Shinzo Abe (Japan) - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Russia Open to Dialogue, Putin Invites G7

Prensa Latina — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 08:04:27 +0000

Vladivostok, Russia, Sep 6 (Prensa Latina) President Vladimir Putin invited the countries of the Group of Seven (G7) to Russia and assured that Moscow is open to dialogue with its members, during his speech on Thursday at the Eastern Economic Forum.

‘In its day, the last G8 was going to be held in Russia. We remain open and if our partners want to come, we will be delighted. It was not we who postponed (that summit) but our partners,’ Putin said in the plenary session of the event in this coastal city of the Russian Pacific.

The head of the Kremlin pointed out that any dialogue format is always useful.

‘It is always positive to exchange opinions, also when the voice is raised. From what I understand, this is what happened in the G7 (August summit in Biarritz, France) and still remains useful. Therefore, we do not refuse any kind of cooperation’, he added.

Before and during the last G7 summit, made up of the United States, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, US President Donald Trump insisted that Russia should return to the format.

However, he doubted the convenience of inviting Putin to the 2020 meeting that will be in his country and acknowledged that, although some members support him, there is no unanimity for Moscow to return to the table.

The initiative has also been raised previously by Italy and Japan, whose prime minister, Shinzo Abe, also participated in the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum, said he had addressed the issue of re-entering Russia to the G7 at its last summit.

Abe acknowledged that ‘Russia plays an important role in solving international problems. That is why I addressed this issue of Russia’s return to format. ‘

Asked about the possibility of expanding the G7 or G8, Putin considered that Turkey along with India and China could participate in a broader format similar to the Group of Seven.

He said Turkey deserves to be a member of an international group of the G7 type, taking into account ‘its role in international and regional affairs.’

The Russian leader revealed that he recently had a conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regretted that Putin had not raised the issue of Turkey’s participation in the G7.

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Source: https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=46634&SEO=russia-open-to-dialogue-putin-invites-g7

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North Korean diplomat tells Japan not to meddle in denuclearization

South China Morning Post — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 09:48:56 +0000

Delegate to UN conference on disarmament says Tokyo ought ‘to refrain from poking into others’ business.’

A North Korean diplomat to the United Nations advised Japan on Tuesday not to meddle in the process of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

The remarks by councillor Ju Yong-chol came in a speech delivered on the first day of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, after representatives of Japan and other countries urged North Korea to step up its denuclearization efforts.

Japan to halt missile evacuation drills following Trump-Kim summit in Singapore

Ju said that since Japan is a state signatory to neither the Panmunjom Declaration adopted at the inter-Korean meeting in April nor the Singapore joint statement issued after the US-North Korea summit meeting this month, it would be “well advised to refrain from poking into others’ business”.

He spoke a day after the country’s official Korean Central News Agency said that Japan should atone for its colonial rule of Korea in the first part of the 20th century if it wants to be accorded a role in the denuclearization process.

“Japan is legally and morally obliged to make a sincere apology and reparation,” a commentary by the agency said. “Japan can never evade this responsibility.”

Japan’s concerns aside, North Korean media says abductions issue is ‘already settled’

The KCNA commentary was in response to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s remarks this month that Japan is willing to share the financial burden of North Korea’s denuclearization.

Source: http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2152635/north-korean-diplomat-tells-japan-not-meddle-denuclearisation

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How Japan Might Lose Out in the Korea Talks

Yoichi Funabashi - Dr. Funabashi heads a think tank in Tokyo. — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:14:54 +0000

President Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan at the White House on June 7. Japan could be left vulnerable depending on the substance of Mr. Trump’s meeting with North Korea about denuclearization.CreditAndrew Harnik/Associated Press

TOKYO — Even if Tuesday’s meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, goes well, Japan stands to lose from it in some ways. Despite a last-ditch effort last week by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan to play adviser to Mr. Trump before the talks, the American president still seems rather unconcerned by Japan’s long-term strategic interests — actually, its imperatives.

