China/Taiwan-US: Taiwan will ask the United States to postpone the sale of two advanced weapons systems to save money, a senior legislator with ties to the military said on 28 October, Reuters reported.
Comment from our friends at KGS NightWatch: A decision to not spend money usually and obviously means that money will be saved. However, the timing of the announcement is propitious because it neutralizes temporarily an issue that might have blemished the US President's visit to India late next week. Taiwan will want something in return.
North Korea-Cuba: Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho, left Pyongyang on 28 October to lead a delegation to Cuba, The Associated Press reported.
Comment from our friends at KGS NightWatch: Reports of a close relationship between North Korea and Cuba extend for decades in the past. They include allegations of large North Korean troop deployments to Cuba.
Nothing significant has ever been proven. Still the visits have continued. Cuba and North Korea share the distinction with Vietnam and Laos of being the last surviving Marxist-Leninist states.
China-Pakistan: Chinese Major General Yang Hui, director general of the Intelligence Directorate, visited Chief of Army Staff General Kayani at General Headquarters on 28 October, Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The two discussed matters of professional interest, according to Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations.
Comment from our friends at KGS NightWatch: A visit by a Chinese intelligence general to Pakistan usually signifies a problem. The usual problem is that Pakistan is harboring, aiding, training and abetting anti-Han Chinese Islamic terrorists in the 42 terrorist camps that Pakistani intelligence sustains in Pakistani Kashmir.
Chinese intelligence officials seldom visit unless there is a problem. The Chinese do not seem concerned that Pakistani-trained terrorists kill Indians or Americans, but they do object to Pakistan providing or tolerating training of Xinjiang Uighurs who want to kill Han Chinese.
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Regional Update for September 10
Japan-China: The captain of a Chinese fishing boat was taken to a Japanese court on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture on 10 September. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi demanded the "immediate and unconditional" release of the captain and other crewmembers, according to news relays.
Yang summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa to lodge a third protest with Tokyo over what the Chinese Foreign Ministry described as an "illegal detention." Yang told Niwa that Beijing is determined to defend Chinese sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands, where the ramming incident occurred, and demanded the unconditional release of the boat and crew, according to the ministry
Japan asserts the incident occurred in Japanese territorial waters and that Japan is handling the case in line with domestic law, Niwa told the Chinese. On 10 September a Japanese court ruled that prosecutors can detain the captain of the Chinese fishing boat for 10 days.
In reaction to and protest of the court ruling, the Chinese announced a postponement of a second round of negotiation over disputed island territories. Lest the Japanese miss the point, the Chinese statement described the postponement as a "grave protest."
Comments from KGS NightWatch: Japan and South Korea require little encouragement in standing up to China on territorial or other disputes. In part, this is because they see China's export dependent modern sector as a competitor with their own export-driven economies. Neither Japan nor South Korea is inclined to accommodate China or accept it as a regional leader.
An epochal strategic shift continues to evolve in which Asian States are not only taking responsibility for the security of Asia, they are shaping the nature of the strategic relationships. Japan and South Korea will not roll over for China the way North Korea is doing,with or without US assistance.
South Korea-US: A US Defense Department spokesman announced today, 10 September, that the aircraft carrier USS George Washington will participate with South Korea in war games in international waters of the Yellow Sea off the Korean Peninsula. The US spokesman said the deployment is not aimed at challenging China, but is a warning to North Korea.
Comments from KGS NightWatch: After much hemming and hawing, the US appears to have made a decision in favor of strategic dominance and in favor of US Allies in Asia. Apparently thanks for the extra time to think straight goes to the intervention of a typhoon. The typhoon delayed Allied anti-submarine warfare training in the Yellow Sea and gave the US leadership time to make a decision in favor of American allies and interests.
China-Taiwan: Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) will conduct a maritime rescue drill the week of 13 September with China's Maritime Search and Rescue Center, Taiwanese Central News Agency reported 10 September. The drill will be held in waters off southeastern China, between Taiwan's Kinmen Island and Xiamen, China.
Taiwan's CGA will send nine patrol boats, including a 500-ton patrol vessel, and helicopters to Kinmen. All participating ships and rescue teams will carry flags that symbolize the joint drill, CGA officials said, in an attempt to avoid territorial disputes.
Comments from KGS NightWatch: The drill will be the first time the two coastal patrol agencies will have held joint exercises.
Burma (Myanmar)-China: The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has begun construction of China-Myanmar oil and natural gas pipelines, according to Chinese media. The announcement coincided with a ground-breaking ceremony for a 200,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Anning city, Yunnan Province, China.
