Like I have mentioned before, the Chinese Communist Party has no incentive to want to resolve the comfort women or any other historical issues with Japan because it makes for great domestic propaganda for them when needed. So this poll from the Communist Party mouthpiece should probably be looked at skeptically:
Most Chinese people believe that Beijing should not accept conditions set by South Korea and Japan in possibly resolving the long-running grievance of Chinese victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, a survey by a state-run Chinese media showed Thursday.
The online survey, conducted by the Global Times, published by the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, found that 95 percent of 10,686 respondents say the deal between South Korea and Japan on wartime sex slaves “can’t” apply to China.
The remaining 5 percent say the deal “can” apply to possible talks between Japan and China in resolving the issue of Chinese victims who were forcibly mobilized at front-line Japanese military brothels during World War II.
Under the deal with South Korea announced on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized to the Korean victims and Tokyo agreed to provide 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) to a fund for the victims. [Korea Times]
A reunified Korean peninsula is a big if, but if it did happen one thing is for sure that USFK’s role in South Korea would undoubtedly change if not end all together. That is what former CIA analyst Sue Mi Terry writes about in a paper discussed in the below National Interest article. I for one think that the ROK would want to keep USFK intact with less troops on the ground as a hedge against any Chinese adventurism on the peninsula:
Last week Kim Jong-un marked the fourth anniversary of his succession to leadership and his father’s death in North Korea. The leadership transition reignited discussion among North Korea watchers over how and whether the regime would be able to survive. Two years later, Kim had his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, executed for treason, sparking another round of speculation over whether the execution reflected a step toward consolidation of power under or was evidence of infighting that might lead to a leadership vacuum in Pyongyang. Because North Korea’s totalitarian system requires isolation to perpetuate political control yet is increasingly penetrated by markets and information, speculation about North Korea’s collapse will persist, and outside observers will judge that Kim is playing a losing hand.
For this reason, policy wonks continue to discuss whether North Korea might collapse and what challenges might emerge out of such a scenario. Nevertheless, seldom discussed is how a unified Korea might behave or how the U.S.-South Korea alliance might or might not adapt, change or even dissolve as a result of unification. Answers to these questions, of course, are speculative and are difficult to conceptualize, but Sue Mi Terry, managing director for Korea at BowerGroupAsia and former CIA analyst, seeks to tackle them straight on in her discussion paper, “Unified Korea and the Future of the U.S.-South Korea Alliance.”
Starting with the most likely scenario that unification will occur with South Korea absorbing the North without a devastating war, Terry argues that a unified Korea would face three possible strategic choices: continuing the alliance with the United States in some form, becoming an independent regional power and tilting toward China. A multilateral security arrangement or a collective security mechanism is unlikely to materialize as an option. [The National Interest]
The cancellation of the concert by Kim Jong-un’s girl band in China for some reason has become so controversial the Chinese Internet censors are deleting whatever posts they can find about the topic:
Fueling speculation about the cause of the sudden cancellation of a much-anticipated performance by the Moranbong Band in Beijing, Chinese authorities started censoring posts on portal sites and social networking services related to the North Korean girl band.
North Korea’s Moranbong Band was scheduled to perform at Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday evening as a part of a goodwill tour that was to last for three days. The band withdrew hours before the invitation-only concert began, returning to Pyongyang via Air Koryo. They had traveled to Beijing by train.
When the cancellation of the concert was first being reported Saturday, the news was on the front page of Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, and categorized as “Today’s hot issue.”
There were tens of thousands of posts about the band on Weibo. Some praised the beauty of the band members from photos snapped at their hotel in Beijing, including remarks such as, “They’re much prettier than South Korean girl groups.”