As Mr. Abe put it last week, “first and foremost, we need to seek advancement for the abduction, nuclear and missile programs.” He meant that Japan’s priorities are to obtain the return of all Japanese citizens that North Korea abducted years ago, North Korea’s actual denuclearization and an end to its efforts to develop any missiles, and not just the kind that can reach the United States.

Although the abductee issue is an emotional and sensitive matter in Japan, the government finds itself dependent on third parties to discuss it on its behalf, much like President Moon Jae-in of South Korea reportedly did with Mr. Kim in late April. On this question, and other major matters to do with North Korea, Japan has no choice for now but to try to influence negotiations from the sidelines, or else it risks being left behind altogether.

In the event that Mr. Trump does take up the abduction issue with Mr. Kim for Japan, as he has pledged to do, the North Korean government probably would use the hostages as leverage and release them only for specific gains, as in 2002 when it allowed five Japanese captives to return home in exchange for the promise of economic assistance.

Then there is denuclearization, which means different things to different parties. For Japan, the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear program is essential, as James Mattis, the United States secretary of defense, has said. Verification, the most important prong of this approach, may also be the most difficult to satisfy: It would require North Korea to truthfully reveal the location of all its nuclear sites and fissile material — a very unlikely prospect.

Mr. Kim should be expected to exploit any ambiguity in order to hedge or dither while trying to secure relief from international sanctions. He is playing a long game and has time on his side. Election cycles in the United States, South Korea and Japan are short, but Mr. Kim is unelected and is only in his 30s.

Even if he vows to make what seem like significant commitments toward denuclearization, he will already have accomplished one of his main goals: Just by dint of these talks being held he will have succeeded in getting the United States to, in effect, treat North Korea as a de facto nuclear weapons state.

Denuclearizing North Korea can only be a phased process, for technical reasons, and it could take up to 15 years according to the nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker. Mr. Kim might slow it down further by first proposing, as he has begun to do, a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War to replace the 1953 armistice currently in effect. This, however, would be a dirty peace, especially for Japan, which in the meantime would remain as exposed as ever to a North Korean attack.

Japan will be all the more vulnerable if, as the government fears, the United States seeks to obtain North Korea’s agreement to freeze its intercontinental ballistic missiles program without obtaining guarantees that North Korea will also curtail its development of short- and mid-range missiles. Such an arrangement might protect the United States, but it would leave Japan (as well as South Korea) in the immediate danger zone, as well as open to nuclear coercion by North Korea.

Of even greater concern for Japan (and, again, South Korea) is that the United States, as a concession to North Korea, might offer to revise some aspects of its alliance with South Korea. For example, it could scale back joint military exercises or agree to withdraw U.S. troops from the country. But either proposal, even kept vague, would undercut America’s longstanding commitment to the security of South Korea, with far-reaching implications for Japan.

Any such curtailment would draw Japan deeper still into North Korea’s threat zone, while also undermining the credibility of the protection it is supposed to derive from America’s nuclear umbrella and generally weakening its alliance with the United States. That, in turn, would give Japan reason to expand its missile-defense system and, perhaps, its strike capabilities against North Korea — and maybe even a reason to hold public discussions about what has long been a taboo here: obtaining nuclear weapons of its own. In this respect, progress toward denuclearizing North Korea could backfire.

Another major security consideration for Japan is China and its efforts to dominate the region. China’s strategy is to slow down North Korea’s denuclearization, weaken the United States’s alliance with South Korea, marginalize Japan and frustrate cooperation among the United States, South Korea and Japan — all goals that would actually be advanced if Mr. Trump takes an ambiguous stance on denuclearization.

Mr. Abe has welcomed the talks between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim as a chance to make progress on the issues that matter to Japan. But he now keenly realizes that his efforts at golf diplomacy — nearly 30 telephone calls and official meetings with Mr. Trump, including two at Mar-a-Lago — could not convince the American president that alliances are not transactional but based on trust. Mr. Trump has displayed too little consideration for Japan’s interests, especially given the importance of this relationship. As a result, Japan is both dangerously exposed to the threat posed by North Korea and largely disenfranchised in the current negotiations, and it could suffer even from progress made in the talks.

Yoichi Funabashi is chairman of the Asia Pacific Initiative, an independent think tank in Tokyo, and the author of “The Peninsula Question: A Chronicle of the Second Korean Nuclear Crisis.”