According to the CNPC statement, the company wants to complete the China section of the pipelines, as well as the refinery, by 2013. The oil pipeline, which will have a capacity of 440,000 barrels per day, will wind 771 kilometers (479 miles) through Myanmar, then stretch 1,631 kilometers though China before ending in Chongqing.
The natural gas pipeline will have a 12 billion cubic meter capacity, and will span 793 kilometers in Myanmar and 1,727 kilometers in China before ending in Guangxi region. The company did not disclose whether or when all three projects would receive final approval from China's National Development and Reform Commission, the body in charge of economic planning and pricing.
Comments from KGS NightWatch: The significance of this information plus other recent reports about China building a railroad through Burma is that they reinforce the assessment that Chinese leaders see Burma as a gateway for channeling natural resources to China.
This symbolizes the next step in China's economic imperialism by creating a network of vertical and horizontal monopolies on a global scale that gather and ship back to China the resources from concessions in Third World countries that the Chinese already have secured.
By using Chinese-made Burmese ports and infrastructure, natural resources from Africa and the Middle East can reach hubs in southern China and avoid the hazards of transiting the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and the South China Sea.
Yang summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa to lodge a third protest with Tokyo over what the Chinese Foreign Ministry described as an "illegal detention." Yang told Niwa that Beijing is determined to defend Chinese sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands, where the ramming incident occurred, and demanded the unconditional release of the boat and crew, according to the ministry
Japan asserts the incident occurred in Japanese territorial waters and that Japan is handling the case in line with domestic law, Niwa told the Chinese. On 10 September a Japanese court ruled that prosecutors can detain the captain of the Chinese fishing boat for 10 days.
In reaction to and protest of the court ruling, the Chinese announced a postponement of a second round of negotiation over disputed island territories. Lest the Japanese miss the point, the Chinese statement described the postponement as a "grave protest."
Comments from KGS NightWatch: Japan and South Korea require little encouragement in standing up to China on territorial or other disputes. In part, this is because they see China's export dependent modern sector as a competitor with their own export-driven economies. Neither Japan nor South Korea is inclined to accommodate China or accept it as a regional leader.
An epochal strategic shift continues to evolve in which Asian States are not only taking responsibility for the security of Asia, they are shaping the nature of the strategic relationships. Japan and South Korea will not roll over for China the way North Korea is doing,with or without US assistance.
South Korea-US: A US Defense Department spokesman announced today, 10 September, that the aircraft carrier USS George Washington will participate with South Korea in war games in international waters of the Yellow Sea off the Korean Peninsula. The US spokesman said the deployment is not aimed at challenging China, but is a warning to North Korea.
Comments from KGS NightWatch: After much hemming and hawing, the US appears to have made a decision in favor of strategic dominance and in favor of US Allies in Asia. Apparently thanks for the extra time to think straight goes to the intervention of a typhoon. The typhoon delayed Allied anti-submarine warfare training in the Yellow Sea and gave the US leadership time to make a decision in favor of American allies and interests.
China-Taiwan: Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) will conduct a maritime rescue drill the week of 13 September with China's Maritime Search and Rescue Center, Taiwanese Central News Agency reported 10 September. The drill will be held in waters off southeastern China, between Taiwan's Kinmen Island and Xiamen, China.
Taiwan's CGA will send nine patrol boats, including a 500-ton patrol vessel, and helicopters to Kinmen. All participating ships and rescue teams will carry flags that symbolize the joint drill, CGA officials said, in an attempt to avoid territorial disputes.
Comments from KGS NightWatch: The drill will be the first time the two coastal patrol agencies will have held joint exercises.
Burma (Myanmar)-China: The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has begun construction of China-Myanmar oil and natural gas pipelines, according to Chinese media. The announcement coincided with a ground-breaking ceremony for a 200,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Anning city, Yunnan Province, China.
According to the CNPC statement, the company wants to complete the China section of the pipelines, as well as the refinery, by 2013. The oil pipeline, which will have a capacity of 440,000 barrels per day, will wind 771 kilometers (479 miles) through Myanmar, then stretch 1,631 kilometers though China before ending in Chongqing.
The natural gas pipeline will have a 12 billion cubic meter capacity, and will span 793 kilometers in Myanmar and 1,727 kilometers in China before ending in Guangxi region. The company did not disclose whether or when all three projects would receive final approval from China's National Development and Reform Commission, the body in charge of economic planning and pricing.
