As Chinese President Xi Jinping s hard-line policies beyond Chinese shores are squandering Beijing s soft power, doubts are emerging over Xi securing an unprecedented third term. The G7 last week called on Xi on everything from actions on Taiwan, incursions in cyberspace, human-rights abuses, fallout from its Belt and Road Initiative. The same week, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong received another 10-months in jail for his role in 2019 anti-government protests, writes William Pesek for Nikkei Asia. At the same time, he suspended a ministerial economic dialogue with Canberra, with his government hitting Prime Minister Scott Morrison s for a Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination .
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The G7 last week called on Xi on everything from actions on Taiwan, incursions in cyberspace, human-rights abuses, fallout from its Belt and Road Initiative.
Pesek wrote that China`s inner circle is miffed about Morrison`s questions, which everyone should be asking - on COVID-19 and its demands for a seat on the G7 table despite being irresponsible for the pandemic.
Beijing: As Chinese President Xi Jinping`s hard-line policies beyond Chinese shores are squandering Beijing`s soft power, doubts are emerging over Xi securing an unprecedented third term.
The G7 last week called on Xi on everything from actions on Taiwan, incursions in cyberspace, human-rights abuses, fallout from its Belt and Road Initiative.
Upgrading South Korean THAAD
At some point in the near future it will no longer be possible for South Korean policy to remain ambiguous.
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May 10, 2021
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The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean Peninsula is a contentious issue between China and South Korea, with China concerned that THAAD is aimed at its ICBM installations. South Korea and the United States argue that THAAD is purely defensive, aimed against the threat of North Korean missiles. Since it is in terminal mode, with a range of 1,000km, the THAAD radar, known as AN/TPY-2 is unable to detect Chinese ICBMs. A Pentagon report has revealed, however, that rapid conversion to forward-based mode is possible, within eight hours, extending the range to 3,000km with a 120-degree field of view.
Biden Must Push President Moon to Get Real on ROK-China Relations
Moon’s reluctance to hold the Chinese government accountable for its misdeeds underscores a challenge for the United States and other allied governments in bolstering regional cooperative efforts supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Anti-China sentiment is rising in South Korea (ROK), according to recent public opinion polls, social media, and online petitions. Chinese influence on Korean media and the increasing public awareness of Chinese economic and military aggression in the region help explain this phenomenon. Nevertheless, ROK President Moon Jae-in continues praising China for its leadership on regional and global issues and fails to acknowledge both Beijing’s overt territorial aggressions throughout the Indo-Pacific region and its human-rights abuses.