs of China’s troubles, I offer, in the remainder of this missive, an email correspondence directly from the Chinese mainland. It’s from an American citizen living and working with his Chinese wife and son in the PRC. [Gordon Chang] [Prediction] [Evidence]
• Joint Development in the West Philippine Sea: an Idea Whose Time Has Come
  By Lucio Blanco Pitlo III Lucio Blanco Pitlo III (lp0769a@student.american.edu) is a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation. He is based in Washington DC for graduate studies on defense, diplomacy and development at American University and scholar internship at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. The views expressed here are his own. A proposed joint development (JD) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) between the Philippines and China has revived debates on how best to move forward in the longstanding regional flashpoint. There should be no debate – the Philippines should enter into the JD, even if the partner is a state-owned entity, as long as it can deliver. Most importantly, JD does not necessarily impact adversely the 2016 arbitral ruling and the Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights position on the WPS. The Philippine service contract (SC) system may offer a solution for both countries and can accommodate a JD. This approach to JD can enhance the country’s energy security, create jobs, promote technology and knowledge transfer, and contribute in dispute management. [China Philippines] [Oil]
• Kim Jong-un Sends Cursory Praise for Xi's Power Grab
  By Lee Kil-seong March 19, 2018 13:25 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a congratulatory message on Saturday to Chinese President Xi Jinping on a re-election that many see as blatant power grab. Chinese President Xi Jinping takes an oath of office after being re-elected by a unanimous vote in Beijing on Saturday. /AP-Yonhap According to North Korean state media, Kim said he hopes Xi would "achieve greater achievements under his leadership." But Kim, smarting from China's embrace of international sanctions against his renegade regime, pointedly left out the standard formula "traditional friendly and cooperative ally," as he did when Xi was re-elected to head of the politburo. The drily worded message was just three sentences long, compared to the customary five. China's People's Daily still featured Kim's message ahead of those from communist allies Vietnam and Laos, while last year it relegated it to fourth place after Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. [China NK] [Xi Jinping]
• Trump prepared to hit China with $60 billion in annual tariffs
  Trump has frequently called out China for currency manipulation, shirking duties with North Korea, bad trade deals and even "raping our economy." (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) By Damian Paletta, Steven Mufson and Josh Dawsey March 19 at 5:25 PM Email the author President Trump is preparing to impose a package of $60 billion in annual tariffs against Chinese products, following through on a longtime threat that he says will punish China for intellectual property theft and create more U.S. jobs. The tariff package, which Trump plans to unveil by Friday, was confirmed by four senior administration officials. Senior aides had presented Trump with a $30 billion tariff package that would apply to a range of products, but Trump directed them to roughly double the scope of the new trade levies. The package could be applied to more than 100 products, which Trump argues were developed by using trade secrets that China stole from U.S. companies or forced them to hand over in exchange for access to its massive market. The situation remains fluid, and Trump has previously in his presidency backed off economic threats at the last minute. But he has shown a recent willingness to unilaterally impose tariffs — even amid objections from advisers who fear starting a global trade war and economists who warn such actions could ultimately hurt U.S. businesses. [China confrontation] [IPR] [Technology transfer] [Trump] [Trade war]
  • China vows to open its markets further in response to Trump’s tariff threats
    Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks during a news conference following the closing of the First Session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People on March 20 in Beijing. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) By Simon Denyer March 20 at 3:17 PM Email the author BEIJING — China responded to the threat of new tariffs from the United States by vowing Tuesday to further open its own markets to foreign trade and investment, while warning that a trade war between the two nations would hurt both sides. President Trump is preparing to impose a package of $60 billion in annual tariffs against Chinese products, a move that he says will punish China for intellectual property theft and create more U.S. jobs, administration officials say. He is determined to bring down the U.S. trade deficit with China, which reached $375 billion last year. But China’s premier, Li Keqiang, said the issue should be solved through dialogue and negotiation. “No one will emerge a winner from a trade war,” Li told a news conference at the conclusion of China’s annual parliamentary session. “What we hope is for us to act rationally instead of being led by emotions.” [China confrontation] [IPR] [Technology transfer] [Trump] [Trade war]
• China steps up diplomatic efforts in advance of spring summits
  Posted on : Mar.17,2018 16:19 KST Modified on : Mar.17,2018 16:19 KST China has stepped up its diplomatic efforts amid rapid progress in preparations for upcoming inter-Korean and North Korea-US summits. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi plans to visit South Korea on Mar. 27–28 to meet with Blue House National Security Office director Chung Eui-yong and others following the National People’s Congress, China’s biggest political event. Yang and Chung will be meeting for a second time in just over two weeks, after the latter’s visit to Beijing on Mar. 12. With China’s leaders hearing in detail during the last meeting on the outcome Chung’s visits to the US and North Korea, their discussions this time are likely to focus on China’s role going ahead. The repeat meeting between the two hints at the possibility of senior-level strategic dialogue becoming established between the two sides. Despite a 2013 agreement to upgrade the talks to the level of the South Korean National Security Office director and Chinese State Councilor, no practical progress has been achieved to date in making them a regular event. Amid fears of Beijing being shut out of the current discussions concerning the Korean Peninsula, many in China are also stressing the need for interchange with North Korea. But observers are skeptical of the approach of China sending a senior-level official to Pyongyang.
