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China hopes to ‘energise’ relations with Singapore, Asean, Li Keqiang tells Lee Hsien Loong

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang welcomed Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, saying he hoped to “inject new energy” into China’s ties both with the city state and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Premier Li Keqiang said: “Singapore is an important member of Asean, it’s the country coordinator between China and Asean and will be rotating chair next year”. The relationship between China and Singapore has been under close scrutiny since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, absence from a major summit on China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” a plan to boost infrastructure and trade links from Asia to Africa. Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan visited Beijing in June, at which time the two countries agreed to boost cooperation on government to government schemes in Tianjin, Chongqing and Suzhou, as well as on “Belt and Road” projects.

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As North Korea threat looms, Trump to address world leaders at UN

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North Korean diplomats will have a front-row seat in the UN General Assembly for Trump’s speech on Tuesday morning, which will touch on the escalating crisis that has seen Trump and Pyongyang trade threats of military action. Trump will seek support for tough measures against North Korea, while pressing his “America First” message to the world body. Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said on Friday: “This is not an issue between the United States and North Korea. This is an issue between the world and North Korea”.  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “The solution can only be political. Military action could cause devastation on a scale that would take generations to overcome”. US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said UN sanctions had banned 90 percent of the Asian state’s publicly reported exports, saying of Pyongyang on Friday: “This is totally in their hands on how they respond”.

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North Korea fuel prices soar after UN sanctions capped supply

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Petrol and diesel prices rose sharply in North Korea after its sixth nuclear test and as the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions capping fuel supply. In the capital Pyongyang and northern border cities of Sinuiju and Hyesan spiked to 2.51 dollar per kg as of September 13, up 45.1 per cent from 1.73 dollar per kg on September 5 and Diesel prices also surged 61.5 per cent from 1.30 dollar per kg to 2.10 dollar per kg during the same period. According to Reuters analysis of data compiled by the Daily NK website. North Korea launched a missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday in defiance of the new Security Council. Anyway the White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on Friday, after the latest North Korean missile launch, that the United States was running out of patience: “We’ve been kicking the can down the road, and we’re out of road”.

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Korean peninsula draws range of military drills in show of force against North Korea

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The U.S. military staged bombing drills with South Korea over the Korean peninsula and Russia and China began naval exercises ahead of a U.N. General Assembly meeting on Tuesday where North Korea’s nuclear threat is likely to loom large. The flurry of military drills came after Pyongyang fired another mid-range ballistic missile over Japan on Friday and the reclusive North conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3 in defiance of United Nations sanctions and other international pressure. A pair of U.S. B-1B bombers and four F-35 jets flew from Guam and Japan and joined four South Korean F-15K fighters in the latest drill.

 

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China’s state media blasts US handling of North Korea crisi

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China has shown its deepening frustration over the North Korean missile test crisis, with a commentary in the state-run People’s Daily blaming the United States for hindering efforts to resolve the issue. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called on all nations to take fresh measures against North Korea after another missile over Japan last Friday, the second weapons test in three weeks. The People’s Daily commentary said: Tillerson had unfairly targeted China as it was the biggest oil provider to North Korea and Russia as it hired the largest number of North Korea labourers. Negotiation should be the key to resolving the crisis, it added: “China would never support a nuclear armed North Korea, but the US, Japan and South Korea should not disrupt the regional situation either”. China and Russia backed the resolution drafted by the US, which included a ban on textile exports and restricting oil product shipments. However, an oil pipeline between China and North Korea that provides almost 90 per cent of crude oil to Pyongyang was excluded from the sanctions.

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How North Korea evades UN sanctions

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The United Nations recently passed its strongest sanctions yet against North Korea following its sixth nuclear test. But the sanctions would stop Pyongyang from developing nuclear weapons. The US government and a UN experts panel have published reports on how North Korea evades sanctions to earn the hard currency it needs: Chinese businessman Chi Yupeng allegedly used his company Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Materials to buy steel and anthracite coal from North Korea in exchange for nuclear and missile components, according to the US Treasury department. Smugglers from other countries such as China turn off their ships’ transponders when entering North Korean waters, then take North Korean goods to another country, including Russia. Almost 100,000 North Koreans work around the world, generating about 500 million dollar for Kim Jong-un’s regime, according to the US government. North Korea continues to sell arms and provide military training overseas, despite UN embargoes. It is particularly active in Africa and the Middle East. A United Nations investigation said buyers included Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Mozambique, Namibia, Syria, Uganda and Tanzania. Benin, Botswana, Mali and Zimbabwe were also investigated for their ties with North Korean companies.

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Just Like His Grandfather, Kim Jong-Un Exploits Mistrust Between Us And China

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US President Donald Trump has said several times that China could  help stop North Korea’s nuclear advancement if Beijing agreed to use its economic leverage as North Korea’s top trading partner.  Beijing has dismissed the argument, saying it is not Beijing but Washington and Pyongyang that should solve their differences. China has called for the US and South Korea to stop provocative military exercises in exchange for the North freezing its nuclear and missile tests. But the US does not believe such compromises will win corresponding concessions from the Stalinist regime, as the North’s leader Kim Jong-un has a poor record of honouring promises. Meanwhile, the bigger question hanging over this compromised resolution is whether Beijing will honour the sanctions. Suspicion over China’s sincerity in implementation became clear when the Trump administration threatened to punish Chinese entities who violated the UN pact.

 

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US considering dropping Pakistan as an ally over terror sanctuaries

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Washington is considering dropping Pakistan as an ally amid growing pressures regarding the terror sanctuaries that remain intact despite repeated calls to take actions, it has been reported. Sources told The Financial Times that Washington is examining tougher measures to quell more than 20 terrorist groups operating using the Pakistani soil. “Thinking of Pakistan as an ally will continue to create problems for the next administration as it did for the last one”, said a former CIA analyst who now leads South Asia policy in the National Security Council. The Afghan and US officials have long been criticizing Islamabad for remaining reckless to act against the Taliban and Haqqani terrorist network sanctuaries as they claim that the leadership councils of the two groups are based in the key cities of Pakistan from where they plan and coordinate attacks in Afghanistan, including some of the deadly attacks on US forces. In August Trump said: “For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror. The threat is worse because Pakistan and India are two nuclear-armed states whose tense relations threaten to spiral into conflict. And that could happen”.

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North Korea vows to continue nuclear tests despite condemnation from UN Security Council

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North Korea’s statement followed an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council where the country was condemned once more for its behaviour. Kim Jong-un said: “the country was close to the goal of completing their nuclear force and should use all state power to finish as they have nearly reached the terminal”. The Security Council condemned North Korea’s most recent missile launch, putting up a unified front in the face of Pyongyang’s defiance of the body’s efforts to halt international trade with the country. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia expressed frustration over the failure of the Security Council’s actions in stopping North Korea’s nuclear provocations. The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for suggesting that Russia and China aren’t doing enough to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme and demand it that China and Russia take “direct actions” against Pyongyang. “China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own”. Tillerson said in a statement issued soon after the missile firing.

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China rejects US demand to cut oil exports to North Korea

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Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the US, told reporters at a briefing in Washington when asked if Beijing would cut oil shipments. Cui said: “Any further steps would need to be worked out with the agreement of the entire UN Security Council”. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: China use its role as the main exporter of oil to North Korea to force Kim to abandon his nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. Hours earlier, North Korea had launched a missile over Japan. Cui said the US, not China, needed to take more responsibility for the issue. They cannot just leave the issue to China alone and honestly I think the United States should be doing more, much more than now, so that there is real effective international cooperation on this issue, Cui said.

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