Wednesday, 12 June 2024

The Taiwan question: 'Strategic ambiguity' and U.S. foreign policy

Premier Li Qiang in a government report delivered at the opening of the congress emphasized only "unification,"
dropping the mention of "peaceful" used in the previous year.
By "peaceful unification," China means that Taiwan would willingly accept and adopt the Chinese political system.
it is unlikely that the people of Taiwan, who currently enjoy a democratic system, would agree to this.
Which ultimately leads taiwan questioning USA’s foreign policy and ‘strategic ambiguity’ .

South Korea fires warning shots after North Korea soldiers briefly cross border

South Korean soldiers fired warning shots after North Korean troops briefly violated the tense border earlier this week
South Korea’s military said Tuesday, as the rivals are embroiled in Cold War-style campaigns like balloon launches and propaganda broadcasts.
Bloodshed and violent confrontations have occasionally occurred at the Koreas’ heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone.
North Korea has said its balloon campaign was in response to South Korean activists’ launches of their own balloons to drop propaganda leaflets critical of leader Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian rule

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara are expected to agree with their Philippine counterparts, Enrique Manalo and Gilberto Teodoro
Japan and the Philippines agreed in November to start RAA talks.
It would be the second two-plus-two talks for Japan and the Philippines after their launch in Tokyo in April 2022.
The two nations' ministers will discuss cooperation on maritime security and cyber defense, as well as the export of Japanese communication antennas for warships

China’s defence ministry has “sternly warned” the Dutch navy against “provocative” actions and urged restraint
In a statement last week, the Dutch defence ministry said two Chinese fighter jets circled above its frigate several times on Friday.
Two Chinese jets and a PLA helicopter then approached the ship’s NH90 maritime combat helicopter while it was on a patrol, the statement said

The Thai cabinet approved a government draft letter that indicated Bangkok’s intention to become a member of Brics
The next Brics summit to be held in Kazan, Russia in October will be an opportunity for Thailand to accelerate its accession, government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said on May 28.
In pursuing Brics membership, Bangkok is also seeking accession to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), another group of developed countries, and is expected to conclude negotiations for the Thai-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) within this year.

The Iowa Cornell College instructors were taken to hospital after a "serious incident" during the daytime attack in the northern province of Jilin
China's foreign ministry said that none of those injured were in a life-threatening condition.
A US state department spokesperson had earlier told the BBC they were aware of reports of a stabbing incident in Jilin, but could not provide more information.
Amid tense diplomatic relations, Beijing and Washington have sought to re-establish people-to-people exchanges in recent times.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has unveiled a plan to invite 50,000 young Americans to China in the next five years, while Chinese diplomats say a travel advisory by the US State Department has discouraged Americans from going to China.

A high-profile British judge who resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court last week has warned the city is “slowly becoming a totalitarian state”
Further said , judges are being compromised by an “impossible political environment created by China
Lord Sumption’s comments on Monday came as a third senior foreign judge in the past week resigned from the Court of Final Appeal.