Category: China

The only thing I find surprising about this article is that the U.S. State Department did not anticipate China resorting to so called “thuggish” behavior:

After weeks of escalating warnings alleging a covert U.S. role behind the protests in Hong Kong, the tone in Communist Party-backed media outlets is turning darkly acrimonious, with publications attacking a U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong and releasing her personal information. 

The pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao on Thursday published a photo of opposition activists meeting in a hotel with Julie Eadeh, a political section chief at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, along with details of Eadeh’s State Department career and the names of her husband and teenage children.

The report, which was recirculated by Chinese state media, emerged as Beijing doubled down on a familiar strategy of framing the nine-week-long protests as a U.S. intelligence plot to spark a “color revolution” to destabilize China.

The publication of information about the diplomat drew a furious response from the State Department, which accused China of “thuggish” behavior. U.S. diplomats around the world often meet with opposition figures and groups, occasionally drawing rebukes from governments.

The unusual pinpoint attack on the diplomat in Hong Kong underscores China’s growing frustration over the protests and their anti-Beijing message.

Washington Post

You can read more at the link, but it was utterly predictable that China would turn to nationalism and blame foreigners for the unrest in Hong Kong. The U.S. diplomat meeting with protesters was just the optics they needed to “prove” their invented narrative.

China builds cool sh*t because they can pic.twitter.com/sTbEcRNalk

— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) August 3, 2019

What is ironic about this is that the Russians have done something more provocative than the Japanese have ever done with Dokdo. So are all the Dokdo crazies going to go protest in front of the Russian embassy now?:

South Korean warplanes fired hundreds of warning shots at a Russian military aircraft that entered South Korean airspace on Tuesday, defence officials said, while Russia denied violating any airspace and accused South Korean pilots of being reckless.

It was the first time a Russian military aircraft had violated South Korean airspace, an official at the South Korean Ministry of National Defence said in Seoul. 

The incident, which also involved China and Japan, could complicate relations and raise tension in a region that has for years been over-shadowed by hostility between the United States and North Korea. 

Two Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers entered the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) together early on Tuesday, the South Korean defence ministry said. 

A separate Russian A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft later twice violated South Korean airspace over Dokdo – an island that is occupied by South Korea and also claimed by Japan, which calls it Takeshima – just after 9 a.m. (midnight GMT Monday), according to the South Korean military.

Reuters via a reader tip

You can read more at the link, but this is the first time a foreign aircraft has violated ROK air space and warning shots were fired. Despite all the Japan bashing over the years on the Dokdo issue they have never done anything close to this. Don’t forget that the Chinese are involved in this as well. Will any of the so called patriotic Koreans show up and protest in front of the Chinese embassy?

In my opinion this appears to be a planned provocation by the Chinese and the Russians to stir the pot between the ROK and Japan since they both claim the Dokdo islets.

Leaked documents reveal Huawei’s secret operations to build North Korea’s wireless network – my latest with ⁦@gerryshih⁩ ⁦@John_Hudson⁩ https://t.co/612ctFaSIf

— Ellen Nakashima (@nakashimae) July 22, 2019

Chinese Emperor President Xi during a G-20 summit meeting with President Moon is once again calling for the removal of the THAAD missile defense system from South Korea:

They talked about various pending issues for around 40 minutes through simultaneous translation.

Some thorny issues were raised as well, such as the China-U.S. dispute over cybersecurity related to 5G technology and the advanced U.S. missile defense system deployed in South Korea, called THAAD, according to a Cheong Wa Dae official.

Xi asked Moon to resolve the THAAD problem, as Beijing has been strongly opposed to its presence on the peninsula. Moon replied that it’s a matter linked with denuclearization.

At the outset of the talks, which pool media were allowed to cover, Xi said Beijing would contribute to maintaining regional peace and stability.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but China does not sound like much of a friend and promoting peace when it tells South Korea to disarm itself and make its citizens vulnerable to missile attacks from the thug regime the Chinese support.

“I watched both my uncle and my father starve to death. Fearful that I too would die, I fled – only to find myself sold into slavery in China. The horrors faced by N. Korean women like me when we cross the border into what we imagine will be safety is ignored by Western gov’ts.” https://t.co/yxtD8cNbpK

— Sung-Yoon Lee (@SungYoonLee1) June 21, 2019

This is pretty predictable, since the Trump administration is hammering the Chinese economy with tariffs, President Xi is now trying to use his North Korea card for leverage. I guess we will see if the Trump administration falls for his snake oil or not:

 On the eve of his first visit to North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed Wednesday to play a greater role in helping make progress in negotiations on Korean Peninsula issues and addressing Pyongyang’s “reasonable” demands through dialogue.

Xi made the pledge in an op-ed piece to the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official newspaper, in a rare move seen as part of efforts to emphasize their friendly and close bilateral relations, a day before he visits Pyongyang for the first time since assuming office in 2013.

“We will actively contribute to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity by strengthening communication and coordination with North Korea and other relevant parties to make progress in talks and negotiations on Korean Peninsula issues,” Xi said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Hong Kong protests provide some great content to stuff onto USB sticks headed for North Korea. https://t.co/uQgg17jPBT

— 🇰🇷Edward Oh🇺🇸 (@EdwardHBOh) June 16, 2019

It looks like Emperor President Xi has decided to crack down on North Korean defectors before his trip to North Korea this week:

A decade after leaving her family behind to flee North Korea, the defector was overwhelmed with excitement when she spoke to her 22-year-old son on the phone for the first time in May after he too escaped into China.

While speaking to him again on the phone days later, however, she listened in horror as the safe house where her son and four other North Korean escapees were hiding was raided by Chinese authorities.

“I heard voices, someone saying ‘shut up’ in Chinese,” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her son’s safety. “Then the line was cut off, and I heard later he was caught.”

The woman, now living in South Korea, said she heard rumours her son is being held in a Chinese prison near the North Korean border, but has had no official news of his whereabouts.

At least 30 North Korean escapees have been rounded up in a string of raids across China since mid-April, according to family members and activist groups.

It is not clear whether this is part of a larger crackdown by China, but activists say the raids have disrupted parts of the informal network of brokers, charities, and middlemen who have been dubbed the North Korean “Underground Railroad”.

“The crackdown is severe,” said Y. H. Kim, chairman of the North Korea Refugees Human Rights Association of Korea.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

Chinese Emperor President Xi has decided to make a visit to the vassal allied state of North Korea this week:

Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to North Korea this week, the North’s state media reported Monday, marking his first trip to Pyongyang since becoming president.

Xi is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to North Korea from Thursday at the invitation of its leader Kim Jong-un, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

It will be the first visit by a Chinese leader to its communist neighbor in 14 years. Though Xi visited North Korea in 2008, he was China’s vice president at that time.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this could be a sign that Kim Jong-un is preparing to agree to another summit with President Trump because Kim has traveled to China before other summits with the U.S. President.