Comments from KGS NightWatch: The significance of this information plus other recent reports about China building a railroad through Burma is that they reinforce the assessment that Chinese leaders see Burma as a gateway for channeling natural resources to China.
This symbolizes the next step in China's economic imperialism by creating a network of vertical and horizontal monopolies on a global scale that gather and ship back to China the resources from concessions in Third World countries that the Chinese already have secured.
By using Chinese-made Burmese ports and infrastructure, natural resources from Africa and the Middle East can reach hubs in southern China and avoid the hazards of transiting the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and the South China Sea.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Northeast Asia News Brief for 08 September 2009
Japanese Prime Minister-elect Yukio Hatoyama pledged a 25 percent cut (Japan Today) in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, more than his predecessor Taro Aso, who had agreed to an 8 percent decrease.
Taiwanese Premier Liu Chao-shiuan resigned amid heavy criticism (Taipei Times) of the government's slow response to last month's Typhoon Morakot, which devastated parts of the country and killed at least six hundred people. Wu Den-yih, the secretary general of Taiwan's ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), will replace Liu (CNN).
Taiwanese Premier Liu Chao-shiuan resigned amid heavy criticism (Taipei Times) of the government's slow response to last month's Typhoon Morakot, which devastated parts of the country and killed at least six hundred people. Wu Den-yih, the secretary general of Taiwan's ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), will replace Liu (CNN).
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Editorial: US, PRC Maneuvers Post-Morakot
Taipei Times - By Hoon Ting, Freelance Writer (Originally in Chinese)
In the past, rich or influential people used to keep a small platform next to the entrance to their house to help people get off their horses. President Ma Ying-jeou's initial rejection of foreign aid in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot and his interaction with the US and China made me think of this platform, which was built to help people get off their high horses.
Ma probably thought criticism of his government's weak disaster relief effort would blow over in a couple of days; instead, his inaction prompted the US to take action. When US transport aircraft and minesweeping helicopters appeared over Taiwan, the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier from the US' Seventh Fleet, wasn't far away. As if expecting something big to happen, international media scrambled to Taiwan.
There is an international aspect to the flood disaster, and it begins with China.
On Aug. 11, China launched its largest military exercise to date. The exercise mobilized forces in the Shenyang, Jinan, Guangzhou and Lanzhou military regions for almost two months, and it took place near disputed areas, such as near the border with North Korea, Afghanistan and in the South China Sea. It included paratroopers, simulated warfare in complex electromagnetic environments, the Beidou Satellite Positioning System and civilian aircraft. The whole exercise was reminiscent of a preparatory blitzkrieg exercise. This prompted the USS George Washington to move into position: On Aug. 10, it left its home port in Yokosuka, Japan, for its first visit to Manila in 13 years. In San Diego, California, the USS Nimitz set out on a westward journey.
As the US and China were involved in polite formulaic exchanges, one unusual incident after another took place in Taiwan. At the height of the onslaught of Typhoon Morakot on Aug. 8, the former chief of the general staff left on a visit to Beijing; on Aug. 9, an undersea optical cable just off Taiwan was severed in five places, and the US military's Asia Pacific command offered to help Taiwan with disaster relief — not once, but twice. On Aug. 10, several countries offered Taiwan assistance.
However, according to reliable sources, the representatives of the Presidential Office, the Cabinet and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) met and decided to accept Chinese assistance instead. On Aug. 11, the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) exercise began and Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an urgent telegram rejecting foreign material aid and rescue teams. On Aug. 12, an underwater optical cable was again severed, this time in six places, China rejected a visit to Hong Kong by a Japanese navy vessel, and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said Taiwan was not rejecting foreign aid, signaling a change in situation. On Aug. 14, US Agency for International Development staff arrived in Taiwan, PLA Major-General Luo Yuan said Taiwan should review its relationship with the US before a cross-strait military confidence-building mechanism was established, and Ma called a meeting of the National Security Council. On Aug. 15, a US C-130 aircraft arrived in Taiwan. On Aug. 17, US helicopters landed in Taiwan and the US State Department rejected the notion that it had to inform China about its activities. On Aug. 18, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said Beijing was still willing to provide rescue helicopters. On Aug. 20, members of the US Congress traveled on a military aircraft to visit Taiwan. And on Monday, the USS Nimitz arrived at Yokosuka.
