Category: China

It appears that China has a new weapon that instead of running people over with tanks, they can now suppress protests by covertly setting people on fire:

China has developed a new portable laser weapon that can zap a target from nearly a kilometre away, according to researchers involved in the project.

The ZKZM-500 laser assault rifle is classified as being “non-lethal” but produces an energy beam that cannot be seen by the naked eye but can pass through windows and cause the “instant carbonisation” of human skin and tissues.

Ten years ago its capabilities would have been the preserve of sci-fi films, but one laser weapons scientist said the new device is able to “burn through clothes in a split second … If the fabric is flammable, the whole person will be set on fire”.

“The pain will be beyond endurance,” according to the researcher who had took part in the development and field testing of a prototype at the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shaanxi province.

The 15mm calibre weapon weighs three kilos (6.6lb), about the same as an AK-47, and has a range of 800 metres, or half a mile, and could be mounted on cars, boats and planes.  [South China Morning Post]

You can read more at the link, but considering all the past failures with laser weapons I recommend patience before getting to worried about Chinese soldiers zapping US soldiers into ash.

I think it is pretty clear that the Chinese government is using the North Korea issue to put pressure on the ROK to remove the THAAD battery:

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asked South Korea on Friday to resolve the issue of an advanced U.S. missile defense system deployed on the peninsula.

Wang made the request in bilateral talks with his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, in Singapore on the margins of annual ASEAN-hosted sessions, according to a South Korean government official.

He cited the need for a “compete resolution” to the matter, a repeat of Beijing’s demand, which comes amid a peace mood in Korea.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if major corporations in the US even consider the espionage risk of hiring Chinese nationals for sensitive positions?: 

A Chinese-American engineer faces charges of stealing valuable technology from General Electric, sneaking it out hidden in a picture of the sunset to take to China, the US Justice Department said. Xiaoqing Zheng, 56, a US citizen also believed to have Chinese nationality, was due to appear before a judge in Albany, New York on Thursday, a day after his arrest, according to federal prosecutors. Following a four-year investigation, the FBI arrested Xiaoqing Zheng after searching his home and finding, among other things, a handbook detailing “resources” Beijing would grant to individuals providing certain technologies. Zheng’s arrest comes as President Donald Trump intensifies the trade war with Beijing, largely over complaints the country steals US technology or obliges American companies to share know-how in exchange for doing business in China.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link.

I wonder how long before the Chinese reverse engineer the S-400?  Even more worrisome is if this system or a Chinese knockoff ends up in North Korea in the future:

Russia’s TASS news agency and a Hong Kong daily report that China could test fire a new Russian missile defense system in the coming days.

The South China Morning Post said Saturday that China could put the defense system, which is capable of downing U.S. F-35 stealth fighters, through its paces within a few days.

The report says the Chinese army has already been trained in the use of the S-400 Triumph in Russia.

The S-400 Triumph, which was delivered just last week, is a surface-to-air missile system designed to complement China’s home-grown defense capabilities.

With a range of 24-hundred kilometers, the S-400 can engage up to 36 targets simultaneously with as many as 72 missiles at altitudes of between five meters and 30 kilometers.

The South China Morning Post said the U.S. has had F-35s at its own and allies’ military bases in the Asia-Pacific region since October and this deployment pushed China into bringing its first stealth fighter, the J-20, into service ahead of schedule in February.

Some pundits say the S-400 deployed on the Shandong Peninsula, which is near Korea, will pose a major threat to the combat power of South Korea and U.S. Forces Korea.   [KBS World Radio]

Is there any chance we can stop calling it "Belt and Road Initiative" and just call it "China's foreign policy"? https://t.co/PHiGVq89bY

— Matt Schrader (@tombschrader) July 28, 2018

North Korea likely had no plans of giving up their nukes, but were willing to pretend for a while to string the US along.  However, the sharp rebuke they gave this weekend to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit may be linked to the China trade issue:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggested on Sunday that China may have pressured North Korea to take a harder line against U.S. negotiators during a recent visit to the isolated country by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“I see China’s hands all over this,” Graham told “Fox News Sunday,” citing an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China as Beijing’s possible motivation. “We’re in a fight with China.”

Graham’s comments came a day after the North Korean foreign ministry released a lengthy statement, condemning U.S. negotiators’ “gangster-like demand for denuclearization.” [The Hill]

You can read more at the link, but if China continues to violate sanctions to support the Kim regime I wonder if at some point the Trump administration will consider sanctions on China as well.