• South Korea moves to ease Chinese jitters over US-North Korea talks
  By Euan McKirdy and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN Updated 1702 GMT (0102 HKT) March 12, 2018 (CNN)South Korean officials met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, as part of an effort to bring jittery regional powers on board with US President Donald Trump's decision to accept a face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Seoul's lead envoy, National Security Advisor Chung Eui-Yong, sat down with Xi in Beijing for 35 minutes on Monday, as a parallel delegation headed to Tokyo to brief Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the attempts to open talks with Pyongyang on its nuclear and missile program. "I support the US-NK talks. I am delighted that S. Korea's efforts have made great progress in the overall Korean Peninsula situation and that close dialogue between NK and the US has been achieved," Xi said, according to a statement from the South Korean presidential office. Chung met China's top diplomat, state councilor Yang Jiechi, for three hours before meeting Xi, the South Koreans said. China, which appears to have been left on the sidelines as South Korea has orchestrated the rapprochement with the North, attempted to take partial credit for the developments over the weekend. [Kim_Trump_talks18] [China SK]
• S.Korean Envoy Briefs Xi on Kim Jong-un Meeting
  By Lee Kil-seong March 13, 2018 10:26 National Security Council chief Chung Eui-yong on Monday briefed Chinese leaders on his recent meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Chung met with President Xi Jinping, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, demonstrating the importance Beijing places on developments. He also briefed Xi on his recent trip to Washington to arrange a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim. Xi praised Chung for achieving "positive results" and added that China "actively supports" improving relations between the two Koreas as well as dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea. [Kim_Trump_talks18] [China]
• Tibet pulling its weight as part of China
  In his book on China’s ethnic minorities, Colin Mackerras writes in regard to Tibet: ‘However, what strikes me most forcefully about the period since 1980 or so is not how much the Chinese have harmed Tibetan culture, but how much they have allowed, even encouraged it to revive; not how weak it is, but how strong’. But cultural realities can never be separated from economic questions, especially in light of the Chinese Marxist emphasis on the human right to economic wellbeing. What do Tibetans themselves have to say about all this. An insight is provided by Tibetan delegates as the two sessions of parliament this year in Beijing. As the Global Times reports: Kelsang Drolkar, a deputy of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and a village Communist Party chief in Chengguan district of Lhasa, told the Global Times on Monday that she was glad to see Tibet has not become a forgotten area when the country is moving forward to a moderately prosperous society. National policies, as well as support from other regions across China, have helped the region achieve tremendous changes in the medical, economic and education sectors, and made local people “live a happier and safer life,” she said. Tibet registered 10 percent GDP growth year-on-year last year, marking the 25th straight year of double-digit growth. Its GDP reached 131.06 billion yuan ($20.5 billion) in 2017. [Tibet] [GDP]
• China has its own North Korea scenario
  Posted : 2018-03-06 15:01 Updated : 2018-03-07 09:07 By Jung Min-ho China is the only country that can stop North Korea from becoming a fully fledged nuclear power. But Beijing will not take that step, even if that means the U.S. could attack the North, experts say. China's oil supply provides key support to the Kim Jong-un regime, which would collapse in no time without it. Yet China has chosen to provide resources Pyongyang badly needs and will likely continue to do so, says Boston College professor of political science Robert Ross. "China opposes nuclear weapons in North Korea, but it has other more immediate priorities, including preventing regime collapse and loss of its control over nuclear weapons," he told The Korea Times. "These objectives are more important than coercion to achieve immediate denuclearization. Thus China resists excessive sanctions that could lead to regime collapse." [China hope]
• China’s multi-party system: ‘a great contribution to political civilisation’
  Posted by stalins moustache The all-important ‘two sessions’ (lianghui) are underway in Beijing. These are the National People’s Congress (NPC), the highest law-making body in China, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which provides advice and recommendations to the NPC. You can watch a brief video about the two sessions of 2018 here. These two sessions are perhaps even more important this year after the landmark 19th congress of the CPC in November of 2016. During the first session of the CPPCC, Xi Jinping and others met with representatives from other political parties, those without party affiliation and returned overseas Chinese. Among other items, Xi stressed the following (quoting from Xinhua News): President Xi Jinping Sunday called the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) “a great contribution to political civilization of humanity.” It is “a new type of party system growing from China’s soil,” said Xi … Xi said the system is new because it combines Marxist political party theories with China’s reality, and truly, extensively and in the long term represents fundamental interests of all people and all ethnic groups and fulfills their aspiration, avoiding the defects of the old-fashioned party system which represents only a selective few or the vested interest. [Political parties] [Governance] [CPC]
• Hey! What About Term Limits for the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping??
  In my most recent China Watch video for Newsbud, I have some fun with the ostentatious handwringing and concern trolling the West concerning the CCP proposal to abolish term limits for the presidency of the PRC. Here’s the trailer! The video offers my unique take on U.S. presidential term limits, one that I think is surprising and revealing. That’s a teaser, folks. Go to Newsbud.com to subscribe and take a look. [Xi Jinping]
• China champions South Korean leader sending envoy to North Korea
  Posted : 2018-03-03 11:38 Updated : 2018-03-03 11:40 Possible candidates: NIS chief Suh Hoon, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon; presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong By Park Si-soo China is welcoming the news of South Korean President Moon Jae-in's plan to send a special envoy to North Korea, calling it a move that will "help ease the situation" on the Korean peninsula. Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Friday at a regular press briefing the Chinese government supports the plan. "With the opportunity that came with the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, positive movements have emerged in inter-Korea relations," Hua said. "China welcomes and encourages South Korea's decision to send a special envoy to North Korea, and also welcomes the positive attitudes between the United States and North Korea toward the bilateral talks." Hua added the international community should "continue to support and encourage" the latest developments, and inter-Korea talks should lead to "full-fledged dialogue" between Washington and Pyongyang. "The essence of the Korean Peninsula issue is security and not sanctions, so dialogue is a fundamental solution to the security concerns of each country and the problem of the Korean peninsula," the spokeswoman said, adding the suspension of U.S.-South Korea joint exercises will ease tensions. [Intermediary] [Wishful thinking]
• We got China wrong. Now what?
