Geo-Strategic Trend - 162. page

On May 26, An Fengshan, a spokesperson for the State Taiwan Affairs Office in mainland China confirmed that China has arrested Lee Ming-cheh, a Taiwan citizen. Lee is an employee of a Non-Government Organization and a former volunteer for the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan.

An Fengshan stated that Lee was involved in the crime of “subversion of state power” and thus the police from Hunan Province arrested him. “State Security took forcible measures against Lee Ming-cheh accordingly to the law. After interrogation, Lee and others admitted that they had conducted activities to subvert our state security.”

The Mainland Affairs Council in Taiwan responded that the mainland’s statement was obscure and thus did not seem convincing to the Taiwan people or to the international community.

Source: China Times, May 27, 2017
http://www.chinatimes.com/cn/newspapers/20170527000776-260301

After talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters  that China regards Russia as an important strategic partner in building “The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road” (also known as “The Belt and Road Initiative”) together.

Wang said that President Vladimir Putin recently visited China to attend “The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation” and made an important contribution to the success of the Forum. China regards Russia as an important strategic partner to build the “Belt and Road” and believes that Russia will play a unique and irreplaceable role in the process.

Source: People’s Daily, May 27, 2017
http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0527/c1002-29305091.html

Wang Jian, a scholar at the Institute of Modern History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, published an article in the Japanese Journal (2017, No. 2 issue) titled, “The Evolution of Taiwan-Japan Relations in the 21st Century,” with the subtitle, “The Structural Contradictions between Taiwan and Japan and the Factors Impacting Future Trends.” The article pointed out that since the start of the 21st century, the relationship between Taiwan and Japan has undergone a series of changes. In Chen Shui-bian’s administration, there were frequent interactions in the political and security areas. The tendency toward “jurisprudential independence” made the Taiwan crisis even more prominent. After Ma Ying-jeou took office, he started the “flexible diplomacy” and initiated the “special partnership between Taiwan and Japan Year” program. The relations between Taiwan and Japan showed an upward trend which continued after the East Japan earthquake. Today difficult-to-reconcile structural contradictions between Japan and Taiwan still remain, including fishing rights in the Douglas Reef (Okino Tori Shima), the export ban on food from five Fukushima counties to Taiwan, and the Taiwan-Japan EPA negotiations. After Tsai Ing-wen came to power, the contradictions started to “intensify.” Taiwan-Japan relations gradually come down to the reality of interests from the too high “expectations” from the past. The factors affecting the relationship such as the Sino-U.S., Sino-Japanese, Japan-U.S. and the cross-strait relations are also being adjusted accordingly, but they will have more uncertainty. From the perspective of the Taiwan DPP authorities’ choice of foreign policy, the future relationship between Taiwan and Japan will be closer. Their alliance for common interests to compete against China’s mainland is still the biggest variable.

Source: People’s Daily, May 28, 2017
http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0528/c1002-29305819.html

While the United Nations has passed a resolution to restrict North Korea’s coal exports, there have been reports that China allowed some North Korean ships to dock or to unload their coal in China’s ports. China’s spokesperson gave an explanation for two incidents.

Geng Shuang, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on April 26, 2017:

Question: “According to what we know, six ships carrying coal from North Korea unloaded the coal in Tangshan port last week. This seems to contradict the Chinese government’s claim that China has not imported any North Korean coal since February 18. Could you please provide more information and explanation?”

Answer: “Due to the fact that some ships that carried North Korean coal were severely short of supplies, out of humanitarian consideration, China allowed them to unload the cargo. However that was not to allow its importation. Unloading and importing are two different things.”

Huang Songping, spokesperson for China’s General Administration of Customs, on April 13, 2017:

Lianhe Zaobao news reported that it asked about 10 North Korean ships that were allowed to dock at China’s port, which made observers wonder if (it meant that) China has not enforced the UN’s embargo.

Huang said that China’s Customs did not let that North Korean coal go through the import process. “Since China’s Customs did not allow the import, how to deal with the coal involved in shipping is something that is up to companies themselves to handle.”

Sources:
1. Sina, April 26, 2017
http://news.sina.com.cn/o/2017-04-26/doc-ifyepsra5643741.shtml
2. Lianhe Zaobao, April 14, 2017
http://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/greater-china/story20170414-748310