Tag: China

If China would quit threatening Taiwan with naval blockades and firing missiles over the country than the U.S. would not need to send personnel to help train them in the first place:

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) conducts a routine Taiwan Strait transit on April 16, 2023. (U.S. Navy)

China warned against continued U.S.-Taiwan cooperation Wednesday, responding to reports that the U.S. military was sending officers to help train Taiwan’s counterparts and that a delegation of defense contractors would visiting the self-ruled island next week.

“We resolutely oppose the U.S. having any form of official or military contact with China’s Taiwan region,” Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a weekly press briefing in Beijing.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how the South Korean government and Samsung react to this request:

Samsung Electronics’ chip plant in Xi’an, China [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix should not sell chips to China to make up for the shortfall in supply following China’s sanctioning of Micron, the White House has told the Korean government.    
   
The Financial Times reported Sunday that the Joe Biden administration reached out to Seoul to ask for a cap on the chip sales, although neither government confirmed.  
   
If the Yoon Suk Yeol government acts on the request, the push could exacerbate weaknesses at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which have been hit hard as a result of oversupply. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

As long as President Emperor Xi is in charge, I don’t think the Chinese are interested in dialogue with Taiwan when they saw how effective blunt force was to crush Hong Kong and no one did anything to stop it. They are waiting for the right moment to use force against Taiwan as well when they feel like no one can stop them as well:

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the Department of State, is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on April 21, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

A U.S. state department spokesperson on Friday echoed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s recent remarks against China changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force.

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also said the United States will continue to work with its allies, including South Korea, to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in dialogue with Taiwan,” the spokesperson told a daily press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Yoon did not even mention anything about the One China Policy, only that the status quo should stay in place with Taiwan, in other words he does not want a major war in the region. For China advocating against a major war in the region is considered meddling:

The foreign ministry strongly denounced China for committing a “serious diplomatic discourtesy” Thursday after a Chinese official branded President Yoon Suk Yeol’s recent comments on Taiwan as a verbal meddling by others. 

The ministry issued the statement after the Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, said earlier in the day Beijing would not allow others to meddle by word, in reference to Yoon’s media interview the previous day in which he expressed opposition to any change in the status quo of the Taiwan Strait by force. 

Wang also called on Seoul to adhere to the “One China” policy under the spirit of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, saying solving the Taiwan issue is solely a matter of China’s own affairs. 

Seoul’s foreign ministry said Wang’s comments were “unspeakable.” 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it is pretty clear that China is trying to send a message to South Korea that war with Taiwan is coming and they better stay out of it.

I hope what is going on in Ukraine right now is motivating the Taiwanese to do more to improve their own defensive posture because these leaked documents make it sound like they have a lot of work to do:

Taiwan is unlikely to thwart Chinese military air superiority in a cross-strait conflict, while tactics such as China’s use of civilian ships for military purposes have eroded U.S. spy agencies’ ability to detect a pending invasion, according to leaked Pentagon assessments that contain troubling details about the self-governed island’s ability to fend off war.

The assessments state that Taiwan officials doubt their air defenses can “accurately detect missile launches,” that barely more than half of Taiwan’s aircraft are fully mission capable and that moving the jets to shelters would take at least a week – a huge problem if China launched missiles before Taiwan had a chance to disperse those planes.

The classified documents addressing a potential conflict suggest China’s air force would have a much better shot at establishing early control of the skies – a strategy that Taipei itself believes will underpin an attack – than Russia did in Ukraine.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like these Korean corporations will need to determine if having restrictions in the U.S. market is worth partnering with these Chinese firms:

Legal experts in Korea have begun to sound the alarm regarding LG Chem, SK on and POSCO Group, warning them that their joint ventures, established here in Korea with Chinese firms, could be designated as foreign entities of concern under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

If their warnings turn out to be true, the products of their joint ventures may lose ground in the U.S. market, as they will not be able to enjoy benefits from the country’s subsidy rules.

Last Friday, law firm Kim & Chang said that joint ventures with Chinese companies are likely to be regarded as foreign entities of concern, as the U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act defined the term as any foreign entities owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction of North Korea, China, Russia and Iran.

“The U.S. will not allow its taxpayers’ money to flow into China,” lawyer Shin Jung-hoon of the nation’s largest law firm said during a conference on countermeasures against the IRA.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Besides firing shots at the North Korean vessel maybe the ROK Coast Guard needs to start firing shots at these illegal Chinese fishing vessels as well:

A South Korean Navy vessel fired warning shots to drive out a North Korean patrol boat that crossed the western de facto maritime border last week, the South’s military said Sunday.

The North Korean boat crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in waters northeast of South Korea’s Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea on Saturday at 11 a.m., prompting the South Korean Navy to dispatch its Chamsuri-class patrol boat, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

After the North’s boat remained unresponsive to South Korea’s warning broadcasts and communication attempts, the South Korean vessel fired 10 warning shots with its autocannon and made the North Korean boat retreat.

The North Korean boat made the incursion as it was chasing a Chinese fishing boat, according to an informed source.

The JCS said there was contact between the South Korean vessel and the Chinese boat during the operation, and three of the South Korean sailors were sent to a hospital for injuries. One of them is known to have undergone surgery due to a fracture.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this illegal Chinese fishing boat rams a South Korean Coast Guard ship, injures sailors, and it is allowed to get away?