  China's ruling Communist Party proposed changes to the constitution that would allow President Xi Jinping to rule more than the current limit of two terms. (Reuters) By Charles Lane Opinion writer February 28 at 7:37 PM Email the author Remember how American engagement with China was going to make that communist backwater more like the democratic, capitalist West? For years, both Republican and Democratic administrations argued that the gravitational pull of U.S.-dominated international institutions, trade flows, even pop culture, would gradually reshape the People’s Republic, resulting in a moderate new China with which the United States and its Asian allies could comfortably coexist. [China confrontation] [Wishful thinking] [Hubris]
• As Xi Jinping Extends Power, China Braces for a New Cold War
  The New York Times JANE PERLEZ 3 hrs ago Having cast aside presidential term limits, China is bracing for relations with the United States to enter a dangerous period under the continuing leadership of President Xi Jinping, intending to stand firm against President Trump and against policies it sees as attempts to contain its rise, according to Chinese analysts. Even before the announcement on Sunday that he could rule for the foreseeable future, Mr. Xi had ordered the Chinese military to counter the Pentagon with its own modernization in air, sea, space and cyber weapons, the analysts said, partly in response to Mr. Trump’s plans to revitalize American nuclear forces. Rather than beginning a final term next month as a lame duck, Mr. Xi will govern with new authority to pursue his agenda of making China a global power even if it risks putting Beijing in conflict with Washington and triggering a new Cold War after 40 years of mutual engagement, the analysts said. [Xi Jinping] [China rising] [China confrontation] [NCW]

• Even the World Bank is starting to take notice: China’s ‘unprecedented poverty reduction’ and the role of the CPC
  Posted by stalinsmoustache under China, communist party, socialism in power, socialist market economy | Tags: poverty reduction, World Bank report | A detailed report from the World Bank, called Towards a More Inclusive and Sustainable Development has been raising interest in some quarters. Among many features of the report, it notes that China’s policies have enabled the “extreme poverty rate, based on the international purchasing power parity (PPP) US$1.90 per day poverty line, to fall from 88.3 percent in 1981 to 1.9 percent in 2013. This implies that China’s success enabled more than 850 million people to escape poverty.” Over the last four decades, 7 out of 10 people who moved out of poverty were Chinese. The report does not hesitate to point out that this is “unprecedented in scope and scale.” This figure is up from the 600-700 million mentioned earlier, which has already been called one of the greatest human rights achievements in world history. The aim in China – in line with the target of a “moderately prosperous society” by 2020 – is to enable the remaining 25 million to escape poverty. [Poverty] [Development]
• China and the Munich Security Conference
  Much happened at the recently concluded Munich Security conference, but I am particularly interested in the speech by the outgoing foreign minister of Germany, Sigmar Gabriel. Some interpreted the speech as an attack on China and its Belt and Road Initiative, seeing the speech an accusation that China is trying to take over the world. However, if you actually look at the text of the speech, you will see that he has relatively little to say about China or Russia, or indeed the Korean peninsula – except to frame the speech in terms of a substantially changed world. Instead, he is most concerned about the way the United States is disappearing from the scene (as someone else pointed out, it is like watching the collapse of the Roman Empire). Gabriel worries about the fragmentation of the ‘liberal’ – that is, bourgeois – world order, imploring the USA to get involved again and suggesting that Europe as a whole needs to step up. All of this was far more accurately reported by Deutsche Welle. [B&R] [Germany] [Decline]
• China Plans New Duty-Free Zone Along N.Korean Border
  February 20, 2018 11:09 China is thumbing its nose at international sanctions against North Korea with plans for a new free economic zone along their shared border. The Chinese city of Hunchun in Jilin Province said on its website that it wants to build the free zone on a 2.6 sq.km island on the Duman River in Kyongwon in North Korea's North Hamgyong Province. The island is connected to Hunchun and and Kyongwon by a bridge and the zone will offer duty-free benefits worth 8,000 yuan per person a day. According to Hunchun, North Korea proposed setting up the free zone in June 2016. The money will come from a Hong Kong company rather than the Chinese government, but China will refurbish a port in Hunchun and upgrade the bridge. This is China's second free zone with North Korea. The first was set up in Dandong, Liaoning Province in October 2015, but North Korean businesses have been barred from investing in it under international sanctions. [China NZ] [SEZ]
• Scoop: Skirmish in Beijing over the nuclear football
  On Thursday Nov. 9, when President Trump and his team visited Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Chief of Staff John Kelly and a U.S. Secret Service agent skirmished with Chinese security officials over the nuclear football. I've spoken to five sources familiar with the events. Here's what happened, as they describe it: When the U.S. military aide carrying the nuclear football entered the Great Hall, Chinese security officials blocked his entry. (The official who carries the nuclear football is supposed to stay close to the president at all times, along with a doctor.) A U.S. official hurried into the adjoining room and told Kelly what was happening. Kelly rushed over and told the U.S. officials to keep walking — "We're moving in," he said — and the Americans all started moving. Then there was a commotion. A Chinese security official grabbed Kelly, and Kelly shoved the man’s hand off of his body. Then a U.S. Secret Service agent grabbed the Chinese security official and tackled him to the ground. The whole scuffle was over in a flash, and the U.S. officials told about the incident were asked to keep quiet about it. Trump's team followed the normal security procedure to brief the Chinese before their visit to Beijing, according to a person familiar with the trip — but somebody at the Chinese end either didn't get the memo or decided to mess with the Americans anyway. [China confrontation] [Visit1711]
• Trump dispatches China hawk to Australia
