CHINA
Navy drills in S China Sea
The navy carried out drills in the South China Sea to simulate fending off an aerial attack, state media said yesterday, as Beijing and Washington trade barbs over who is responsible for heightened tensions in the disputed region. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday expressed concern during a visit to Beijing over efforts to militarize the area. His followed a flurry of US activity in the region, including reports last week that US Air Force B-52s had flown near disputed islands that drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing. The navy carried out a simulated missile attack in an unspecified area of the South China Sea using three target drones making flyovers of a ship formation at varying heights, the People’s Liberation Army Daily said. The drills were part of efforts by an also unspecified training base to prepare for real-life combat against aerial targets after officials said some training failed to prepare troops effectively, the newspaper said.
SOUTH KOREA
Three ex-spymasters jailed
Three former spy chiefs were yesterday sentenced to jail for bribing disgraced former president Park Geun-hye with millions of dollars from the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The trio were convicted of funneling a total of 3.5 billion won (US$3.2 million) to Park while they each served as head of the agency under the then-president from 2013 to 2016. “Special activities funds of the NIS should be spent on collecting intelligence,” the Seoul Central District Court said in a statement. Former agency directors Lee Byung-kee and Lee Byung-ho were thrown behind bars for three-and-a-half years each, while Nam Jae-joon was sentenced to three years in jail. Nam is already in prison after being given a 42-month term last month for obstructing prosecutors investigating meddling by the agency into the 2012 presidential election. Prosecutors on Thursday also demanded 12 more years in prison for Park for accepting the funds.
UNITED STATES
White House defends salute
The White House is defending President Donald Trump’s decision to return a military salute to a North Korean three-star general. North Korean state media released video of Trump reaching out to shake the hand of the minister of the Korean People’s Army, who instead saluted during a US-North Korea summit in Singapore on Tuesday. The two then reversed gestures, with Trump saluting and the general reaching out to shake hands. The two eventually shook hands. “It’s a common courtesy when a military official from another government salutes, that you return that,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Thursday. The awkward moment raised some eyebrows, because the countries are technically still at war.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese