Reminder: if you have ties to the Chinese community (or you're Chinese), of course call it Chinese #NewYear. But if you don't, it's also Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, and Mongolian. The more inclusive term is 'Lunar New Year' although technically it's the lunisolar new year
Many folks probably saw @CovertShores' recent find: that China is building multiple special vessels seemingly intended to transfer vehicles ashore in support of a PRC invasion of Taiwan.
I guess we will see if China tries to conduct any provocations against Taiwan while its President is visiting Hawaii and Guam:
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te will stop over in Hawaii and Guam during his trip to the South Pacific, drawing criticism from China. Lai is to leave Taiwan on Saturday on a weeklong trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-governed island. Asked by the AP, Lai’s office on Friday confirmed reports that he would make stopovers in the U.S. state of Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam. Under pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, the island has just 12 formal diplomatic allies.
However, it retains strong contacts with dozens of other nations, including the U.S., its main source of diplomatic and military support. Lai’s planned stopovers drew criticism from Beijing. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said if the U.S. wants to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, it is important for it to handle the Taiwan issue “with utmost caution, clearly opposing Taiwan independence and supporting China’s peaceful reunification.” Mao said China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan, and visits by Taiwan’s leaders to the U.S. for any reason.
I seriously doubt that the North Korean troop dispatch to Russia was not cordinated with China in the first place. This phone calls seems more about optics of appearing to do something instead of actually expecting something to be done:
U.S. President Joe Biden called Saturday for China to use its clout to prevent an escalation of Russia’s war in Ukraine through the dispatch of more North Korean troops, while raising concerns over the possibility of Pyongyang engaging in provocations, a senior U.S. official said Saturday.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan elaborated on the discussions that Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had during their talks on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, amid mounting concerns about broad security implications of a military alignment between Moscow and Pyongyang.
“(Biden) also pointed out (to Xi) that the PRC does have influence and capacity and should use it to try to prevent a further escalation or further expansion of the conflict through the introduction of even more DPRK forces,” Sullivan told reporters in a press briefing.