  Admiral Harry Harris' ambassadorial appointment to Canberra signals a tougher US tack to regional security affairs, including in the South China Sea By Alan Boyd Sydney, February 14, 2018 US President Donald Trump is welcomed by US Navy Admiral Harry Harris, then commander of United States Pacific Command, at its headquarters in Aiea, Hawaii, November 3, 2017. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst China has reacted with surprising restraint to the appointment of tough naval commander Admiral Harry Harris as the next US ambassador to Australia. The appointment is the latest signal that Washington plans a tougher tack to regional security, including in the contested South China Sea. In August, China’s nationalistic Global Times newspaper labelled Harris the “most prejudiced” American military leader since World War II, and accused him of seeking publicity and “sowing discord” with his hawkish comments. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang was more guarded after Harris’ appointment, saying only that that Beijing hoped “policies adopted by relevant countries and their relations could be conducive to safeguard and promote peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region.” The admiral has been a constant thorn in China’s side as chief of the US Pacific Command since 2014, overseeing a force of 375,000 personnel, 200 ships and more than 1,000 aircraft. Before that he was commander of the US Pacific Fleet and assisted the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [Harry Harris] [China confrontation]
• How Trump’s weak dollar could backfire
  The rising yuan could mean it's open season on American companies for acquisitive mainlanders
  By William Pesek February 12, 2018 In geopolitics as in life, one should be careful what they wish for. This may dawn on Donald Trump as his desire for a stronger Chinese currency collides with his nationalist bent. On the campaign trail, the US president rarely missed a chance to rail against what he saw as an undervalued yuan. The exchange rate, Trump said, is “raping” and “killing” us. But since his inauguration, the yuan surged more than 8%. Beijing hopes the move will shield it from Trump’s wrath. Doubtful, given this White House’s obsession with Beijing trade policies the yuan rises, the desired outcome may not be what Trump hoped. The last 12 months have been about how America is open for business again. In Davos, Switzerland last month, Trump said: “We are creating an environment that attracts capital, invites investment and rewards production.” That was hardly news for increasingly acquisitive Chinese companies gorging on household US names well before Trump’s inauguration. The list includes AMC theatres, GE Appliances, Hoover, Ingram Micro, Legendary Entertainment, Motorola Mobility, Riot Games, Smithfield Foods, Starwood Hotels, Terex Corp. and the iconic Waldorf Astoria Hotel. In 2016, China stunned the globe with a record $246 billion of announced outbound takeovers [ODI] [China bashing] [Trump] [Currency]
• Xi Won't Come to Olympics Closing Ceremony
  By Lee Kil-seong February 09, 2018 13:28 China will send Vice Premier Liu Yandong to the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang instead of President Xi Jinping. Liu Yandong Liu is the highest-ranking female official in China and has been vice premier in charge of science, technology, education, and culture since Xi took power in 2013. Liu was promoted to the politburo as only the fifth female member ever in 2007, when President Hu Jintao was in power. Born in 1945, she retired from the politburo during the 19th Communist Party Congress last year and will step down from the vice premiership in March. Cai Qi, the Communist Party secretary of Beijing, and Beijing Mayor Chen Jining are expected to attend the opening and closing ceremonies as representatives of the next host city of the Winter Olympics. [Olympics18] [China SK]
• China best realises the social doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church: Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo
  Posted by stalinsmoustache under another world is possible, China, Uncategorized | Tags: appointment of bishops, Roman Catholic Church | Leave a Comment This one is causing no small brouhaha among reactionary Roman Catholics and others. Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, who is chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, made the following observations in an interview: “Right now, those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese,” a senior Vatican official has said. Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, praised the Communist state as “extraordinary”, saying: “You do not have shantytowns, you do not have drugs, young people do not take drugs”. Instead, there is a “positive national conscience”. The bishop told the Spanish-language edition of Vatican Insider that in China “the economy does not dominate politics, as happens in the United States, something Americans themselves would say.” Bishop Sánchez Sorondo said that China was implementing Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si better than many other countries and praised it for defending Paris Climate Accord. “In that, it is assuming a moral leadership that others have abandoned”, he added. [China Vatican]
• Geopolitical LaboratoryHow Djibouti Became China's Gateway To Africa
  Djibouti, one of Africa's smallest countries, has become China's "strategic partner." The Chinese have built a military base and a port, and is currently constructing a free trade zone, fast establishing it as Beijing's gateway to the continent. By Dietmar Pieper Photos DOMINIC NAHR / DER SPIEGEL February 08, 2018 05:47 PM Djibouti is one of the smallest countries in Africa, but for several years now, people here have been thinking big. Many are dreaming of creating, with Chinese help, something similar to Singapore and the Gulf States. It may not be easy to make something of this parched land, but there is a true feeling of ambition here, a willingness to take risks and move forward. The Djiboutians are searching for a better life and for a bigger role for themselves in a global society that is in the process of reordering itself. DER SPIEGEL Map of Djibouti The country practically serves as a laboratory setting for the global shift in power from the West to the East, and many vivid examples can be seen. Djibouti is more open and willing to experiment than other African countries. And even though Europe and the United States continue to be important for the people here, when they think about their future, it's China that they look to. The country has witnessed first hand just how quick the Chinese are at turning plans into reality. A new port has already been built on the coast, and [China Africa] [ODI]
• Borderland Fiction: The Mongol Would-be Self-immolator
