The subject of Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, as well as regional infrastructure development, is likely to be high on the agenda at an upcoming summit between China, South Korea and Japan, which is expected to be held in early May in Tokyo, Fumio Kishida told the South China Morning Post.

The meeting, which will be attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, comes amid some easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula, as a result of talks between the two Koreas and the planned dialogue between Kim and Trump.

When Washington and Pyongyang agreed to the leaders’ talks, it triggered concerns that Beijing’s role as a mediator between the two would be diminished.

Relations between the restive state and China, its sole ally and economic patron, have deteriorated sharply in recent years, with Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping still yet to hold official visits.

However, Kishida said that as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and North Korea’s main trading partner, China retained considerable leverage over Pyongyang.

“The most important item on the agenda [for the trilateral summit] is peace and stability in Asia, including the North Korea issue. This is the area where the three countries have to work together,” he said on the sidelines of an investment conference last week. “China’s influence over North Korea remains quite significant.”

China can take little credit for North Korea breakthroughs

The move by China, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of North Korea’s foreign trade, to ban imports of textiles and seafood, and exports of oil products from its secretive neighbour in compliance with United Nations sanctions was welcomed, Kishida said.

“China is taking proactive measures to implement the decisions of the United Nations. We welcome those efforts,” he said. “To solve the North Korea issue, China has to work together with the rest of the world.”

Japan ‘pushes for summit’ with China and South Korea this year

Relations between China and Japan have since improved, and Xi met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam in November. A week later, Abe met Li at a regional summit in Manila.

Japanese officials said they hoped Abe and Xi could arrange reciprocal visits to one another’s countries after the trilateral summit.

Another agenda item for the upcoming summit will be infrastructure development in developing nations, Japanese diplomatic and trade sources said.

North Korea: fearing diplomatic sidelines, Japan explores possible meeting between Shinzo Abe and Kim Jong-un

Kishida said that China and Japan should cooperate to meet the region’s infrastructure requirements, but he expressed concerns about Xi’s pet “Belt and Road Initiative” and the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank due to their lack of transparency. Japan is not directly involved in either.

“We want to monitor and pay attention to whether the AIIB actually complies with global standards in terms of governance.” he said. “We will consider what Japan can do to contribute based on that observation.”

Source: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138938/china-still-player-north-korea-despite-trump-kim-talks

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“I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election,” Trump said of Putin during a news conference with Vietnam’s president in Hanoi. “As to whether I believe it, I’m with our agencies.”

Trump added, “As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”

Top U.S. intelligence officials, including those at the CIA, have concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. A special counsel and multiple congressional committees are also investigating potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides. That probe has, so far, led to the indictments of Trump’s former campaign chairman and another top aide for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea from a Trump foreign policy adviser.

Trump also seemed to suggest today that it was time to remove sanctions Congress has slapped on Russia in retaliation.

“It’s now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken,” said Trump. “Those are very important things.”

It’s a question that has followed Trump since January, when he said during a press conference at Trump Tower shortly before taking office that he accepted Russia was behind the election year hacking of Democrats that roiled the 2016 White House race.

“As far as hacking, I think it was Russia,” Trump said at the time, quickly adding that “other countries and other people” also hack U.S. interests.

But the issue wasn’t settled.

Speaking aboard Air Force One on Saturday on his way to Hanoi, Trump had said that Putin again vehemently denied the allegations — this time on the sidelines of an economic conference in the seaside city of Danang.

Trump danced around questions of whether he believed Putin. He also accused Democrats of using the issue to try to sabotage relations between the two countries, putting lives at risk.

“Every time he sees me, he said: ‘I didn’t do that.’ And I believe — I really believe — that when he tells me that, he means it,” Trump said of Putin, arguing that it made no sense for him to belabor the issue.

“I’d rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I’d rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and arguing,” he said.

Aboard Air Force One, Trump also lashed out at the former heads of the nation’s intelligence agencies, claiming there were plenty of reasons to be suspicious of their findings.

“I mean, give me a break. They’re political hacks,” Trump said, citing by name James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence; John Brennan, the former CIA director; and ousted ex-FBI director James Comey, whom Trump said was “proven now to be a liar and he’s proven to be a leaker.”

In a tweet sent today from Hanoi, Trump bashed the “haters and fools” that he said were questioning his efforts to improve relations with Russia and accused critics of “playing politics” and hurting the country.

Trump’s Saturday comments sparked criticism from lawmakers with ties to the intelligence community. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is his party’s top member on the House’s intelligence committee, said that Trump “fools no one” and that the president understands how the Russians intervened in the election through hacking, social media and television coverage of the presidential race.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the party’s presidential nominee in 2008, said that Trump’s faith in Putin’s denial was “naive.”

“There’s nothing ‘America First’ about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community,” McCain said, referring to Putin’s former career in Soviet intelligence. “Vladimir Putin does not have America’s interests at heart.”

Trump was in Hanoi for a brief state visit. He heads to the Philippines later today — the last stop of his five-country trip — for a pair of summits.

In brief remarks after his arrival at Hanoi’s presidential palace, Trump offered Vietnam help negotiating with China on disputes over the South China Sea.

Beijing’s island-building there has drawn criticism from Washington, which argues that the U.S. has a national interest in freedom of navigation in sea lanes critical for world trade. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this month said that China’s “provocative actions” challenged international law and norms.

“If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me know,” Trump offered. “I’m a very good mediator and a very good arbitrator. I’ve done plenty of it from both sides.”

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said that he prefers to settle the dispute through “peaceful negotiations” and “with respect for diplomatic and legal process in accordance with international law.”

Trump also said that he hoped to have more help from Chinese President Xi Jinping as well as Russia, when it comes to isolating North Korea, in an effort to pressure the country to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

“President Xi I think is going to be a tremendous help. I hope Russia likewise will be a tremendous help,” Trump said. “I think they can make a big difference.”

Earlier, Trump had exchanged schoolyard taunts with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me “old,” when I would NEVER call him “short and fat?” Trump tweeted from Vietnam, adding: “Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!”

Asked whether he could really be friends with Kim, Trump said, “I think anything’s a possibility. Strange things happen in life.”

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached an agreement on a number of principles for the future of Syria.

His comments made clear that Trump still does not take the meddling seriously and sees little benefit in punishing a nation accused of undermining the most fundamental tenet of American democracy: free and fair elections. They also suggest that the president is unlikely to work aggressively to try to prevent future meddling despite repeated warnings from senior intelligence officials that Russia is likely to try to interfere again.

Source: http://www.mauinews.com/uncategorized/2017/11/trump-with-our-agencies-on-election-meddling/

The post Trump ‘with our agencies’ on election meddling first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.