Regardless of the cause and intent, the Chinese military exercise, the USS George Washington moving into position in the Philippines, the multiple breaks on two separate instances of a Taiwanese undersea optical cable, the Taiwanese government issuing a "very urgent" telegram rejecting foreign aid, Ma's neglect of his responsibility as the commander-in-chief and his refusal to declare a state of emergency, the Ma administration's unthinkable continuous inaction during the height of the calamity and China's "timely" declaration of its attitude are enough to provide the PLA with a reason to come to Taiwan in the name of humanitarianism. From the perspective of the US-Japan Security Alliance, it could also marginalize the alliance and upset the balance of power that has existed in East Asia for the past 60 years.
Looking back at the first week after Morakot, even if the Ma administration has not been colluding with the Chinese government, its arrogance and public detachment, combined with its eagerness to push cross-strait relations, could still send the wrong message to the US, Japan and China and place Taiwan at risk. The US military's eagerness to show the flag in this situation is probably a practical matter of "preventive contact." Whether or not this really is what is going on, we will only know when classified files have been declassified some time in future.
Ma probably thought criticism of his government's weak disaster relief effort would blow over in a couple of days; instead, his inaction prompted the US to take action. When US transport aircraft and minesweeping helicopters appeared over Taiwan, the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier from the US' Seventh Fleet, wasn't far away. As if expecting something big to happen, international media scrambled to Taiwan.
There is an international aspect to the flood disaster, and it begins with China.
On Aug. 11, China launched its largest military exercise to date. The exercise mobilized forces in the Shenyang, Jinan, Guangzhou and Lanzhou military regions for almost two months, and it took place near disputed areas, such as near the border with North Korea, Afghanistan and in the South China Sea. It included paratroopers, simulated warfare in complex electromagnetic environments, the Beidou Satellite Positioning System and civilian aircraft. The whole exercise was reminiscent of a preparatory blitzkrieg exercise. This prompted the USS George Washington to move into position: On Aug. 10, it left its home port in Yokosuka, Japan, for its first visit to Manila in 13 years. In San Diego, California, the USS Nimitz set out on a westward journey.
As the US and China were involved in polite formulaic exchanges, one unusual incident after another took place in Taiwan. At the height of the onslaught of Typhoon Morakot on Aug. 8, the former chief of the general staff left on a visit to Beijing; on Aug. 9, an undersea optical cable just off Taiwan was severed in five places, and the US military's Asia Pacific command offered to help Taiwan with disaster relief — not once, but twice. On Aug. 10, several countries offered Taiwan assistance.
However, according to reliable sources, the representatives of the Presidential Office, the Cabinet and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) met and decided to accept Chinese assistance instead. On Aug. 11, the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) exercise began and Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an urgent telegram rejecting foreign material aid and rescue teams. On Aug. 12, an underwater optical cable was again severed, this time in six places, China rejected a visit to Hong Kong by a Japanese navy vessel, and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said Taiwan was not rejecting foreign aid, signaling a change in situation. On Aug. 14, US Agency for International Development staff arrived in Taiwan, PLA Major-General Luo Yuan said Taiwan should review its relationship with the US before a cross-strait military confidence-building mechanism was established, and Ma called a meeting of the National Security Council. On Aug. 15, a US C-130 aircraft arrived in Taiwan. On Aug. 17, US helicopters landed in Taiwan and the US State Department rejected the notion that it had to inform China about its activities. On Aug. 18, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said Beijing was still willing to provide rescue helicopters. On Aug. 20, members of the US Congress traveled on a military aircraft to visit Taiwan. And on Monday, the USS Nimitz arrived at Yokosuka.
Regardless of the cause and intent, the Chinese military exercise, the USS George Washington moving into position in the Philippines, the multiple breaks on two separate instances of a Taiwanese undersea optical cable, the Taiwanese government issuing a "very urgent" telegram rejecting foreign aid, Ma's neglect of his responsibility as the commander-in-chief and his refusal to declare a state of emergency, the Ma administration's unthinkable continuous inaction during the height of the calamity and China's "timely" declaration of its attitude are enough to provide the PLA with a reason to come to Taiwan in the name of humanitarianism. From the perspective of the US-Japan Security Alliance, it could also marginalize the alliance and upset the balance of power that has existed in East Asia for the past 60 years.
Looking back at the first week after Morakot, even if the Ma administration has not been colluding with the Chinese government, its arrogance and public detachment, combined with its eagerness to push cross-strait relations, could still send the wrong message to the US, Japan and China and place Taiwan at risk. The US military's eagerness to show the flag in this situation is probably a practical matter of "preventive contact." Whether or not this really is what is going on, we will only know when classified files have been declassified some time in future.
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