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/opinion/japan-north-korea-denuclearization-trump.html

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Trump announces June 12 summit in Singapore with North Korean leader, American prisoners released

David Nakamura and John Wagner — Thu, 10 May 2018 23:35:25 +0000

President Trump announced Thursday that he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, locking in a historic, high-stakes summit aimed at curbing the rogue nation’s nuclear weapons program.

Trump made the announcement via Twitter just hours after welcoming home three Americans held captive for more than a year in North Korea during a dramatic, overnight visit to meet their plane at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. The triumphant moment appeared to convince Trump to overcome any final hesitation about the summit, which has been viewed as a potential reward to an outlaw regime that has brutalized its populace and consistently flouted international laws.

“The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th,” Trump wrote in his tweet. “We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!”

But even as Trump projected optimism that the summit, the first between sitting leaders of the two countries, could achieve a breakthrough in the United States’ long antagonistic relationship with North Korea, critics began questioning parts of his strategy, including his sudden detente with Kim. During his trip to Andrews, Trump, who last year ridiculed Kim as “little rocket man,” thanked him for being “excellent to these three” Americans, who were released after spending more than a year each in captivity.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) sharply criticized Trump’s remarks in a speech on the Senate floor, calling Kim a “dictator” who “robbed them of their freedom.” One of the Americans reportedly asked to get off the U.S. government plane during a refueling stop in Anchorage on the way back from North Korea because he had not seen much daylight during his detention, Vice President Pence said in an interview on “Good Morning America.”

Kim Dong Chul, who had been held in North Korea since Oct. 2015 after being arrested while working in a special economic zone, told reporters at Andrews that he had been sentenced to do hard labor.

The release of the Americans “should not be exalted; it should be expected,” Schumer said. “It is no great accomplishment of Kim Jong Un to do this, and when the president does it he weakens American foreign policy and puts American citizens at risk around the world.”

Republicans rallied behind Trump, with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) calling on lawmakers to give the president “some leeway” in his management of the summit process.

“We’ve watched administrations of both parties not be able to achieve what we had all hoped for in North Korea, and that is a peninsula without nuclear weapons,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Fox News. “So this is as close as we’ve ever come. I think everybody’s a little bit cautious in dealing with the North Koreans for all the obvious reasons, but this is quite significant. We’ve gotten this far, and the president deserves all the credit for getting them in a different position.”

Trump cast the cooling of rhetoric as a way to enter the summit on “new footing.”

“This is a wonderful thing that he released the folks early,” he said at Andrews. “That was a big thing, very important to me, and I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful.”

To a question about Kim’s motivation, Trump said of the authoritarian leader: “I think he did this because I really think he wants to do something and bring that country into the real world. I really believe that.”

The Trump-Kim summit would be the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Past presidents, including Obama and George W. Bush, were reluctant to meet with the North Korean leadership over concerns that a summit would endorse the regime without securing meaningful commitments over denuclearization.

John O. Brennan, a former CIA director in the Obama administration, said he is concerned Kim is trying to “present an appearance of cooperation” to trick Trump into a summit meeting but will not agree to dismantling his nuclear arsenal.

“I do think that Kim Jong Un, who I despise because of the brutality he has put upon the North Korean people, unfortunately I think he has been masterful in how he has manipulated perceptions and how he has manipulated and quite frankly duped Mr. Trump,” Brennan said Thursday on MSNBC.

Trump had floated other possible locations for the summit. Two weeks ago, the president seemed enamored with the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea, where Kim met last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. That inter-Korea dialogue produced remarkable images of the two leaders holding hands while stepping back and forth over the heavily guarded dividing line. Trump ruminated on a “great celebration” to be had if he achieved his own breakthrough with Kim.

But White House aides, cautious about moving too quickly given the complicated, hard-knuckle negotiations to be had over denuclearization, eyed a third-party country. They looked to Europe, but focused more heavily on Southeast Asia, hoping to keep the summit close to the region, while avoiding countries such as China or Russia, which are geopolitical rivals to the United States. Questions over Kim’s willingness to travel long distances also played a role in the planning, officials said.