  By Guo Xuebo, translated and introduced by Bruce Humes January 31, 2018 Volume 16 | Issue 3 | Number 1 Author Guo Xuebo, a Mongol who grew up speaking the language of his people in the Horchin Grasslands of Inner Mongolia where the novel is set. The all-pervasive PR blitz surrounding China’s strategic campaign to resurrect and expand ancient Eurasian trade routes — by land and sea — known as “One Belt, One Road,” is a hot topic among eager foreign businesspeople, as well as those who view it with a more sceptical eye, such as diplomats, military strategists and China watchers worldwide. The definition of “silk road” is broad, including both the original land-based caravan routes from Xi’an through Central and West Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as the so-called Maritime Silk Road that linked the South China Sea, South Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Less high profile are cultural components in this strategic campaign. Take the “Silk Road Fragrant Books Project” (??????), for instance, a well-funded global publishing initiative. Given the stamp of approval by China’s Ministry of Propaganda, it is designed to stimulate the translation and publication of literary, historical and cultural works that are grounded in the cultures of peoples along the Silk Road of yore. The plan for 2014-20 includes translation subsidies, translations between Chinese and foreign tongues, international exhibitions, and a database of Silk Road publications. While scholars and translators specializing in Central Asia are pleased, writers belonging to northwest China’s non-Han ethnic groups, such as Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Sibe and Mongols, also stand to benefit. The “export” of their writing, including contemporary ethnic-themed fiction, is now also eligible for translation grants — specifically targeting minority writers (????????????????) — via the China Writers Association. [Mongol] [Ethnic tension] [Censorship] [Hate speech]
• Trump said he’d shrink the trade deficit with China. It just hit a record high.
  By David J. Lynch February 6 at 12:13 PM The trade deficit with China hit a record high in 2017, defying President Trump’s repeated promises to shrink a number that he regards as a test of whether other nations are treating the United States fairly. U.S. purchases of Chinese goods and services last year were $375 billion greater than Chinese orders from the United States, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Release of the new trade figures came one week after the president boasted in his State of the Union address that the United States had “finally turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs and our nation’s wealth.” [Trade deficit] [Trump] [China comnpetition]
• New series of Chinese assault drones takes flight
  Military drones are set to boost attack and reconnaissance capabilities, while civilian versions command an increasing UAV market By Asia Times staff February 7, China’s new all-weather strike-drone series Caihong-4, developed by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, has just wrapped up a six-day live-fire drill to test its compatibility with various types of ammunition for both extensive bombing and precise targeting, People’s Daily reports. The CH-4 is an upgraded version of a drone that first took flight in 2015. “The capacity and variety of its ordnance payload indicate the CH-4 can conduct effective air strikes on more targets, from longer distances with nimble, faster reaction,” the report said. According to its developer, the CH-4 has better basic performance than that of US-based General Atomics’ MQ-1 Predator, an industry leader, and is more competent in reconnaissance, surveillance, and strike missions. [Drones]
• China Strengthens Missile Defense Near N.Korean Border
  By Lee Kil-seong February 05, 2018 12:30 China is preparing for a potential war on the Korean Peninsula by reinforcing missile defenses near the border with North Korea, Radio Free Asia reported Friday. RFA quoted a North Korean source in China as saying the Chinese military late last year deployed another missile defense battery at an armored division in Helong, west of Longjing in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Military units in Yanbian were relocated from Heilongjiang Province, thus adding 300,000 troops along the border, the source added. Now it is deploying missile defense batteries near North Korean reservoirs by the Apnok and Duman rivers. Chinese troops in the border area could be swept away if the North tore down the banks of the reservoirs or they were destroyed by missiles or air strikes, the source added. On Jan. 24, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that the 78th Group Army, the first Chinese military unit that would cross the border into the North in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, has been armed with newest surface-to-air missiles against South Korean and U.S. aircraft and missiles. [US NK war] [Warning] [Chinese intervention]
• Chinese Boycott Hits Korean Online Sales
  By Park Yu-yeon February 05, 2018 12:40 Sales growth of Korean online stores slowed last year as an unofficial Chinese boycott tempered enthusiasm there. Statistics Korea said Friday that direct sales overseas from Korean online shopping malls in 2017 rose 28.7 percent to W2.95 trillion. But that was a significantly slower growth rate than the previous year's 82 percent and 85.5 percent the year before that, mainly due to flagging enthusiasm from China. Sales to China increased just 29 percent last year, compared 107.9 percent the previous year. [China SK] [THAAD] [Public Opinion]
• [Correspondent’s Column] China’s Global Times news miscast as “government-run” news outlet
  Posted on : Feb.4,2018 17:08 KST Modified on : Feb.4,2018 17:08 KST The outlandish rhetoric often distorts the official position of the Chinese government The Global Times is a Chinese newspaper that is often cited in the foreign press. It’s common to hear diplomats and foreign journalists in Beijing railing against it. It seems to provoke head-shaking from people from all around the world. To see its editorials, you can understand where they’re coming from. The two editorials it prints each day are just about the only content it produces on its own; all the other pieces typically quote the foreign press. But the rhetoric is often outlandish. Recently, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was referred to disparagingly as a “provincial governor,” suggesting she was in charge of an administrative unit within China. Australia’s “fickle” approach to foreign affairs was described as “small person diplomacy.” The newspaper also contributed in a big way to souring Chinese feelings toward South Korea. South Korean THAAD proponents were met with emotionally charged criticisms, asking if they had “grown stupid from eating only kimchi.” When the South Korean Coast Guard warned that it would start firing live rounds at Chinese fishing boats that illegally entered South Korean territorial waters in the West Sea, it asked whether South Korea had “gone mad.” The editorials, which every day refer to foreign governments, political parties, and forces as nimen - “you people” - are