Category: China

This is ironic coming from a country that since World War II ended has invaded Tibet, tried to destroy South Korea, fought border skirmishes with both India and Vietnam and is currently in the process of bullying their neighbors to take over the entire South China Sea:

China told Japan on Wednesday that Tokyo should not repeat its history of militarism as U.S. President Barack Obama plans to visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima later this month.

Obama would become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima since it was hit by an American nuclear bomb in 1945. Along with a second nuclear bombing on Nagasaki, these attacks forced Japan to accept unconditional surrender that ended World War II.

The visit by Obama to Hiroshima will be closely watched by Japan’s neighbors, including South Korea and China, at a time when Japan’s revisionists deny its wartime atrocities, including the sexual enslavement of women by the Japanese Imperial Army.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters that, with Obama’s upcoming visit to Hiroshima, “The Japanese side would show to the world that it will never again travel the path of militarism.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Considering the Chinese embassy in Seoul was able to get away with organizing riots and assaulting and beating Korean nationals in Seoul, getting a Falun Gong dance performance cancelled should come as no surprise:

In recent months, incidents of Communist Party restrictions on free expression extending beyond China’s borders have occurred across Asia. Now South Korea, a leading democracy in the region, has joined this disturbing trend.

On May 4, a court in Seoul issued a last-minute ruling canceling a series of classical Chinese dance and music shows by Shen Yun Performing Arts, scheduled to take place at KBS Hall over the weekend. The ruling explicitly cites threats by the Chinese embassy aimed at the theater owner, including implicit references to financial reprisals if the shows go on as planned.

The mission of the New York–based performance group is to revive China’s five-millennia-old traditional culture, which has been largely destroyed under decades of Communist rule. Shen Yun’s performers practice Falun Gong, a meditation and spiritual discipline whose practitioners are persecuted in China today; some company members have themselves fled religious persecution or have family members imprisoned in China still.

Alongside dances portraying scenes from imperial dynasties and literary classics, some of the show’s pieces also depict the story of what Falun Gong practitioners face in China today or attacks on Buddhist temples during the Cultural Revolution. An overarching theme throughout the Shen Yun performance is the traditional Chinese concept of a connection between Heaven, Earth, and humankind. [The Diplomat]

You can read more at the link.

I could only imagine what the reaction in the US would be to an Army recruiting video looking for people to “Kill, Kill, Kill!”:

China’s military is appealing to the younger generation with a slick new recruitment video featuring aircraft carriers, tanks and special forces troops, all set to a rousing rap-rock soundtrack.

 

With lyrics such as “just waiting for the order to kill, kill, kill,” the video appears aimed at millennials brought up on violent first-person shooter video games such as “Call of Duty.” While no potential opponents are identified in the clip, it cautions that “war can break out at any time,” and asks “are you ready?”

 

The clip, available Wednesday via a link on the Defense Ministry’s official website, appears as the 2.3 million-member People’s Liberation Army is downsizing in an effort to boost its war-fighting capabilities. Chief among those steps is a cut of 300,000 personnel, while the navy, missile corps and air force are receiving more attention and funding.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.

I would not be surprised if this was North Korean payback for restaurant defections that happened last month.  If this was a murder by the North Koreans I wonder what the Chinese reaction will be to Kim regime agents murdering Chinese citizens?:

An ethnic Korean clergyman with Chinese nationality has been found dead in a northeastern Chinese town close to the border with North Korea, a North Korea watcher said on Sunday, raising suspicions that the North could possibly be involved in his death.

The body of the priest, identified by his surname Han and known for his activities in support of North Korean defectors, was found Saturday afternoon, the watcher said, speculating that he may have been murdered.

Chinese police have immediately launched a probe into Han’s death.

Han is known for serving at Changbai Church in Changbai County, Jilin Province, a region that is populated by the Chaoxian people, or ethnic Koreans living in China.

“Han had been active in supporting North Korean defectors,” the watcher said. “Murder seems the most likely cause of his death.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the South China Sea front where the US is expanding efforts to demonstrate to China the US commitment to freedom of navigation:

Filipino fishermen say they’ve seen more Chinese coast guard ships than usual around the contested Scarborough Shoal, which China effectively took over in 2013 after a tense standoff with Philippine vessels.

Although fishermen have been complaining they’re being driven away by Chinese ships, the Philippine Department of Defense said it could not confirm an increase in Chinese presence at the shoal, 145 miles (230 kilometers) from Luzon island.

Meantime, the U.S. Air Force flew its first mission over the Scarborough area as part of a new Air Contingent force stationed in the Philippines. It involved four A-10C Thunderbolt jets and two Sikorsky HH-60 helicopters.