Singapore, a tiny island nation of 5.6 million that boasts one of the most advanced economies in Southeast Asia, made sense because it maintains diplomatic relations with North Korea, which has an embassy and ambassador in the country. Singapore’s ambassador based in Beijing also is responsible for Pyongyang.

“Singapore is an ideal location for this summit,” said David Adelman, an attorney at ReedSmith who served as U.S. ambassador to the nation from 2010 to 2013 under President Barack Obama.

“Really since its founding, Singapore has carefully cultivated a reputation where East meets West,” he said. “They take great pride in being a friend to all. And they’ve done a great job doing so.”

The country has been the site of other high-profile summits. It plays host to an annual regional security conference, called the Shangri-La Dialogue, which usually draws the U.S. defense secretary and top officials from China and other nations. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou met in Singapore, the first meeting between the leaders of those two countries in seven decades.

Some South Korean officials had hoped Trump would choose the demilitarized zone, in part because that would afford Moon a chance to potentially meet with the president quickly after his summit with Kim. Moon is scheduled to visit the White House on May 22 to brief Trump on his own meeting with Kim and discuss strategy ahead of Trump’s summit.

Singapore has enjoyed an increasingly close relationship with the United States. In 2012, the Obama administration agreed to upgrade Singapore to a strategic partner, and the countries signed an enhanced security agreement in 2015.

But Singapore also has rigorously sought to maintain good relationships with U.S. rivals, especially China, which has flexed its economic and military muscle as Beijing seeks to expand influence in Southeast Asia.

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founder, often cautioned that when two elephants fight in the jungle, the grass gets trampled — meaning that small countries must be careful to ensure they maximize their friendships among larger powers.

Trump had pushed countries around the world to cut diplomatic and economic ties to Pyongyang as part of his “maximum pressure” strategy. Singapore has sought to abide by U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea, experts said, but its lucrative ports have served as a central shipping hub for North Korean exports over the years.

The president’s visit to the island nation will come five days after he meets with the leaders of six other world powers — France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Japan and Canada — at the Group of 7 summit in Quebec. That setting offers Trump another chance to consolidate support for his negotiations with Kim and will give him another audience with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who remains skeptical about North Korea’s motives.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-announces-june-12-summit-in-singapore-with-north-korean-leader/2018/05/10/8f1ad3ac-5438-11e8-9c91-7dab596e8252_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d34ca188205e

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China Vows to Play a ‘Constructive Role’ in Resolving the Korean Peninsula Issue

Charlotte Gao — Thu, 03 May 2018 16:34:14 +0000

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, second right, meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, May 2, 2018.

Image Credit: AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin

Chinese foreign minister is visiting North Korea now and Chinese premier is to visit Japan soon.

The world’s attention has been fixed upon the rapidly changing Korean Peninsula for months. As the critical moment that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un to meet with the U.S. President Donald Trump is approaching, China has vowed to play a “constructive role” in resolving the Korean Peninsula issue.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to North Korea from May 2 to 3. He is the first Chinese foreign minister to visit the regime since 2007. Previously, China tended to rely more on the connections between the two ruling parties. As The Diplomat reported earlier, last November — when the North Korean crisis reached a boiling point — China sent Song Tao, who holds the position of minister of the international liaison department of the Chinese Communist Party, to North Korea in the name of party-to-party liaison rather than country-to-country diplomacy.

Wang’s latest visit came just days after the historic meeting between Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, where both leaders agreed to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

At the regular press briefing on May 2, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying explained that Wang’s current visit is “an important measure” for China and North Korea to “follow through on the consensus of the two state leaders and strengthen high-level exchange and strategic communication.”According to the Chinese foreign ministry, on May 2 Wang met with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho after landing in Pyongyang. During the meeting, Wang emphasized that China “fully supports” North Korea’s commitment to the denuclearization of the peninsula, the legitimate concerns of North Korea’s security, and the improving relations between the both Koreas.

Hua highlighted that China “has always stayed committed to realizing the denuclearization of the Peninsula.”