undignified, at least by our standards. For the most part, they adopt a nationalist, patriotic perspective that sees any loss to China as absolutely bad and any benefit to China as absolutely good. The problem comes when we start referring to it as a “government-run news outlet.” At first glance, this seems justified, since the Global Times is a sister publication to the People’s Daily, which is an official newspapers of the Chinese Communist Party. It also prints articles written by People’s Daily reporters at home and abroad. Aside from the Global Times Online section, all Global Times employees work at the “People’s Daily Town” in Beijing’s Jintai Lu neighborhood. Still, it’s difficult to call the Global Times exactly a “government-run news outlet.” While that term gives the impression that it communicates the position of government authorities, officials in China insist that the Global Times is not that kind of newspaper. While we have no way of knowing their actual thoughts, a Chinese diplomat said that officials have “often been dismayed” by its content. The newspaper is also not included in the list of the 18 “major central media” often mentioned in the Chinese press world. According to one document, that list is divided into news outlets at the “ministerial level” (People’s Daily and Xinhua), the “vice-ministerial level” (Qiushi, People’s Liberation Army Daily, Guangming Daily, Economic Daily, China Daily, China National Radio, China Central Television, China Radio International, and Science and Technology Daily), and the “bureau director level” (Discipline Inspection Daily, Workers’ Daily, China Youth Daily, China Women’s Daily, Farmers’ Daily, Legal Daily, and the China News Service). As a newspaper outside this list, the Global Times itself says its corresponds to a “marketing medium,” as opposed to a government-run medium. A newspaper that bases its positions on public opinion The correct way to view the Global Times is as a newspaper that does not so much represent the position of authorities as it seeks out positions based in public opinion that more readers will support. Since China is a society where the press is controlled, that does not leave it with a lot of room to maneuver; anything “anti-government” or “anti-system” would be strictly cracked down on. Some scholars claim it has something of an effect in terms of “finding the boundary of what is reportable.” And since the Global Times is the only medium doing that, some even regard this as “special treatment.” [Global Times]
• What a US-China trade war would look like
  by Richard Javad Heydarian Employees process solar panel components at a solar power plant in Hefei, Anhui province, China on July 26, 2012 [File photo: Reuters] more on China • Kay Kay: The Girl from Guangzhoutoday • What a US-China trade war would look liketoday • The deafening silence on China's human rights abuses2 days ago • Hong Kong 'Umbrella Movement' nominated for Nobel prize2 days ago In recent years, Asian trading partners, such as China, have seen a massive increase in their trade surplus with the US, which has been grappling with widespread deindustrialisation and manufacturing layoffs. US President Donald Trump has taken up the issue and has promised to "bring jobs back to the US". In the first year of his presidency, he effectively commenced a trade war by imposing hefty tariffs on imports of foreign-made solar panels and washing machines, where China and South Korea have been world leaders. Over the coming months, Washington is expected to up the ante by targeting rivals in hi-tech industries, with a particular focus on China's alleged intellectual property rights' theft. But the risk is an unwanted escalation of hostility that could burn bridges among nations. In its wish to "protect American jobs", the Trump administration could unleash a dangerous tit-for-tat dynamic among leading industrial nations. What is at stake isn't only an unprecedented era of economic globalisation, but also peace among major powers. 'Massive intellectual property theft' In his highly anticipated speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump openly warned that his country "will no longer turn a blind eye to unfair economic practices" of other nations. Decades from now, Trump's speech could be remembered as the de facto declaration of the 21st-century global trade war. In particular, he focused on alleged "massive intellectual property theft, industrial subsidies and pervasive state-led economic planning" by rival nations. Though he fell short of naming names, it was more than obvious that he had state capitalist nations such as China in mind. What's clear is that almost overnight the US has transformed from a pre-eminent advocate of free trade into a protectionist villain in the eyes of both friends and foes. Robert Lighthizer, Trump's hardline trade official, defended the imposition of 30 percent tariffs on selected foreign products as a clear indication that the new administration "will always defend American workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses in this regard." The US International Trade Commission has determined that imports of solar panels and washing machines, for instance, have unfairly hurt domestic manufacturers. China, the world's leading trading nation, immediately shot back. The Chinese commerce ministry expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with Trump's latest trade measure for it "aggravates the global trade environment". The Asian powerhouse prodded the US to "exercise restraint in using trade restrictions", warning that it will not shirk from "resolutely defend[ing] its legitimate interests" if push comes to shove. Key US allies were also livid . South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong characterised the measures as "excessive and a clear violation" of World Trade Organization rules. Leading Korean companies, namely Samsung and LG, were the prime targets of the latest American tariffs. Mexico, another major trading partner, warned that it "will utilise all legal resources available" against the US. All these came against the backdrop of the Trump administration's decision to unilaterally renegotiate existing free trade agreements with both South Korea and Mexico, embittering historically cordial relations with long-time allies. A leap into the abyss The 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, under which the US imposed tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods, added fuel to the Great Depression of the early 20th century. As the world's leading economy back then, the US' aggressive protectionism ensured the virtual collapse of global trade, as each nation adopted corresponding measures to defend their local industries. The upshot was a mutually assured financial destruction, which precipitated the most destructive war in human history. In recent decades, the US has flirted with virtual trade wars with often-disastrous results. [Trump] [Trade war] [China competition] [Protectionism]

