Before President Lee’s trip to China he is making sure to say all the right things to appease Emperor President Xi:
President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that South Korea’s position to respect the “one-China” policy regarding Taiwan issues remains unchanged, as he is set to pay a state visit to China for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.
Lee made the remarks in an interview with China’s CCTV as tensions between China and Taiwan have flared anew after Beijing staged military drills near the self-ruled island earlier this week following Washington’s announcement of a large-scale weapons package for Taipei.
“I can clearly say that I, myself, respect ‘one China,’ and that peace and stability is very important regarding Northeast Asia and surrounding issues, including cross-strait matters,” he said.
He added, “When it comes to the Taiwan issue, which is the biggest pending issue for China, there is no change in (South Korea’s) position to respect the one-China (policy).”
You can read more at the link, but the major issue with China is not the “One China” policy, it is them saying they reserve the right to forcibly make Taiwan rejoin mainland China. If there is any country in the world that should speak out against being forcibly annexed by a Communist attack it is South Korea. The ROK was first attacked by North Korea and then attacked again by China during the Korean War to Communize the entire peninsula. I wish someone in the media would ask President Lee what his position is on China attacking Taiwan? If he is indifferent to it then a reporter should follow up by asking him if international forces should have been indifferent to South Korea’s plight during the Korean War?
The only government showing leadership on this issue is the Japanese with Prime Minister Takaichi recently speaking out against attacking Taiwan which has drawn condemnation and retaliation from Beijing. If everyone in the region and beyond spoke out against a Chinese attack on Taiwan they can’t condemn and retaliate against everyone and would actually make war less likely. If China senses international weakness and feel they can get away with attacking Taiwan with little repercussions they would likely do it.
The Russians and Chinese are once again trying to flex their military might against their neighbors:
Nine Chinese and Russian military aircraft briefly entered and left South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) above waters east and south of the country, South Korea’s military said Tuesday.
Two Chinese military planes and seven Russian aircraft successively entered the KADIZ at around 10 a.m. prompting the military to dispatch Air Force fighter jets in preparation for a possible accidental situation, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
They did not violate South Korea’s air space, the JCS said, adding it detected the aircraft before they entered the air defense zone.
The air defense zone is not territorial airspace but is delineated to call on foreign planes to identify themselves so as to prevent accidental clashes.
The aircraft, including bombers and fighter jets, intermittently entered and left the KADIZ for about an hour before completely retreating from the air defense zone, a JCS official said.
You can read more at the link.
