Tag: China

South Korea Considers Deploying Chinese Police To Jeju Island To Help Handle Surge In Tourism Crime

| October 3, 2016

I wonder if this would be like the joint patrols the US military and the ROK police conduct near US military bases?:

South Korea and China will discuss the possibility of stationing Chinese police officials on its southern island of Jeju if the relevant authorities here consider it necessary, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Thursday.

The idea was raised by a South Korean opposition lawmaker earlier this week amid an increase in crimes by Chinese tourists on the popular resort island.

“The issue of stationing Chinese police (on Jeju) will be actively discussed with China after talks with our relevant departments, including the police, and if they so wish,” the ministry said. “Even if the Chinese police are stationed here, they would not be involved in our public safety activities, but only work with us in terms of sharing information on criminals and cooperating on safety issues.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Further Reading:

https://www.rokdrop.net/2016/09/should-south-korea-end-visa-waiver-program-for-jeju-island/

ROK Coast Guard Kills Three During Confrontation With Illegal Chinese Fishing Boat

| October 2, 2016

Maybe the ROK is taking the approach President Duerte takes for drug dealers and applying it to Chinese fishermen who continue to plague the country’s waters:

Three Chinese fishermen were killed on Thursday in a fire that broke out on their boat when South Korean coastguard men trying to apprehend them for illegal fishing threw flash grenades into a room they were hiding in, a South Korean official said.

Disputes over illegal fishing are an irritant in relations between China and U.S. ally South Korea, even as their economic relations grow close. They also share concern about North Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile programs.

The three men were believed to have suffocated, a coastguard official in the South Korean port city of Mokpo said, adding that the incident was being investigated.

The fire broke out in the boat’s steering room, the official, who is not authorized to speak with media and declined to be identified, told Reuters by telephone.

South Korean authorities were questioning the 14 surviving crew and coastguard members involved in the operation, the official added.

China’s Foreign Ministry said it had lodged a protest with Seoul about the incident.

Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing Beijing was also urging South Korea to hold a “comprehensive and objective” investigation into the incident, along with China.  [Reuters via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but definitely compared to the past where these fishermen having actually murdered Korean Coast Guard personnel it is clear ROK authorities have taken a more aggressive stance to stop them.

Further Reading:

https://www.rokdrop.net/2014/10/korean-coast-guard-kills-chinese-fishermen-during-raid/

Senate Grills State Department Officials Over Not Sanctioning Chinese Banks

| October 1, 2016

Over at One Free Korea there is a good posting up about how the Senate in a bi-partisan manner recently grilled State Department officials about the lack of sanctions against Chinese banks:

china north korea image 

I’ve never worked in the Senate, so I wouldn’t know if that’s standard procedure there, but past hearings I’ve watched didn’t run this well. Gardner himself was in complete command of both the material and the room, and gave every appearance of being a man with limitless potential. Indeed, all of the senators were well-prepared. All, regardless of their party or tribal affiliations, asked good or excellent questions. 

In the end, however, no one can hurt you more than the people who love you. At 58:17, Senator Menendez began questioning Fried by arguing for secondary sanctions against Chinese banks. He then embarked on a well-prepared, determined, and lawyerly cross-examination of Fried about this. Pressured by Menendez’s questioning and clearly unsure of his material, Fried told Menendez that Dandong Hongxiang was a bank (not true). I don’t think Fried was lying, but he didn’t have command of the facts, and when he got out of his depth, he swam into a rip current. Mendendez pinned Fried down on his answer. Then, when his time expired, he went back and pulled Treasury’s announcement, probably talked to his staff, and confirmed that this wasn’t true. At 1:35:30, Menendez returned, rearmed. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what it’s like to have a bad day in the United States Senate.  [One Free Korea]

You can read the transcript at the link of the bad day Mr. Daniel Fried, the State Department’s Coordinator for Sanctions Policy had being grilled by the Senate.  The fact that he did not immediately know that the Treasury Department has not sanctioned any Chinese banks is worrisome.

Why China Will Not Fix North Korea Despite Trump’s Push

| September 29, 2016

If Donald Trump does become President I think he will find out the same frustrations many other people have had in regards to trying to get China to fix North Korea:

Donald Trump said during the first presidential debate that “China should go into North Korea” to halt that country’s nuclear program and control its unpredictable leader, Kim Jong Un.

“China should solve the problem for us,” Trump said in Monday night’s debate. “China is totally powerful when it comes to North Korea.”

While China does hold a lot of sway over its belligerent communist neighbor and ally, what the Republican candidate said is very unlikely to happen. Here’s why:

• China is North Korea’s protector, chief trading partner and economic lifeline.Although China condemned North Korea’s latest nuclear weapons test on Sept. 9 — and agreed to sanctions in response to a test in January — Beijing shows no signs that it will actually crack down on North Korea.  [USA Today]

You can read the rest at the link, but from the Chinese perspective it makes perfect sense to back North Korea.  There would have to be major strategic shifts in the region for China to remove the Kim regime.

Chinese Business Woman Investigated for Aiding North Korean Nuclear Program

| September 26, 2016

She is probably one of many Chinese companies aiding the North Korean regime.  However, she for whatever reason may be the one being used by Beijing to show the US that the Chinese are “doing something” to rein in North Korea:

A Chinese businesswoman under U.S. scrutiny for her alleged role in aiding North Korea’s nuclear program is also a suspect in a Chinese criminal investigation into her trading business, a corporate filing shows.

Friday’s disclosure about Ma Xiaohong is the first to tie her to a criminal investigation. Police in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning said earlier this month that they were investigating the trading firm that Ms. Ma founded, Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., for alleged “serious economic crimes,” without naming her.  (………………)

The investigation into Ms. Ma and her company appears to mark a new effort by U.S. and Chinese authorities to pursue Chinese businesses that are suspected of supporting North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program. The U.S. and China have often sparred over how best to rein in North Korea.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang conducted its fifth atomic test in a decade.

Liaoning police announced their investigation after prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice made two trips to Beijing last month to alert Chinese officials about alleged activities by Ms. Ma and Hongxiang Industrial, The Wall Street Journal reported this week.

The Justice Department cited alleged evidence that the businesswoman and her company had aided Pyongyang’s nuclear program and its efforts to evade United Nations and Western sanctions, according to U.S. officials.

It isn’t known if the Liaoning police probe is related to the U.S. allegations.  [Wall Street Journal]

You can read more at the link.

Should South Korea End Visa Waiver Program for Jeju Island?

| September 25, 2016

With all the recent major crimes being committed on Jeju island some resident want to see the visa waiver program ended to better ensure public safety:

In line with the rise, the number of foreign tourists who commit crimes at one of the country’s most popular tourist sites has also increased.

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency said 347 foreign offenders have been arrested on Jeju as of July. The figure is up by nearly 60 percent from the number tallied in the same period last year, which stood at 218.

Among the 347 foreigners, Chinese nationals accounted for the largest proportion of offenders with 240, or 69.2 percent, followed by Americans with 13.

Reflecting such trends, calls to beef up security by local residents have been rising.

More than 14,500 people have signed a petition filed at a bulletin board of local Internet portal Daum as of Tuesday since it was first proposed on Sunday.

“The country’s precious island of Jeju has turned into a lawless zone with Chinese tourists who enter without visas,” the netizen who first proposed the petition said. “The safety of South Koreans should be given top priority than what can be earned from tourism.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.