• At Davos, the Real Star May Have Been China, Not Trump
  By Keith Bradsher Jan. 28, 2018 Photo Liu He, a top economic policy adviser to President Xi Jinping of China, drew a full house to his presentation during a meeting of global business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland. Credit Gian Ehrenzeller/European Pressphoto Agency DAVOS, Switzerland — President Trump used the World Economic Forum meeting to woo investors and business leaders by reassuring them that “America first does not mean America alone.” But it was clear in Davos, Switzerland, this past week that geopolitical momentum lay with Beijing, not Washington. At one end of town, President Michel Temer of Brazil welcomed an unexpected offer from Beijing for Latin American nations to work closely with a Chinese initiative, known as the Belt and Road, intended to spread its economic and diplomatic influence abroad. At the other end of town, a senior Chinese diplomat helped introduce the prime minister of Pakistan at a breakfast meeting. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi used his talk to praise the rapidly expanding Chinese investments in his country, including to build power stations and a large port. One of the best-attended speeches at the forum was that of Liu He, a member of China’s ruling Politburo, who promoted the Belt and Road initiative, also known as One Belt, One Road. Participants here said the Chinese initiative was already rivaling more established, traditionally American-led, international institutions. [China rising] [Davos] [Belt & Road] [Trump] [Decline]
• Command and control: China’s Communist Party extends reach into foreign companies
  By Simon Denyer January 28 at 6:30 PM Email the author Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in October. Xi’s vision of complete control over Chinese life is intruding into the boardrooms of foreign firms. (Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images) BEIJING — American and European companies involved in joint ventures with state-owned Chinese firms have been asked in recent months to give internal Communist Party cells an explicit role in decision-making, executives and business groups say. It is, they say, a worrying demand that threatens to put politics before profits, and the interests of the party above all other considerations. It suggests that foreign companies are no longer exempt from President Xi Jinping’s overarching vision of complete control. “The creeping intrusion by the party apparatus into the boardrooms of foreign-invested enterprises has not yet manifested itself on a large scale, but things are certainly going down that path,” said James Zimmerman, a managing partner of the law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, who is instructing clients to “push back.” The party’s demand would give its cells a formal role in approving management decisions, such as investment plans or personnel changes. And that is ringing alarm bells. At the same time, a campaign to reinforce China’s draconian censorship of the Internet is beginning to affect foreign companies. The twin efforts to keep tabs on foreign companies are an expression of the Communist Party’s constant paranoia about internal stability. But they also represent a shift in the balance of power here, as China feels itself to be stronger economically and Western businesses more dispensable. Not every company is affected by the changes. Larger enterprises have dedicated lines and special technology ensuring unfettered Internet access. But the smaller ones do not have that latitude. By the same token, wholly owned foreign ventures have not faced the same pressure from internal party cells, while even companies involved in joint ventures are pushing back against the new demands. But everyone is aware which way the wind is blowing. [China confrontation] [IJV] [CCP] [FDI] [Democracy]
• TAIWAN TRAVEL ACT: BAD IDEA?
  BY DENNIS V. HICKEY Dennis V. Hickey (dennishickey@missouristate.edu) is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Global Studies at Missouri State University. The opinions expressed in this essay are his own and do not reflect the views of Missouri State University, the state of Missouri or the US government. On Jan. 9, the US House of Representatives passed the Taiwan Travel Act (H.R. 535) by voice vote. According to media accounts, most lawmakers were absent. The legislation must now be passed by the Senate and signed by the president to become law. This bill ought to die in the Senate: it is frivolous, unnecessary, and provocative. Here’s why. On Dec. 15, 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced that he had agreed to China’s three demands for the establishment of diplomatic relations: termination of formal diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan), abrogation of the 1954 US-ROC Mutual Defense Treaty, and removal of all US troops from Taiwan. On April 10, 1979, Carter signed the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), legislation that would guide “unofficial” relations with Taiwan. The TRA is not the only document that guides US policy: the TRA and the three US-China Communiques form the foundation of America’s Taiwan policy. [Taiwan] [Posturing] [Congress]
• China charges Australia’s lithium boom
  Australia enjoys new mining growth with rising demand for the light metal used in many 'next generation' technologies By Lachlan Colquhoun January 23, 2018 Australia is on the cusp of a new commodities boom as a lithium exporter, and Chinese investors are well ahead in the race to secure their supply. As the critical ingredient in next generation battery storage and electric vehicle technologies, global demand for lithium is forecast to grow at a compound rate of 18% in the decade to 2025, according to Macquarie Research. In 2015, Australia supplied around 36% of the world’s lithium. By 2021, that proportion is forecast to grow to 48% of a much larger global market. [Lithium] [Australia]
• Recent fine dust pollution in Seoul caused primarily by domestic pollution
  Posted on : Jan.21,2018 13:28 KST Modified on : Jan.21,2018 13:28 KST Citizens wearing masks to protect themselves from fine dust walk under a sign advising of an air quality emergency at Gwanghwamun Station in Seoul on Jan. 15. (by Baek So-ah, staff photographer) The findings contradict the popular view that the particulate matter originated in China Analysts at South Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) have tentatively concluded that the high-density particulate matter, also known as fine dust, that blanketed the capital region between Jan. 16 and 18 was more influenced by domestic factors than foreign factors. This contradicts the widespread view that high-density fine dust originates in China. [China bashing] [Pollution]
• China-N.Korea Trade Plunges in December