She added:

We hope to work with various parties to consolidate and carry on the positive momentum on the Peninsula and continue to make positive efforts and play a constructive role for the final settlement of the Peninsula issue.

China is indeed actively working with various parties now. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is to visit Japan next week. On May 9, Li will have talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea’s President Moon — the first trilateral talks between the countries since 2015. Beside the topics of trade and business, the Korean Peninsula issue is undoubtedly on the top of the agenda.

Also on May 2, a Blue House official told South Korean media that Seoul aims to keep U.S. troops stationed in South Korea even after a final peace treaty is signed between the two Koreas.

“The government’s position is that the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is playing the role of a mediator between major powers surrounding the country, such as China and Japan, ” the anonymous official said.

This position, if true, will undoubtedly influence China’s decisionmaking down the road.

On the specific issue, Hua, at the press briefing, didn’t provide a clear response but said that China “maintains that the temporary armistice mechanism should be replaced by a permanent peace regime on the Peninsula. We hope that all relevant parties should work together for this goal through dialogue and negotiation. ”

Source: https://thediplomat.com/2018/05/china-vows-to-play-a-constructive-role-in-resolving-the-korean-peninsula-issue/

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CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un over Easter weekend

Samuel Chamberlain - Fox News — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 04:31:00 +0000

CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un over Easter weekend in an effort to lay the groundwork for a summit between Kim and President Trump, Fox News has confirmed.

Pompeo’s trip, which was first reported by The Washington Post, came to light hours after Trump told reporters that the U.S. and North Korea are holding direct talks at “extremely high levels” in preparation for what would be an extraordinary meeting following months of heated rhetoric over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

The White House and the CIA declined to comment to Fox News about Pompeo’s visit.

“The administration does not comment on the CIA Director’s travel,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

Trump, who welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to his Florida resort Tuesday, said five locations for the potential summit are under consideration. The president would not disclose the sites but said the U.S. was not among them.

“We’ll either have a very good meeting or we won’t have a good meeting,” Trump told reporters. “And maybe we won’t even have a meeting at all, depending on what’s going in. But I think that there’s a great chance to solve a world problem.”

The president did not answer shouted questions about whether he has spoken with Kim.

Kim’s offer for a summit was initially conveyed to Trump by South Korea last month, and the president shocked many when it was announced that he had accepted. U.S. officials have indicated over the past two weeks that North Korea’s government has communicated directly with Washington that it is ready to discuss its nuclear weapons program.

Abe, who has voiced fears that short- and medium-range missiles that pose a threat to Japan might not be part of the U.S. negotiations, praised Trump on Tuesday for his bravery in agreeing to meet with the North Korean dictator.

“I’d like to commend Donald’s courage in his decision to have the upcoming summit meeting with the North Korean leader,” Abe said.

Trump also confirmed that North and South Korea are working to negotiate an end to hostilities before next week’s meeting between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae In. The meeting will be the third inter-Korean summit since the Koreas’ 1945 division.

North Korea has long sought a peace treaty with the U.S. to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. But it is unusual for the North to seek to broach the issue directly with South Korea rather than with Washington. The armistice that ended the fighting was signed by the United Nations Command — the U.S.-led forces in the conflict — North Korea and China. South Korea was a member of the U.N. Command but was not a direct signatory.

Trump said Tuesday that the two Koreas “have my blessing to discuss the end of the war.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Serafin Gomez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/04/17/cia-director-mike-pompeo-met-with-kim-jong-un-over-easter-weekend.html

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Bolton meets S Korean, Japanese national security advisers

Matthew Pennington — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 05:57:53 +0000

U.S. President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser held talks Thursday with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, as the U.S. gears up for an unprecedented summit with North Korea.

Bolton met with Chung Eui-yong, the South Korean official who last month conveyed Kim’s offer to Trump to talk about “denuclearization” and halt nuclear and missile tests. Chung was then given the unexpected duty of announcing to journalists in the White House driveway Trump’s surprise agreement to hold a meeting.

South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, is due to hold his own summit with Kim on April 27.

Bolton also held talks with Japan’s Shotaro Yachi, whose prime minister, Shinzo Abe, will meet Trump at his Florida resort on Tuesday.

