Demetri Sevastopulo

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Kim Jong Un, centre, at a weapons ceremony in Pyongyang on December 31 © Korean Central News Agency/AP

MundoAsia,

In his last known letter to a US president, an emotional Kim Jong Un rebuked Donald Trump for carrying out scheduled joint military exercises with South Korea.

“I am clearly offended, and I do not want to hide this feeling from you”, Kim wrote in August 2019. “If you do not think of our relationship as a stepping stone that only benefits you, then you would not make me look like an idiot that will only give without getting anything in return”.

The letter marked the end of a turbulent period in US-North Korean relations that included Trump’s threat to inflict “fire and fury like the world has never seen” upon the east Asian dictatorship and culminated in a series of historic meetings between the two men.…  Seguir leyendo »

Australia’s defence dilemma: projecting force or provoking China?

MundoOceanía

The shipyard in Osborne, a suburb 20km north of Adelaide in the St Vincent’s Gulf of South Australia, feels far removed from the simmering geopolitical conflict between the US and China.

The freshly built, modern facility has the air of a Hollywood set with enormous sheds connected via narrow roads. Golf cart-like vehicles ferry equipment and people between locations. A small strip of marshland, intended as a bit of greenery for the workers, is the only reminder of what used to be.

Now the Osborne precinct is the symbolic heart of Australia’s burgeoning military industry at a time when the country seeks to claim a seat at the “big table” of global affairs.…  Seguir leyendo »

A PLA plane refuels in mid-air. The Chinese have sent a record number of warplanes across the median line in the Taiwan Strait in protest at Pelosi’s visit © Eastern Theatre Command/Handout/Reuters

MundoAméricaMundoAsia, , ,

For two days straight, Chinese military officials have been delivering a message of triumph to the public. The exercises with which the People’s Liberation Army is punishing Taiwan for hosting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi feature “multiple firsts”, they gloated on state television.

“Our firepower covers all of Taiwan, and we can strike wherever we want”, said Zhang Junshe, a researcher at the PLA Navy Research Institute. “We got really close to Taiwan. We encircled Taiwan. And we demonstrated that we can effectively stop intervention by foreign forces”.

The Pelosi visit to Taipei, the first in 25 years by a Speaker of the House, was designed to demonstrate support for the country in the face of what many in the US believe to be a growing threat of a Chinese invasion.…  Seguir leyendo »

Taiwan: preparing for a potential Chinese invasion

MundoAsia, ,

When Joe Biden pledged last month to intervene militarily if China were ever to attack Taiwan, his comment was met with a harsh response from Beijing.

“If the US continues to go down the wrong path”, a foreign ministry spokesperson said, “the US will have to pay an unbearable price”.

The phrase was widely read as a warning about war. The same day, China and Russia flew a joint nuclear bomber exercise near Japan.

The exchange was the latest in a spiral of martial messaging between the US and China. It was also a reflection of the mounting fears in Washington, Taipei and among US allies that Beijing could try to annex Taiwan in the next few years.…  Seguir leyendo »

The rising costs of China’s friendship with Russia

MundoAsiaEuropa, , , ,

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine started two weeks ago, Jane Yan, a senior executive at a machine parts maker in eastern China, says she was not too worried about the impact. After all, buyers in Russia and Ukraine accounted for less than 5 per cent of the company’s overseas sales last year.

But as the full ferocity of the Russian onslaught started to become apparent, the outlook shifted dramatically. Important clients in countries such as Poland and Germany cancelled orders with the Zhejiang-based company.

“A Munich-based client said ‘it feels terribly wrong to send money to a country that is tolerating war in Ukraine — sorry’”, said Yan, who asked that her employer not be identified.…  Seguir leyendo »