Thehe retaliation by China against the ROK is extremely petty and not something an aspiring super-power should be doing:
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, right, talks with USFK Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks in the truce village of Panmunjom on Friday while a North Korean soldier outside the building takes photos of them through a window. Tillerson began his two-day trip to South Korea on Friday, flying from Japan. [YONHAP]U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that China’s economic retaliation against South Korea for its decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) U.S. antimissile system was “inappropriate and troubling,” and that Washington asks Beijing to “refrain from such action.”Although the U.S. “acknowledges” China’s opposition, Tillerson urged China to “address the threat that makes Thaad necessary.”
The statement was Tillerson’s first time personally addressing the issue in public. It was made during a 20-minute joint press conference with South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Yun Byung-se in central Seoul, ahead of his closed-door meeting with Yun.
Tillerson touched down at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, 70 miles south of the capital, Friday morning for his second of three-leg trip in Asia. He had flown in from Tokyo, where he had talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, among others. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
This THAAD nonsense from China is getting stupider and stupider:
Chinese police are looking for a woman who has posted more than 100 videos of herself vandalizing products in a Lotte Mart in retaliation against the U.S. deployment of missile defense system in South Korea.
In the video, the woman, who appear to be in her 20s, crushing the instant noodle cups, stealing snacks, giving her middle finger in an obscene gesture at the main gate and drinking beverages before putting the containers back on the shelf.
These videos began to appear one after another on Chinese portal Sohu from early this month, and have gone viral. [Korea Times]
Here is the latest retaliation from the Chinese for the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:
A notice instructing Chinese tourists how to fill in disembarkation cards is posted Friday in the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport. China’s government ordered travel agencies to stop selling packaged tours to Korea starting March 15 as retaliation for the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in Korea. [YONHAP]China’s government ordered travel agencies to stop selling tour packages to Korea starting March 15 in the latest retaliation against the deployment of a U.S.-operated anti-missile system in Korea.
Under the ban, all travel agencies in China will be barred from selling travel packages to Korea, both group and individual, from March 15, a move certain to harm the local tourism industry.
It was reported that the China National Tourist Office summoned executives of travel agencies Thursday to a meeting at which the government instructed them to halt all tour packages to Korea to rebuff Seoul’s decision last July to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) anti-missile system. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
A total of six North Korean soldiers armed with weapons crossed into China, prompting Chinese authorities to track their whereabouts, a source said Thursday.
The North Korean soldiers deserted their posts along the border area with China and illegally entered Changbai County in the country’s northeastern province of Jilin on Tuesday, according to the source.
“Chinese authorities notified residents to be on alert and immediately report their location if they are observed,” the source added. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
The hypocrisy is quite stunning from the Chinese government considering they are criticizing the ROK for the deployment of the THAAD system for being against Chinese security interests while completely ignoring ROK security interests. If it wasn’t for the Chinese backing of their client state North Korea that has allowed them to pursue missiles and nuclear weapons to threaten the ROK with the THAAD deployment would not be necessary:
As Korea speeds along with the deployment of the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system by sealing a land deal with Lotte Group to acquire a golf course in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, Beijing is threatening diplomatic, economic and possibly military retaliation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said through a press briefing Tuesday that Beijing is “firmly opposed to and strongly dissatisfied with the fact that” Seoul is working with Washington to accelerate the deployment process of a Thaad battery and “ignoring China’s interests and concerns.”
He added Beijing will “resolutely take necessary actions to safeguard its own security interests,” without specifying what measures it will take.
The Korean Ministry of National Defense earlier that day signed a deal with Lotte International, the operator of the Lotte Skyhill Seongju Country Club, to swap the golf course with government land in Namyangju, Gyeonggi. Lotte’s board of directors agreed on the land swap deal on Monday, after much delay. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Here is where the Chinese threaten the ROK militarily:
Chinese military expert Song Zhongping, a former officer of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Second Artillery Corps, told the state-affiliated Global Times Wednesday that once the Thaad system is deployed to Korea, “Seongju County will appear on the list of the PLA missile system’s strike targets.”
So is the Chinese threatening the ROK with a military strike in support of North Korea because that is what this system is in the ROK to defend against.
More Chinese retaliation for the deployment of a THAAD battery to South Korea:
China has blocked access to newly updated clips of South Korean music and dramas on the country’s online video sharing platforms, sources said Sunday, in an apparent bid to retaliate against Seoul’s move to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system.
The move followed China’s decision to prevent South Korean pop stars from appearing on Chinese entertainment programs since October as South Korea decided in July last year to station the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on its soil.
A website uploading South Korean dramas said on its social media account on Weibo that it will stop updating video clips of South Korean entertainment programs for the time being.
“Everybody should be aware of the reason for this,” it said, hinting at China’s toughened restriction on Korean pop culture, widely known as “hallyu.” [Yonhap]
I have to wonder if this coal import ban from China has anything to do with the North Koreans murdering Kim Jong-nam who was under Chinese protection?:
Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, left, shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Munich on Saturday. [YONHAP]China said it would suspend all imports of coal from North Korea for the rest of the year, putting it further in line with UN Security Council sanctions meant to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile weapons program.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Saturday that the ban, which went into effect Sunday, would last through Dec. 31, which comes after Pyongyang’s universally condemned intermediate ballistic missile launch one week ago. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but the other thing to keep in mind is what China says and what it actually does in regards to sanctions against North Korea are two different things.
A makeshift pier for a cruise ship at the port of Incheon, west of Seoul, is vacant on Feb. 7, 2017, although the 114,000-ton cruise ship Costa Serena carrying Chinese tourists was originally scheduled to enter it. The rupture is apparently attributable to Beijing’s retaliation against Seoul’s decision to deploy the U.S. missile defense system, called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), on its soil by the end of the year. (Yonhap)
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