On April 12, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense released a National Defense Handbook, a wartime survival manual that provides the necessary information in the event of an impending war or other disasters. The move highlights Taiwan’s determination to improve its defense capabilities against the backdrop of continued tensions across the Taiwan Strait and growing voices inside mainland China calling for an armed attack on the island.

Liu Tai-yi, an official of the ministry’s All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency, said that the Handbook follows the practices of Sweden, Japan and other countries. It includes sections such as “Emergency Response QR Code,” “Air Raid Alert and Fire Evacuation,” “Building Collapse and Fire Response,” “Power Failure Response,” “Water Failure Response,”  “Medical Emergency,” “Shortage of Necessities Response,” “Disaster Prevention (War Preparedness) Materials and Rescue Preparation,” “Basic Knowledge of Survival,” “Emergency Reporting Line,” and “Reserve Military Mobilization Information.”

The handbook contains illustrations and references that suit people of different age groups. It also provides Q&A with the design of various wartime real-life scenarios, as well as the division of responsibilities of the central and local governments.

Source: Deutsche Welle (Chinese channel), April 12, 2022
https://p.dw.com/p/49pcD

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that, according to a survey titled, “New Government’s Economic and Foreign Security Policy Survey” that the National Economic Association of Korea released, 90 percent of South Koreans believe that the new government needs first to cooperate with the United States in the fields of the the economy, diplomacy and security. South Korea just completed its presidential election. As one of his initial activities after the election, President-elect Yoon Suk-Yeol has sent a coordination mission to the United States. In terms of South Korea-China relations, 84.9 percent of the respondents to the survey believed that even if there may be short-term difficulties, the new South Korean government should dare to speak out about the contradictions between the two countries. In the question set with a total score of 10 points on country favorability, the United States had the highest favorability score of 7 points, Japan had 3.7 points, and China had only 3.2 points. This latest poll tells us that the future of China-South Korea relations is not optimistic. Looking at the options for cooperation in the economic field, the poll showed only 4.3 percent favorability. Regarding “cooperation with North Korea, China, and Russia”, 68 percent agree “cooperation with the United States and Japan is necessary,” and 27.7 percent believe that “it is necessary to remain neutral.” Around 77.1 percent of the respondents support the new government’s policy of placing the US-Japan-Australia-India Security Dialogue (QUAD) at the top of its foreign policy and 69 percent support the phased participation of South Korea in QUAD.

Source: NetEase, April 4, 2022
https://c.m.163.com/news/a/H44QHFFA0534V2AI.html?spss=backflow-index-hotlist

Global Times (a newspaper under the CCP) recently reported that, for the first time, NATO’s foreign minister’s meeting invited Japan and South Korea. Experts reminded people to be vigilant regarding NATO’s globalization. NATO’s frantic eastward expansion is considered the “bane” of the Ukraine crisis. Now, NATO seems to have China on its mind. At a news conference, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said  that NATO’s foreign ministers will discuss NATO’s new strategic vision, which will, for the first time, “take into account China’s growing influence and coercive policies on the global stage.” According to the schedule that NATO released, NATO foreign ministers will hold talks with the foreign ministers of a series of “global partners,” including four Asia-Pacific countries: Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Nikkei Asia reported that this is the first time for a Japanese foreign minister to attend the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting. The same is true for the foreign minister of South Korea. The foreign ministers of four non-NATO countries in Europe, namely Ukraine, Sweden, Finland and Georgia, were also invited to attend the meeting. Experts expressed the belief that NATO is a geopolitical weapon and tool of the United States. They say its development goal is very clear. It is to build a global security system based on the interests and values of the United States and the West. In other words, NATO’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis is only a transitional process. Its deeper and long-term goal is China.

Source: Global Times, April 7, 2022
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/47VCIBCbst5