But starting from late Saturday, the messages started disappearing. By Sunday, they were gone, indicating that Chinese authorities were censoring any posts related to the Moranbong Band. Articles on the band disappeared from websites, as well. A photo caption from Chinese newspaper Huanqiu Shibao on Monday saying that “the effect of the cancellation of the North Korean performance is limited” suddenly disappeared from its mobile application. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Apparently when Chinese authorities saw a rehearsal of Kim Jong-un’s girl band they immediately decided to cancel the concert due to the propaganda they saw. What did they expect with inviting Kim Jong-un’s girl band to China?:
The mysterious cancellation of a Beijing concert by North Korea’s Moranbong Band on Saturday appears to be linked with the girl group’s program, which included adulations of leader Kim Jong-un and possibly boasts about the country’s nuclear tests, which China’s government was against.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told lawmakers that it believes Chinese authorities, after watching a rehearsal on Friday, balked at the propaganda-filled program. [Joong Ang llbo]
First of all why is a North Korean agent allowed in the US in the first place? Secondly this just shows how complicit the Chinese government is in allowing these front companies to exist that give the Kim regime the capability to smuggle in not only military equipment, but luxury goods as well:
A man from North Korea accused of trying to buy military grade night vision goggles from a Utah-based undercover agent and illegally export them to China has pleaded guilty to a federal charge in an agreement with prosecutors.
Kim Song-il was arrested in Hawaii after agreeing to pay $22,000 for the equipment and packing it into boxes that he claimed were filled with used toys and towels so he could ship them to his Chinese business, charges state.
Prosecutors say they believe the six pairs of goggles would have gotten to North Korea from there, though defense attorney Scott Williams disputes that allegation. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
I have always said that ISIS attracts the losers from the Muslim world; the ones who don’t have a real job or girlfriend and look to blame others for their situation in life. Well it appears now the opposite phenomenon is happening. Guys with no real job or girlfriend are now looking to make a name for themselves by fighting ISIS:
A 25-year-old man from China’s Sichuan Province has traveled to Syria to fight against ISIS after the relationship with his girlfriend stranded. He is the first Chinese citizen to join the fight against ISIS.
In September of this year, the Chinese man flew from Bangkok to Istanbul, and then traveled on to Syria. According to China Business News, he never told his family where he was going. He stated that he had no job in China, that his girlfriend had just ended their relationship, and that he wanted to do “something meaningful”.
The young man, who calls himself ‘Pan’, arrived in the border town of Ayn al-Arab in October, and joined the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from there as the first-ever Chinese citizen to fight against IS, China’s 21 News reported.
According to BBC China, who interviewed him, Pan does not speak English nor Arabic, and is only able to communicate with fellow fighters using an electronic dictionary. After breaking up with his girlfriend and having no official occupation in China, he felt he had to “something meaningful”, which, Pan stated, was to pick up arms and join the war. [What’s On Weibo]
We now know why Kim Jong-un’s girl band had to cancel their Beijing performance:
Hyon Song-wol (L), leader of North Korea’s all-female band, arrives at a Beijing hotel on Dec. 11, 2015. The Moranbong Band came to China the previous day for what will be its first performance abroad, a move that North Korea watchers say is a gesture by Pyongyang to mend somewhat strained ties with Beijing. Hyon was once rumored to have been executed for distributing pornographic videotapes. The Moranbong Band, formed by the North’s current leader Kim Jong-un in 2012, will perform for three days in the Chinese capital. (Yonhap)
China had decided to send officials of lower rank to a concert by the all-female North Korean propaganda band in response to the North’s leader Kim Jong-un hinting earlier last week that Pyongyang had developed a hydrogen bomb, a source in Beijing close to the situation said Sunday.
The decision might have been related to the sudden cancellation of the concert by the North Korean side, said the source, who got the information from a Chinese government official with knowledge of the situation.
The Moranbong Band, formed in 2012 following an order from leader Kim, had been scheduled to perform for three days in Beijing starting Saturday, in what was seen as a fresh sign of warming relations between the two allies.
However, the band abruptly headed home hours before the invitation-only concert began Saturday. [Yonhap]