  By Lee Kil-seong January 15, 2018 13:18 Trade between China and North Korea dropped by more than half last month compared to the same period of 2016. The White House on Friday praised the development, which it said "supports the United States-led global effort to apply maximum pressure until the North Korean regime ends its illicit programs, changes its behavior, and moves toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." According to Chinese customs, trade volume with North Korea fell 51 percent in December. China's exports to North Korea dropped 23 percent on-year to US$54.3 million, while its imports from North Korea plummeted a whopping 81.6 percent to $260 million. That was the lowest figure since January 2014 and appears to reflect the impact of sanctions. Total trade volume last year between the two countries shrank 10.5 percent to US$5 billion. [China NK] [Sanctions] [Trade] [Appeasement]
• Beijing wins battle for blue skies — but the poor are paying a price
  By Simon Denyer January 13 at 8:00 AM One year ago, China’s capital city was in the grip of suffocating and potentially fatal smog that made life a misery and breathing downright dangerous. This month, the air in Beijing has been clear and the skies blue. Favorable wind and weather have played a part, but this is no fluke. Last year as a whole, Beijing recorded its largest improvement in air quality on record. The average concentration of tiny “PM2.5” particulates fell by more than 20 percent, according to Greenpeace East Asia. In a mad dash to meet year-end air pollution targets and combat the traditional winter smog, 5,600 environmental inspectors were hired from around the country and dispatched into the industrial heartland surrounding the capital. [China bashing] [Pollution]
• Presidents Moon and Xi agree to strengthen strategic cooperation
  Posted on : Jan.12,2018 16:14 KST Modified on : Jan.12,2018 16:14 KST President Moon Jae-in speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone call at the Blue House on Jan. 11. The two leaders discussed the recently resumed inter-Korean dialogue during a phone call During a phone call on Jan. 11, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to strengthen strategic communication and cooperation between the two countries so that the recently resumed inter-Korean dialogue could not only enable the North’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics but also lead to the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.
• Moon, Xi reaffirm joint efforts on North Korea nuclear issue
  Posted : 2018-01-11 20:50 Updated : 2018-01-11 21:34 By Kim Rahn South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to increase cooperation to help the ongoing inter-Korean talks lead to a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, according to Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. In a phone conversation, the two leaders reviewed the inter-Korean talks that took place two days ago over the North's participation in PyeongChang Winter Olympics to be held next month. [Olympics18]
• N.Korean Hotel in China Forced to Close
  By Lee Kil-seong January 10, 2018 11:01 The notorious Chilbosan Hotel in Shenyang, the only hotel North Korea operates in China, was closed on Tuesday in accordance with a UN Security Council deadline. The hotel, which is believed to have been a haven for North Korean spies, said only last week it was still taking bookings and did not expect to shut. But on the hotel's front door on Tuesday was a notice that read, "We've closed down according to an administrative order from the Shenyang city government. All business operations of the hotel have stopped." The hotel sign was also removed. Staff of the Chilbosan Hotel remove the sign in Shenyang, China on Tuesday. /Yonhap; A notice (right) on the front door of the hotel announces its closure in this picture provided by a reader. North Koreans own a 70-percent stake in the hotel and Chinese the rest. The Chinese co-owners, a trading arm of Liaoning Hongxiang Group, were blacklisted by the UN Security Council last year for helping North Korea's missile development and nuclear weapons programs. When it opened in 2000, the hotel was capitalized at US$5 million. Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development chairwoman Ma Xiaohong was the vice president. North Korean hackers are thought to have had an office in the hotel where they launched massive attacks on South Korean businesses. The hotel apparently failed to find Chinese investors interested in buying out the North Korean stake. Nine North Korean restaurants in downtown Shenyang also closed down on Tuesday under the UN deadline. The Haedanghwa restaurant in Beijing, which is wholly North Korean-owned, also shut and posted a message on its front door saying "closed for the day." [Sanctions]
• At what price success? Lessons in education from post-Mao China
  BY Edward Vickers When it is hard to identify and measure the aspects of schooling that are truly important for success, the drive to meritocratic fundamentalism in modern China needs a closer look, writes Edward Vickers Debate on education policy in the West today is underscored by two unshakeable assumptions. First, that educational success is readily measurable through cross-national testing of student achievement. And second, that it translates into economic success—for individuals, and for whole societies. In other words, to the educationally most deserving go the rewards of the global knowledge economy. Education the ‘new currency’ In recent years, China has served as ‘exhibit A’ for this line of argument. In 2009 and 2012, Shanghai topped the OECD PISA rankings, based on tests of student achievement in mathematics, science and literacy. A wider selection of Chinese regions turned in strong results in maths and science in the 2015 tests. Many Western policymakers have concluded that correlation between PISA achievement and China’s rapid economic growth indicates that the first causes the second. [China] [Education] [Measurement]
• Trump's accusation based on shaky evidence
  Source:Global Times Published: 2017/12/29 17:40:01 US President Donald Trump Friday morning tweeted in a strong tone about US satellites capturing photos of "Chinese ships" selling oil to North Korean boats in the West Sea. "Caught RED HANDED - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea," he wrote. "There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!" Western and South Korean media published photos said to be taken by US satellites. In the photos, North Korean boats appeared to be linking up with Chinese vessels. These "Chinese vessels" are not oil tankers and are not large-tonnage. US and South Korean media believe these photos prove China violated UN Security Council resolutions to transfer oil to North Korea, but even in the reports it is unclear where the vessels come from or whom they belong to. [Sanctions] [China SK] [Water down]