Abe has fostered personal ties with Trump and has been a strong supporter of the U.S.-led campaign of sanctions against North Korea to compel it to negotiate on its nuclear program after a long hiatus in talks.

During his second trip to Mar-a-Lago, Abe will be seeking reassurance that Japan’s interests won’t be overlooked at the Trump-Kim summit.

The Japanese leader has said he’s worried that North Korean security threats to Japan, including short- and medium-range missiles, may not be discussed, and that Trump will focus on intercontinental ballistic missiles that threaten America.

The differing perspectives of the allies, which both host U.S. forces but have sharp historic differences, could complicate Washington’s management of policy on North Korea.

A spokesman at the National Security Council said Chung and Yachi are the first national security advisers to meet with Bolton since he took office this week.

Trump on Thursday praised the role of China, currently in a standoff on trade tariffs with the U.S., in pressuring North Korea. He predicted his meeting with Kim would be “terrific.”

“I think we’re going with a lot of respect, and we’ll see what happens. So we’ve come a long way. But China has really helped us at the border, and we appreciate it,” Trump said at a meeting with governors and senators on trade and agriculture at the White House.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/politics/bolton-meets-with-skorea-japan-national-security-advisers

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Chinese government wary as Japan unveils first marine unit since WWII

Yoko Wakatsuki, Ben Westcott and Brad Lendon, CNN — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 07:10:10 +0000

Japan’s new amphibious rapid deployment brigade training on Saturday, April 7.

(CNN) The Chinese government has reacted warily to the establishment of a new Japanese amphibious special unit, designed to repel invasions on Japan’s remote islands.

Japan and China have a long history of territorial disputes over islands in the East China Sea, in particular a rocky, uninhabited island chain known as the Diaoyu Islands in Beijing and the Senkaku in Tokyo.

The Japanese Self Defense Force debuted their newly formed Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB) on Saturday, at a military display near Sasebo, on the southwestern tip of Kyushu Island.

Japan’s new amphibious rapid deployment brigade training on Saturday, April 7.

About 1,500 members of the new unit conducted a public exercise, camouflaged with khaki stripes, imitating recapturing a Japanese island from an invading army.

The unit gives Japan its first marine troops since World War II.

In an editorial on Sunday, Chinese state media tabloid Global Times said Asia needed to watch Japan’s “militarism revival.”

“Some question if the Japanese government may consider using safeguarding territorial integrity as an excuse to revive militarism, to which regional countries must stay on high alert,” the article said.

Tensions have regularly flared between China and Japan over the islands in the East China Sea, including in 2017 when three Chinese Coast Guard ships sailed near to the islands, sparking a diplomatic
war of words.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday Japan’s military moves were being followed closely by their Asian neighbors “for historical reasons.”

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have been strained since the end of the Second World War, stemming from the Japan’s wartime occupation of mainland China.

Japan’s amphibious forces growing.

The new Japanese unit was announced by Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera at the Ministry of Defense on March 31, who said it would be composed of about 2,100 personnel.

“In the event of an invasion of a remote island, its task will be promptly landing on the island and regaining and securing it,”

Onodera said at a press conference.

Split into two amphibious deployment regiments, the unit is equipped with amphibious vehicles and will continue training with US military forces, a Japan Self Defense Forces press release said.

China sails into disputed waters, prompting protest by Japan

Defense Minister Onodera added the brigade would continue training with US-built military aircraft, the V-22 Ospreys, which can be used for long-range flights and take off and land like helicopters.

Japan’s naval forces also have ships well-suited to amphibious operations, including its helicopter destroyers, four of which have been commissioned in the past decade.

Those ships, which look a lot like a small aircraft carrier, could be configured to carry stealthy F-35B fighter jets, which can land vertically. They are also platforms that accommodate the V-22.

Despite the activation of the new unit and the hardware supporting it, Japan’s marines are far from being an effective fighting force, according to Grant Newsham, senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies.

Newsham said in a blog post Japan must be able to integrate the marines with its air and naval forces.

