This is nothing new because both countries have conducted these joint flights before, but still this is not a very neighborly thing to do threatening your neighbors like this:
Two Chinese and six Russian warplanes entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) without notice Wednesday, prompting the Air Force to scramble fighters to the scene, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The planes’ entry into the KADIZ came as South Korea is pushing to strengthen its alliance with the United States amid an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry, while maintaining its opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The JCS said the warplanes flew across the KADIZ but did not violate South Korea’s territorial air.
At 5:48 a.m., two Chinese H-6 bombers flew into the KADIZ from an area 126 kilometers northwest of Ieo Islet, a submerged rock south of the southern island of Jeju, and they left the KADIZ at 6:13 a.m.
At 6:44 a.m., the bombers reentered the KADIZ from an area northeast of South Korea’s southern port city of Pohang and exited the zone at 7:07 a.m.
Then six Russian aircraft — four TU-95 bombers and two SU-35 fighters — as well as two Chinese H-6 bombers flew into the KADIZ from an area 200 km northeast of the South’s Ulleung Island at 12:18 p.m. and exited the zone at 12:36 p.m.
The two countries appeared to have engaged in a combined air exercise, observers said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Chinese President Emperor Xi appears uninterested in helping South Korea reign in North Korea’s provocations which shows China has probably green lighted them to do them:
President Yoon Suk-yeol and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday showed subtle differences in their perceptions toward North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
Korea Times
During the first Seoul-Beijing summit held in nearly three years, President Yoon called for China to play an “active and constructive role” in reining in North Korea to stop its provocations amid its continued launches of various missiles, despite international condemnation.
In response, the Chinese leader urged South Korea to find its role and do as much as it can in order to get inter-Korean relations back on the right track.
According to South Korea’s presidential office, Yoon and Xi sat down for talks for 25 minutes on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia. The meeting was first of its kind since Dec. 23, 2019, when Yoon’s predecessor Moon Jae-in and Xi met on the sidelines of a trilateral summit between South Korea, China and Japan in Beijing.
During the summit, Yoon voiced worries that North Korea is waging unprecedented provocations with its missile launches and being set for another nuclear test, and asked China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a neighboring country, to play an “active and constructive role.”
In response, Xi said that both South Korea and China have “common interests on the issues of the Korean Peninsula” and he hopes South Korea will do its part to improve inter-Korean relations actively.
You can read more at the link.
In a Taiwan crisis I would be very surprised if the North Koreans did not launch provocations in support of their Chinese allies just to divert U.S. troops and attention to the peninsula:
Seoul “should be fully prepared” for North Korean provocations in the event of a crisis between China and Taiwan, South Korea’s chief diplomat said this week.
Foreign Minister Park Jin, speaking to lawmakers Monday at a briefing for the Foreign and Unification Committee, said North Korea may engage in provocative behavior and exacerbate a potential crisis in the Taiwan Strait.
“Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is very important for the peace and stability of our Korean Peninsula,” Park said. “Therefore, we would like to continue to work together with the U.S. while firmly maintaining the [South Korea]-U.S. alliance.”
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
Its official, Xi has pretty much made himself an emperor for life in China:
President Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader in decades, increased his dominance Sunday when he was named to another term as head of the ruling Communist Party in a break with tradition and promoted allies who support his vision of tighter control over society and the struggling economy.
Xi, who took power in 2012, was awarded a third five-year term as general secretary, discarding a custom under which his predecessor left after 10 years. The 69-year-old leader is expected by some to try to stay in power for life.
The party also named a seven-member Standing Committee, its inner circle of power, dominated by Xi allies after Premier Li Keqiang, the No. 2 leader and an advocate of market-style reform and private enterprise, was dropped from the leadership Saturday. That was despite Li being a year younger than the party’s informal retirement age of 68.
“Power will be even more concentrated in the hands of Xi Jinping,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a Chinese politics expert at Hong Kong Baptist University. The new appointees are “all loyal to Xi,” he said. “There is no counterweight or checks and balances in the system at all.”
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
if this is the way the Chinese want to act maybe NATO countries should all start denying the use of their airspace to Chinese government officials:
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak’s planned visit to Seoul was canceled as China rejected the Polish government jet’s flight plan through its airspace.
Korea Times
According to officials, Blaszczak was scheduled to have a meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup here on Tuesday, but they ended up having a videoconference on Wednesday instead. He also missed the release ceremonies for weapons purchased recently by Poland in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
Blaszczak and his delegation were supposed to use the Polish government’s jet to fly to Seoul via a direct air route over China. But China refused to allow the Polish delegation’s jet to enter its airspace. The Polish side reportedly considered using other air routes, but didn’t, as they would have required refueling and consumed too much time.
Though the South Korean government did not elaborate on the background for the decision, it is speculated that China did not permit Poland’s jet to fly through its airspace because of its relationship with Russia and Seoul’s closer relations with NATO countries.
You can read more at the link.
What the U.S. is doing is pushing industries to make a choice between the U.S. or Chinese markets. Korea is trying to find a middle ground which so far the Biden administration does not want to offer them:
Korea Inc. faces an uphill battle as a push in the United States for economic security is taking its toll on companies dependent on China for manufacturing or for the supply of materials and components.
The U.S. is passing laws and enacting executive orders to bring the manufacturing of products important to national interest back to U.S. soil. Chips, batteries, electric vehicles(EV), solar cells and certain biotechnology products are on the list, and China is the main country of concern.
A number of Korean companies have been affected already.Hyundai Motor’s EV sales in the U.S. have fallen since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as its EV models won’t be qualified for the subsidies under the act.
Joong Ang Ilbo
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are having to rethink their use of China as a major manufacturing base for semiconductors as a number of U.S. rules are making it difficult to transfer key technologies to China, which is the second largest source of memory chips for these companies after Korea.
Korea feels betrayed by its ally and is fighting for workarounds that would allow its companies to continue sourcing heavily from China. It is now engaged in an intense lobbying effort to get the rules watered down or waivers for its companies.
This anniversary special will explore the impact of the U.S.-China tech war on Korean business and map out ways to curtail the damage. It is based on interviews with academics and researchers.
Some argue that the dependence on China needs to be reexamined, while others argue that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration should come up with sizable financial incentives and tax cuts to attract manufacturing facilities for chips and high-tech products to Korea.
You can read more at the link.