I hope no one is surprised by this because this has always been one of the long game end states:

Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to work toward the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea during their third summit in China, according to a Japanese press report.

The Asahi Shimbun reported Thursday the two leaders agreed to cooperate strategically on a shared objective of the removal of the 28,500 U.S. soldiers in the South, following the summit in Singapore where President Donald Trump described joint drills as “very provocative” and costly.

The Asahi’s source, described as well versed in China-North Korea affairs, said Beijing and Pyongyang also agreed to bide their time and not rush negotiations with Washington.

The report comes a day ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo‘s visit to Pyongyang, his third known trip to North Korea.

China and North Korea see an opportunity to ask U.S. troops to leave if and when a peace treaty is signed.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link, but you can add the Russians and South Korean leftists to this list as well that want US troops off of the peninsula.  Despite claims in the media that Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in want US troops to stay after any peace deal is reached, this is just all rhetoric to prevent energizing South Korean conservatives against Moon.

Remember Moon is a very skilled politician that needs to keep the Korean right at bay and public anxiety down.  If he advocated openly for a USFK withdrawal that would give the South Korean right an issue to strongly attack him with and cause much public anxiety after decades of security guarantees provided by US forces.  That is why I think the Moon administration will publicly say they support USFK staying, but will then have their surrogates do things to make life difficult for USFK.

Possibly the future of USFK after a peace treaty could look a lot like the current THAAD site in Seongju.  President Moon will say all the right things that he supports USFK, just like he supposedly supports the THAAD site, but will set conditions to make it difficult for its continued existence and cause the US to withdraw troops on its own accord.

I read this article and it left me wondering why is the Korean government subsidizing Chinese electric buses and not domestically made ones?:

Concerns have grown over electric buses made in China, which are set to hit the Korean roads within a few months, taking advantage of the handsome subsidy given by the Korean government.

Industry officials point out the government policy may allow Chinese companies to take the lead in the Korean electric vehicle and battery markets, given that the buses are equipped with batteries made in China, the country which has remained reluctant to subsidize batteries produced by Korean companies.

According to industry officials, Wednesday, the Ministry of Environment decided last month to subsidize the eBus-12 made by BYD, China’s largest electric vehicle maker.

The 11-meter-long low-floor bus is powered by a 324-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack also made by BYD.

The subsidized bus is attracting clients with a more competitive price.

Because the environment ministry, the land ministry and local governments are giving subsidies to the bus maker, the subsidized bus costs 200 million won ($179,000) less than it would without the subsidies.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but the Chinese government is not subsidizing Korean made buses in China. So is the ROK government subsidizing these buses as part of some larger deal perhaps to get China to withdraw some of is economic sanctions caused by the phony THAAD controversy?

It looks like Kim Jong-un is getting his next marching orders from Chinese Emperor President Xi:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has touched down in Beijing, marking his third visit to China in as many months.

In a rare move, Chinese state media have already confirmed Kim is visiting from June 19 to 20. Kim’s arrival in Beijing, just one week after his summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore, signifies the importance North Korea is placing on its close neighbor and historic ally.

The North Korean leader touched down on Tuesday morning with reporters spotting Kim’s $1 million armored Mercedes at the airport before a motorcade entered Beijing’s streets.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also visited Beijing last week during which China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke of “the importance of China being a constructive participant in the next steps.”  [Business Insider]

You can read more at the link, but something else to keep in mind is that Kim Jong-un must be feeling very secure at home considering the amount of trips he has been taken outside of the country.

This is pretty audacious whoever is committing these attacks on US diplomats:

The State Department is evacuating several Americans from China amid health concerns about mysterious symptoms arising after unusual noises detected by U.S. diplomats and their families working in the consulate in Guangzhou.

After initial screenings by a medical team dispatched last month when the first incident was reported, the State Department has sent “a number” of affected people to the United States for further evaluation, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

The evacuation was the first sign that the unexplained ailments previously known to have afflicted only one U.S. government employee in China has now broadened and threatens to become a full-blown health crisis like the one that affected at least 24 U.S. diplomats and their families in Cuba.

The latest round of evacuations began Wednesday in China, which was still Tuesday in the United States. More diplomats and their dependents are expected to be sent home in coming days.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but it is believed that the sonic attacks in Cuba were caused possibly by a flawed spying device.  So whatever the spying device being used in Cuba was maybe it came from China and this same device malfunctioned while spying on US diplomats in Guangzhou as well?