Category: China

Chinese Emperor President Xi during a G-20 summit meeting with President Moon is once again calling for the removal of the THAAD missile defense system from South Korea:

They talked about various pending issues for around 40 minutes through simultaneous translation.

Some thorny issues were raised as well, such as the China-U.S. dispute over cybersecurity related to 5G technology and the advanced U.S. missile defense system deployed in South Korea, called THAAD, according to a Cheong Wa Dae official.

Xi asked Moon to resolve the THAAD problem, as Beijing has been strongly opposed to its presence on the peninsula. Moon replied that it’s a matter linked with denuclearization.

At the outset of the talks, which pool media were allowed to cover, Xi said Beijing would contribute to maintaining regional peace and stability.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but China does not sound like much of a friend and promoting peace when it tells South Korea to disarm itself and make its citizens vulnerable to missile attacks from the thug regime the Chinese support.

“I watched both my uncle and my father starve to death. Fearful that I too would die, I fled – only to find myself sold into slavery in China. The horrors faced by N. Korean women like me when we cross the border into what we imagine will be safety is ignored by Western gov’ts.” https://t.co/yxtD8cNbpK

— Sung-Yoon Lee (@SungYoonLee1) June 21, 2019

This is pretty predictable, since the Trump administration is hammering the Chinese economy with tariffs, President Xi is now trying to use his North Korea card for leverage. I guess we will see if the Trump administration falls for his snake oil or not:

 On the eve of his first visit to North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed Wednesday to play a greater role in helping make progress in negotiations on Korean Peninsula issues and addressing Pyongyang’s “reasonable” demands through dialogue.

Xi made the pledge in an op-ed piece to the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official newspaper, in a rare move seen as part of efforts to emphasize their friendly and close bilateral relations, a day before he visits Pyongyang for the first time since assuming office in 2013.

“We will actively contribute to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity by strengthening communication and coordination with North Korea and other relevant parties to make progress in talks and negotiations on Korean Peninsula issues,” Xi said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Hong Kong protests provide some great content to stuff onto USB sticks headed for North Korea. https://t.co/uQgg17jPBT

— 🇰🇷Edward Oh🇺🇸 (@EdwardHBOh) June 16, 2019

It looks like Emperor President Xi has decided to crack down on North Korean defectors before his trip to North Korea this week:

A decade after leaving her family behind to flee North Korea, the defector was overwhelmed with excitement when she spoke to her 22-year-old son on the phone for the first time in May after he too escaped into China.

While speaking to him again on the phone days later, however, she listened in horror as the safe house where her son and four other North Korean escapees were hiding was raided by Chinese authorities.

“I heard voices, someone saying ‘shut up’ in Chinese,” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her son’s safety. “Then the line was cut off, and I heard later he was caught.”

The woman, now living in South Korea, said she heard rumours her son is being held in a Chinese prison near the North Korean border, but has had no official news of his whereabouts.

At least 30 North Korean escapees have been rounded up in a string of raids across China since mid-April, according to family members and activist groups.

It is not clear whether this is part of a larger crackdown by China, but activists say the raids have disrupted parts of the informal network of brokers, charities, and middlemen who have been dubbed the North Korean “Underground Railroad”.

“The crackdown is severe,” said Y. H. Kim, chairman of the North Korea Refugees Human Rights Association of Korea.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

Chinese Emperor President Xi has decided to make a visit to the vassal allied state of North Korea this week:

Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to North Korea this week, the North’s state media reported Monday, marking his first trip to Pyongyang since becoming president.

Xi is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to North Korea from Thursday at the invitation of its leader Kim Jong-un, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

It will be the first visit by a Chinese leader to its communist neighbor in 14 years. Though Xi visited North Korea in 2008, he was China’s vice president at that time.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this could be a sign that Kim Jong-un is preparing to agree to another summit with President Trump because Kim has traveled to China before other summits with the U.S. President.

It appears President Xi blinked on this attempt to further crackdown on Hong Kong’s independence. The people of Hong Kong best remain vigilant because I would not be surprised if this comes up again:

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam delayed indefinitely Saturday a proposed law to allow people to be extradited to mainland China for trial after wide spread anger and large-scale protests in the Asian financial hub.

In one of the most significant climb downs by the government since Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997, Lam said the city’s legislature would stop all work on the bill. The next steps would be decided after consultations with various parties, she said.

About 1 million people marched through Hong Kong last Sunday to protest the bill, according to organizers of the march. Street demonstrations throughout the week were met with tear gas and rubber bullets from the police, plunging the city into chaos.

The extradition bill, which will cover Hong Kong residents and foreign and Chinese nationals living or travelling in the city, has many concerned it may threaten the rule of law that underpins Hong Kong’s international financial status.

Korea Times

HongKongers write on social media re the police using force ag/citizens standing up to China. Some are writing it in Korean to appeal to South Korea. But the #Moon administration & the so-called "democracy activists" who are in power now are eerily silent.https://t.co/nPFm8iHHdo

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) June 14, 2019

I'm going to take a wild guess and say the People's Daily didn't look like this. https://t.co/TqtILuNsyx

— Erik Slavin (@eslavin_stripes) June 10, 2019

As it turns out Emperor President Xi will not visit South Korea on this way to Japan for the G20 summit:

Chinese President Xi Jinping won’t visit South Korea on the occasion of the upcoming G-20 summit in Japan, a government official here said Friday.
“President Xi is not coming to South Korea” just before or after his trip to Osaka for the June 28-29 G-20 session, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The confirmation came amid multiple news reports here that Xi is expected to travel to South Korea on his way to Osaka or after travelling there.
A Cheong Wa Dae official indicated that President Moon Jae-in instead has a plan to sit down with Xi on the sidelines of the G-20.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.