“Amphibious operations are complex, effectively three-dimensional as they involve operations afloat, ashore, and in the air,” Newsham wrote on the Japan Forward website. If other branches can’t deliver and protect a landing force, it won’t accomplish its mission, he said.

The Chinese government has repeatedly said it would be prepared to defend the islands claimed by Beijing in the East China Sea if they were taken by force.

On March 31, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang called on Japan to “adopt a correct historical view” after the government approved a series of education textbooks labelling the Senkaku Islands as undisputed Japanese territory.”

China resolutely defends its territorial sovereignty and any attempt to infringe upon China’s sovereignty over Diaoyu Islands will be futile,” Lu said according to Xinhua.

Japan’s military revival

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has long sought to change his country’s pacifist constitution, adopted after the Second World War, to allow Japan to maintain armed forces.

In May 2017, Abe said he wanted to have the constitution altered and a new version in place by 2020. “I strongly wish to make 2020 the year that the reborn Japan will make a new start,” he said at the time.

Japanese leader sets 2020 deadline for changing pacifist constitution.

In recent years, aggressive actions by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, including firing missiles over Japanese territory, have given Abe’s complaints about the constitution a sense of urgency.

Currently Japan has a military known as the Self-Defense Forces, but the constitution bars it from “the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.”

Despite the constitution and its restrictions, Japan maintains one of the strongest armed forces in the world, according to analysts.

But Japan’s military revival is controversial in the Asian region, particularly in China and South Korea, due to deep sensitivities about the country’s role in World War II.

Speaking on Monday, a rival to Abe inside his Liberal Democratic Party warned against a hurried push towards revising the constitution, saying the ruling party needed to consider “how we distribute our political energy,” according to local media.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/09/asia/china-japan-island-drill-intl/index.html

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China ‘still a player’ on North Korea, despite Trump-Kim talks, Japanese official says

Teddy Ng — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 15:52:18 +0000

Peace and stability in Asia will top agenda at upcoming summit between Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul, former foreign minister says.

China still has a significant role to play on the North Korea nuclear issue, regardless of the planned talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to a former Japanese foreign minister.

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.”

The China-Japan-South Korea summit was last held in November 2015, but was subsequently suspended as ties between the three countries deteriorated amid territorial disputes, grievances related to the second world war, Seoul’s deployment of a US-led anti-missile defence system, and a change of administration in South Korea.

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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Seoul to closely cooperate with China, Japan to tackle North Korea issue

Jennie Oh — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 02:16:10 +0000

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon (L) meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) in Tokyo, Japan 13 March 2018. Suh recently met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and discussed the prospect of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Photo by EPA-EFE/KIM KYUNG-HOON.

March 13 (UPI) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys visited regional leaders to rally support on tackling North Korea-related issues, following their meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Last week, Moon’s security adviser Chung Eui-yong and National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon brokered a breakthrough agreement between Pyongyang and Washington to discuss denuclearization.

Chung headed to Beijing to meet with President Xi Jin Ping on Monday, News 1 reported.

He shared the outcome of his meetings with the North Korean and U.S. leaders and reportedly delivered President Moon’s invitation for Xi to visit South Korea.

Xi reportedly said he actively backs the effort to improve and reconcile relations between the South and North, expressing hope for a successful summit between the two Koreas next month as well as between the North and the United States in May.

The Chinese leader also reiterated Beijing’s stance on supporting and playing an active role in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and resolving the North’s nuclear crisis through dialogue.

He called for stronger communication between the South and China in dealing with major issues.

Meanwhile, Suh held a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday, a day after meeting with Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

According to Suh, Abe expressed support for denuclearization talks between the North and the United States, emphasizing that Pyongyang should take “concrete” steps toward dismantling its nuclear program.

He called for continued trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington in resolving the North’s nuclear issue as well as the regime’s kidnapping of Japanese citizens.

In his meeting with the Japanese foreign minister the day before, the South Korean spy chief reportedly agreed to cooperate in resolving the abduction issue and that upcoming summits with the North must yield concrete steps toward denuclearization, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.

While Suh returns to Seoul, Chung is set to make a two-day trip to Moscow to consult Russian officials.