President Moon continues to push hard for an end of war declaration for the Korean War before he exits office early next year:
The scheduled visit to China by President Moon Jae-in’s top security advisor is widely believed to be seeking Beijing’s support and cooperation for the President’s proposal of declaring an official end to the Korean War. However, experts say it remains to be seen how actively China will work on the issue, given the complex geopolitical situation.
Korea Times
Cheong Wa Dae said, Wednesday, that National Security Advisor Suh Hoon will visit Tianjin from Thursday to Friday for talks with his Chinese counterparts, at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party’s head of foreign affairs, Yang Jiechi.
The presidential office said that Suh’s trip will be a reciprocal visit for Yang’s visit to Busan in August last year, and the two will discuss, “South Korea-China relations, Korean Peninsula issues, regional and international affairs and other topics of mutual interests.”
You can read more at the link.
It looks like President Xi is going to make it official and become the emperor for life he has always wanted:
Only two men in the Communist Party’s history have ever written a so-called historical resolution. China is waiting to see whether President Xi Jinping becomes the third.
The first official declaration on Chinese history in 40 years is set to top the agenda when the ruling party huddles this week in the last major meeting before a twice-a-decade congress next year, where Xi’s expected to break precedent and secure a third term to extend his indefinite rule.
Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping’s historical resolutions came at critical junctures in the nation’s trajectory and enabled their authors to dominate party politics until their dying breaths. Issuing his own magnum opus would not only put Xi on par with those party titans, but could signal big changes afoot in the world’s second-largest economy.
The meeting from Nov. 8-11, called the sixth plenum, kicks off the closest thing China has to a campaign season. Getting the party to back his take on China’s history — and its future — would be the biggest sign yet that Xi has the power base to potentially rule for life after almost a decade of purging enemies and pushing to foster national pride.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but that is the thing about purges, these authoritarians make so many enemies that it is dangerous for them to step down because they then risked being jailed or worse.
This is just another example that a country should not rely on China for key ingredients in their supply chain for critical needs especially something as important as diesel fuel:
South Korea said Sunday it plans to import urea water solution, a key material used in diesel vehicles to reduce emissions, from Australia this week in a bid to ease its supply shortage that has caused soaring prices.
The government has decided to mobilize military aircraft to bring 20,000 liters of urea solution from Australia, the finance ministry said after a meeting on security and the economy.
“The country plans to mobilize all available diplomatic channels to import thousands of tonnes of urea within this year not only from Australia but also from other countries, including Vietnam,” the government said.
South Korea has been grappling with a shortage of urea water solution, known as diesel exhaust fluid, in recent weeks, as China tightened exports of fertilizers and related materials, including urea, in October amid a power crisis caused by a coal supply shortage. Coal is the main feedstock for urea.
South Korea heavily relies on China for its supply of urea water solution, as 97.6 percent of its import came from China in the first nine months of this year. In around 2013, local manufacturers of urea shut down business as they lost price competitiveness over foreign rivals, such as China and Russia.
In Korea, a relatively high portion of diesel cars caused a shortage of urea water solution.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Another American tech company has pulled out of China:
Yahoo Inc. said Tuesday it has pulled out of China, citing an increasingly challenging operating environment.
The withdrawal was largely symbolic, as many of the company’s services were already blocked by China’s digital censorship. But recent government moves to expand its control over tech companies generally, including its domestic giants, may have tipped the scales for Yahoo.
“In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, Yahoo’s suite of services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of November 1,” the company said in a statement. It said it “remains committed to the rights of our users and a free and open internet.”
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