Via a reader tip (thanks MTB Rider!) comes this hilarious Chinese cartoon warning Chinese against dating foreigners because they could be spies!  This is even funnier considering how the Chinese intelligence services are well known for using female spies to strike up romantic relationships with Americans that have access to sensitive information.  Maybe the US military should publish a cartoon like this to hand out!  😉

Are you a foreigner in China who likes to meet locals, and have been known to strike up romantic relationships with gifts and flattery? If so, you should know that you are showing the telltale signs of being a spy.

China is beefing up its defenses against foreign espionage, and they’re hoping to raise public awareness of this danger to national security with its first-ever National Security Education Day held last week.

As reported by China Law Translate, one of the propaganda materials released was called “Dangerous Love” that was seen in residential areas of Xicheng, Beijing.

The 16-panel cartoon follows the story of Xiaoli, a Chinese woman who works in an information department of the country’s civil service. Xiaoli is wooed by a foreigner named David who eventually convinces Xiaoli to hand over sensitive material. Police eventually confront Xiaoli with the revelation that David is in fact a spy, and that she herself is guilty of violating Chinese law regarding state secrets.

As with a number of recent Chinese propaganda releases, “Dangerous Love” uses cartoons as a way to make its content and intentions very clear to its readers.  [The Nan Fang]

You can read the whole series of cartoons at the link.

Who knows if this is true or not, but I would not be surprised at all if China is claiming one thing to the international media about enforcing sanctions and then in reality continuing to let banned items into North Korea to sustain the Kim regime’s military:

Although inspections at border customs offices have officially intensified as China takes measures to abide by international sanctions targeting North Korea (UNSCR 2270), it is being been reported that Chinese companies and their North Korean counterparts have been disguising military supplies as everyday merchandise in order to smuggle them through customs checkpoints.

“There is a lot of talk about how the new sanctions are harsher than those adopted in years past, but illegal smuggling through border customs is continuing relatively unimpeded,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on April 1.

This is because the North Korean Ministry of People’s Armed Forces operates a number of entities acting under the pretense of ordinary trading companies, trading entities and mobilization offices that are tasked with bringing banned items into North Korea.

“In particular, the Kumunsan Trade Company and a munitions branch called ‘Sung Kang Office,’ are using bribery and illicit methods to smuggle supplies despite the sanctions. These items include tires, stainless steel, machine components, acetone, industrial lubricant, and raw materials needed for gunpowder production. The items are labeled as normal goods in order to get them past the customs guards,” the source added.        [The Daily NK]

You can read more at the link.

The Panama Papers have shown links to secret offshore companies from major Chinese politicians to include President Xi.  This is definitely a huge blow to to Xi who has been pushing anti-corruption reforms within China when his own family is hiding money.  In response to this the Chinese government is claiming this is all lies and have launched a massive campaign to scrub all information on the Panama Papers from the Chinese Internet:

A huge leak of tax documents that revealed the secret offshore accounts of relatives of former and current Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, could be a part of a “disinformation” campaign by Western forces, a newspaper published by China’s Communist Party said Tuesday.

The revelation came after a year-long investigation by more than 100 media groups worldwide into 11.5 million documents, leaked from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, found offshore financial transactions by influential figures such as aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Dubbed the “Panama Papers,” the leaked documents were obtained by a German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with media organizations worldwide by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

In an editorial titled “Powerful force is behind Panama Papers,” the state-run Global Times newspaper said, “The documents revealed do have basic political targets.”

“In the Internet era, disinformation poses no major risks to Western influential elites or the West,” it said. “In the long run, it will become a new means for the ideology-allied Western nations to strike a blow to non-Western political elites and key organizations.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.  The release of the Panama Papers does make me wonder if western intelligence agencies did have anything to do with  the release of the documents?  This would be a great shot across the bow to China and Russia to do more to stop North Korea’s provocations and nuclear ambitions or face the release of more embarrassing documents.

AP Investigation: China is emerging as an international hub for money laundering https://t.co/GgMJjU0uyi

— Hannah Bae @hannahbae.bsky.social (@hanbae) March 28, 2016

This is what the ROK and everyone else should do to these thug Chinese fishermen who violate territorial waters and then endanger the lives of Coast Guaed personnel responding to their illegal actions:

Buenos Aires (CNN)Argentina’s coast guard says it sank a Chinese fishing vessel that was fishing in a restricted area off the South American country’s coast.

The Argentine Naval Prefecture chased and eventually sank the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010 vessel after detecting it illegally fishing within the country’s exclusive economic zone, officials said Tuesday.

First, according to a statement from the Argentine coast guard, warning shots were fired. The Chinese vessel, Argentine authorities said, responded by turning off its lights and deliberately trying to crash.

“On distinct occasions, the offending boat realized maneuvers aimed at colliding with the coast guard, putting not only its own crew at risk, but also the personnel of the coast guard,” the statement said.  [CNN]

You can read more at the link.