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China Tag

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 10, 2017 1 Comment
South Korea's Constitutional Court has officially removed President Park Geun-hye from office. The country will hold a snap election on May 9. Scandals have plagued Park, including one alleging Park helped a close friend receive "bribes from Samsung and other South Korean conglomerates." Legislators impeached Park back in December, with a vote of 234-56, including many from her own party. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn took over, even though Park fired him in November as a way to salvage her presidency. When no one could agree on a replacement, he maintained his position.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 10, 2017 11 Comments
President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping that he will honor the "One China" policy, which should ease tensions between the two presidents. From The Financial Times:
The White House released a statement after the FT reported the call between the two men, saying that Mr Trump had agreed “at the request of President Xi” to honour the "one China" policy. “The phone call between President Trump and President Xi was extremely cordial, and both leaders extended best wishes to the people of each other's countries. They also extended invitations to meet in their respective countries," the White House said.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 15, 2017 7 Comments
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, President-elect Donald Trump said he may lift the Russian sanctions and has no commitment to the One China policy:
“If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?” he said.
Trump also said the One China policy remains up in the air "until he saw what he considered progress from Beijing in its currency and trade practices." Yeah, needless to say, those comments did not please Beijing.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 08, 2017 6 Comments
Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan, will make transit stops in the United States when she heads to the Americas, but will not receive a visit from President-elect Donald Trump or from anyone on his transition team:
Trump transition spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said in an email Saturday that the president-elect would not be meeting with the Taiwanese leader while she is in the U.S., nor will members of his transition team.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 28, 2016 11 Comments
The Trump rooster has arrived to help ring in Chinese New Year. The city of Taiyuan is hoping the statue will bring tourists in by the bus loads. According to People's Daily China:
A giant rooster figure, sporting a Donald Trump hairstyle, has popped up outside a shopping mall in downtown Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province. The designer said the sculpture - heralding the upcoming Chinese Year of the Rooster - was inspired by the American president-elect, by both his iconic hairstyle and gestures.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 07, 2016 22 Comments
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as Ambassador to China, who has a strong relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ian Millhiser at Think Progress took a shot at the decision because, you know, no matter what Trump does the liberals will hate it. Millhiser responded to Trump's pick by saying that the governor from a "landlocked state full of white people" does not know enough about China. Let's tell him a bit about Iowa and China's relationship!

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on December 05, 2016 6 Comments
The American foreign-policy establishment is wringing its collective hands over Donald Trump's phone conversation with the President of Taiwan, and his subsequent tweet in which he took China to task for its currency devaluation, tariffs on American products, and military build-up in the South China Sea. But there was some surprising support for Trump's initiative on today's Morning Joe. First, Mark Halperin said this showed that Trump wasn't planning to be a passive "inbox president" [Ed.: sayonara, leading from behind], and that it was a way for the US to get "leverage" on China where we had none before. Joe Scarborough described years of frustration in which every year Congress would extend China's Most Favored Nation status for one year on the proviso that it improved its record, which it never did. Joe concluded that from his perspective and that of millions of Americans, "pushing back a little bit on China not the worst thing for an American leader to finally do.. There was an intriguing end to the segment. Going to break, Morning Joe played a riff from Rush Limbaugh's famous theme song, A nod to a new reality? The era of Trump/Rush?

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 03, 2016 25 Comments
Has WWIII started? I thought I'd wake up to a desolate United States after the way the media treated President-elect Donald Trump's call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, which is the "first time a president or president-elect has spoken with the leader of Taiwan since Washington established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979." Of course China threw a hissy fit and lodged a protest with Washington:
“It must be pointed out that there is only one China in the world,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, adding that it had lodged “solemn representations with the US”.
But as far as I know the world has not ended or China has not severed ties. The dependence on America (yes, China needs America) has shown that China will not retaliate against America except with a few strong words.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 05, 2016 4 Comments
World leaders have gathered in China for the G-20 summit, but that doesn't include Kim Jong-un from North Korea. So of course the little tyrannical leader has to show off for everyone that he is cool and a total threat by launching three missiles off North Korea's east coast:
"This is Pyongyang's way of reminding everyone of their existence at a moment when all the parties are together, in a typically defiant, North Korean way," John Delury, assistant professor at Yonsei University in South Korea, told CNN.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 04, 2016 21 Comments
With less than 140 days left in the Oval Office, President Obama is attempting to ensure his legacy of foreign policy ineptitude continues on after his term ends. It appears as if he has succeeded with the Chinese, as observers indicate he was denied the usual pomp and pageantry reserved for greeting other heads-of-state.
China’s leaders have been accused of delivering a calculated diplomatic snub to Barack Obama after the US president was not provided with a staircase to leave his plane during his chaotic arrival in Hangzhou before the start of the G20. Chinese authorities have rolled out the red carpet for leaders including India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, Brazil’s president, Michel Temer, and the British prime minister, Theresa May, who touched down on Sunday morning.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on June 09, 2016 8 Comments
As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Beijing this week, preaching the virtues of “peaceful resolution” of disputes between the neighbours in the South China Sea, fighter jets belonging to Chinese 'People's Liberation Army' carried out aggressive manoeuvres against a US plane. According to the U.S. Pacific Command, the reconnaissance plane was on a routine mission over the East China Sea when two Chinese J-10 fighters attempted an “unsafe intercept”, making it the second incident of this kind to take place in less than three weeks. Earlier in May, two Chinese fighter jets flew within 15 meters of a US reconnaissance plane flying over the South China Sea. As President Obama set about to reduce the U.S. footprint in the world and divert country’s military preparedness to chase the spectre of Climate Change -- seven years ago, Communist China has been investing in a massive project to build and militarise artificial islands beyond its recognised maritime borders. China now contests 80 percent of the South China Sea, staking its control over one of the busiest maritime route in the world.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 23, 2016 14 Comments
President Barack Obama has lifted a five decade old arms ban against Vietnam as China Sea tensions continue to rise. At a press conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Obama said that he did not consider China's aggression in the region as a motivating factor. He chose to remove the ban as "part of a deeper defense cooperation with the country" and "normalizing relations" between the one time enemies:
“Over time what we’ve seen is a progressive deepening and broadening of the [bilateral] relationship,” Obama said. “And what became apparent to me and my administration at this point was … that it was appropriate for us not to have a blanket, across-the-board ban.”
The U.S. implemented the ban during the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975 after the army withdrew forces from Saigon. North Vietnam ambushed the city, reunited the two Vietnams, and renamed the capital Ho Chi Minh City after the revolutionary leader.
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