Tag: United States

This should be considered unsurprising that the US back the ROK-Japan comfort women deal, but I have yet to see what China’s official response is yet.  It would think it would not be in their interest to reach a deal with Japan because of the domestic propaganda it provides:

Civil society support for the Korea-Japan agreement on resolving the issue of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery will be crucial to the deal’s success, the State Department said Tuesday.

“Everyone will make their own judgments about this agreement. But I do hope, we do hope, as the United States, that others, including here in the U.S., will support this agreement and its full implementation as we do,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said at a regular briefing.

“We believe it’s an important gesture that will promote healing and reconciliation and the support of civil society for this settlement will be crucial to its success in the end,” he said.

On Monday, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, reached the agreement that centers on Japan’s admission of responsibility for the wartime crime and plans to pay reparations to the victims. [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

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]

You can read the rest at the link.

This will be a significant development in ROK and Japanese relations if this intelligence sharing agreement does become operationalized:

The United States has been implementing a trilateral military intelligence sharing agreement with South Korea and Japan, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The memorandum of understanding, which was signed in December last year, calls for voluntary sharing of military secrets on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

The agreement was put into action earlier this year, but questions have arisen after Assistant Secretary of Defense David Shear said earlier this month that the U.S. hopes to “operationalize” the agreement.

“We are implementing the arrangement,” Cmdr. Bill Urban, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman, said in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency. The official declined to provide further details, including how many times information sharing has taken place.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

'China, U.S. holding back to conserve strength" https://t.co/pH1awUIZbN #China #U.S. #rivalry #geopolitics

— The Korea Herald 코리아헤럴드 (@TheKoreaHerald) November 19, 2015

Did China Try Restricting US Bombers in the South China Sea? https://t.co/ErACSvWcs6 pic.twitter.com/MdJVu15Y36

— The Diplomat (@Diplomat_APAC) November 14, 2015

Chinese Internet posters are supposedly going bonkers over the fact that a US Navy ship conducted a freedom of navigation patrol through the South China Sea which the Chinese government ridiculously claims is part of China:

On Oct. 27, the high-stakes maritime game of chicken that has been playing out in the South China Sea came to a head. In a long-discussed freedom of navigation patrol, the United States sailed the USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, within 12 miles of artificial islands that China has built amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea. China tracked and warned the U.S. vessel; the operation concluded without incident and prompted swift condemnation from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But after weeks of tough government rhetoric claiming that China would not stand for what it views as a violation of its territorial sovereignty, Chinese social media voices are now mocking what many perceive as a spineless official response.  [Foreign Policy]

Despite all the online venom to attack the US ship one Chinese Internet user left a popular post which accurately reflects what I think is going on:

China’s shrill online nationalists may dominate the web in the aftermath of a flashpoint, but while common, such online outrage has not led to government action in the past. And some netizens harbor more nuanced perspectives. One particularly discerning Weibo user, who identified himself as a 22-year-old native of China’s northeastern Shandong province, also seemed to take the long view of the South China Sea, noting the behind-the-scenes machinations that make the region so complex. “This seems like a game,” wrote the user in a popular comment. “Not only have both countries maintained their reputations, neither country has suffered any losses.” Another observed somewhat sardonically that the situation, all told, was “well managed.” The user noted that China had “gotten rid of the U.S. ship, maintained its sovereignty, and hasn’t worsened the situation. Afterwards, it can be used as an excuse for militarization in the South China Sea.”

Like I have said before the US’s and China’s interests in the South China Sea do no necessarily come into conflict.  From the US perspective we want freedom of navigation through the SCS.  From the Chinese perspective they want strategic space to defend the sea lanes leading to the southeastern China and to a lesser extent the fishing and mineral rights.  As long as each side respects the others interests in the SCS there is no reason for conflict unless the Chinese government is stupid enough to listen to hateful commenters on the Internet.

Despite ups and downs, the China-US relationship has largely been improving: http://t.co/1gj2WpZmot pic.twitter.com/61AMQzeJY9

— China US Focus (@ChinaUSFocus) October 2, 2015

At U.N., Pyongyang puts it to U.S. to agree to peace treaty, not armistice, to ease tensions | The Japan Times http://t.co/ZuUxKIxBZD

— NorthKoreaRealTime (@BuckTurgidson79) October 2, 2015

It looks like whatever team the US military put together for the international military Olympics currently being held in South Korea wasn’t very good:

The K-league football club Sangju Sangmu has defeated the United States 7-0 in its opening match of 2015 CISM World Games Korea, an international sports event for military service members.

Sangmu, the sports division of South Korea’s military, overwhelmed the American team in the first Group A match of football on Wednesday in Moongyeong, North Gyeongsang Province.

Forward Cho Don-gun and midfielder Lee Seung-ki scored two goals each for the host team.

The 2015 CISM World Games officially kick off on Friday and continue until October 11. About 73-hundred soldiers from some 120 countries will participate in the international sports event, which will be held in eight cities and counties.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read the rest at the link.

These are just words on the part of the Chinese leader which are important, but I am more interested to see what action they would take in response to the next North Korean provocation:

In an apparent warning to North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday he opposes any action that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions as he and President Barack Obama reaffirmed their commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

Xi made the remark during a joint press conference after summit talks with Obama at the White House as concerns have grown that North Korea could launch a long-range rocket or conduct a nuclear test next month in violation of U.N. resolutions.

“We reaffirm our commitment to realize the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful way and we oppose any action that might cause tension in the Korean peninsula or violate U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Xi said.

Xi did not mention North Korea by name, but it was pretty clear that he was referring to Pyongyang.

It is highly unusual for a Chinese leader to publicly issue such a warning, given that Beijing has been reluctant to criticize North Korea and has usually urged all sides to exercise calm and restraint when it comes to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”

Xi also said that a 2005 agreement on North Korea’s denuclearizations and U.N. resolutions should be “implemented in full and all relevant parties should work together to firmly advance the denuclearization process of the Korean peninsula and maintain peace and stability so as to achieve enduring peace and stability in Northeast Asia.”  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.