We have seen how Chinese fishermen have been challenging South Korean sovereignty well for more perspective, the Indonesians are having the same problem:
Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday reaffirmed his country’s sovereignty during a visit to a group of islands at the edge of the South China Sea that China claims as its traditional fishing area.
Widodo, accompanied by top military officials, toured Natuna Islands on a naval ship in a move designed to send a message to Beijing.
“Natuna is part of Indonesia’s territory, there is no question, no doubt,” Widodo said in a speech after the trip. “There is no bargaining for our sovereignty.”
He then presided over a meeting with local administration officials and fishermen, discussing issues including development of the remote islands, about 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) north of the capital, Jakarta.
His visit came a week after China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in a news briefing in Beijing insisted that Chinese fishermen are free to conduct activities in their traditional fishing ground, which partly overlaps with Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone.
“Whether the Indonesian side accepts it or not, nothing will change the objective fact that China has rights and interests over the relevant waters,” Shuang said.
Shuang’s statement drew a nationwide indignation in Indonesia and prompted the military to beef up its forces at the islands. Although China has been making such claims for years, recently dozens of Chinese fishing boats, escorted by its coast guard vessels, were reportedly making more aggressive moves in the area and ignoring Indonesia’s warnings to leave.
Associated Press
You can read more at the link.
Did China try and pull a fast one on President Moon?:
Seoul has contradicted an attempt by Beijing to back South Korea into China’s official stance on Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Korea Times
South Korean President Moon Jae-in was quoted by the Chinese foreign ministry to have stated that the troubled regions were China’s internal affairs during meetings on Monday in Beijing with President Xi Jinping, who also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
But the line was nowhere to be found in the official statement issued by the South Korean government and, on Tuesday, a spokesman from South Korea’s presidential office, also known as the Blue House, issued a clarification.
“President Xi explained that Hong Kong and Xinjiang issues were internal affairs. President Moon said ‘well noted’ in response,” the spokesman Ko Min-jung said.
Moon ― who has stayed largely quiet on the protests which have rocked Hong Kong for more than six months ― was the latest head of state to be quoted by Beijing in supportive terms of its policies.
You can read more at the link.
As I expected, it appears the Chinese want the North Koreans to start a provocation cycle in hopes of politically damaging the Trump administration:
Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, apparently failed to meet with North Korean officials during his visit to Beijing Friday and was expected to depart for home yesterday night.
Biegun touched down in Beijing Thursday for a two-day trip, and there was speculation he may meet North Korean officials there amid stalled denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang. But Yonhap reported that Biegun appeared not to have met anyone from the North.
Neither Beijing nor Washington made any official announcement on Biegun’s Chinese visit as of 8 p.m. press time Friday, but Biegun is known to have stressed to Chinese officials that it was crucial to keep maximum pressure on the Pyongyang regime and asked for help in bringing the North back to the dialogue table.
While Biegun was visiting China, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm him as deputy secretary of state on Thursday, and with that, he became the second-highest individual in the State Department after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Joong Ang Ilbo
You can read more at the link.
With the USFK cost sharing negotiations currently stalemated, the Chinese may see an opportunity to further drive a wedge between the US-ROK alliance by bringing up the THAAD issue again:
A few hours after Beijing’s announcement that South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha agreed with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to continue to deal properly with the THAAD issue, Seoul’s foreign ministry confirmed the matter was touched on during their talks.
Korea Times
“Regarding the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) issue, yes, the foreign ministers had sessions on the matter,” an official said. Before the announcement, Seoul’s foreign ministry did not respond to questions regarding the specifics of key discussion topics touched upon during the talks.
Speculations are that Seoul maintained “silence” over the THAAD issue because President Moon Jae-in wants help from China to advance his “peace initiatives” on the Korean Peninsula.
Also, with next year’s general elections looming, Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) want to patch things up by ending China’s retaliation against South Korean industries following the country’s decision to deploy the radar system.
You can read more at the link.
