https://www.scmp.com/rss/324976/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Two North Korean actions during the past week demonstrate how paramount leader Kim Jong-un senses that, with China’s help, he has reversed the balance of leverage between his country and the United States over the last year and a half. On Thursday, Pyongyang announced it had tested a new type of “tactical guided weapon,” with no additional details. Later the same day, senior North Korean foreign ministry official Kwon Jong-gun made a public statement calling on Washington to replace Secretary of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-has-turned-tables-us/article/3007138?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-has-turned-tables-us/article/3007138?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2019 09:54:52 +0000 Two North Korean actions during the past week demonstrate how paramount leader Kim Jong-un senses that, with China’s help, he has reversed the balance of leverage between his country and the United States over the last year and a half. On Thursday, Pyongyang announced it had tested a new type of “tactical guided weapon”, with no additional details. Later the same day, senior North Korean foreign ministry official Kwon Jong-gun made a public statement calling on Washington to replace Secretary of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3007023/north-koreas-latest-moves-show-how-kim-jong-un-has-turned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3007023/north-koreas-latest-moves-show-how-kim-jong-un-has-turned?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Apr 2019 07:15:08 +0000 The US defence community has adopted what it calls a Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy (FOIP), raising questions about the intent behind the new terminology. How much US policy will change is not yet clear, but an undeniable and important signal from the FOIP is a heightened sense of alarm about China. The term “Indo-Pacific” reflects the US Navy’s argument that in practice, there is no logic to separating the Pacific and Indian Oceans. US operations require seamless movement between the two... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2187390/chinas-own-actions-have-spurred-hawkish-us-turn-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2187390/chinas-own-actions-have-spurred-hawkish-us-turn-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Feb 2019 08:00:53 +0000 After peaking two months ago with the Singapore Summit, hopes for a peaceful resolution of the long-running North Korea nuclear crisis have sunk into the mire of political and historical obstacles. Before 2018, outsiders knew North Korea as a failing and anachronistic political and economic system that had repeatedly cheated its seemingly long-overdue death through a foreign policy of intimidation, stubbornness, playing adversaries against each other, and occasional flashes of conciliation that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2159134/two-months-after-trump-kim-summit-north-korea-hasnt-changed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2159134/two-months-after-trump-kim-summit-north-korea-hasnt-changed?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Aug 2018 11:00:00 +0000 Despite the perception that Beijing may be committed to politically reunifying Taiwan – by force if necessary – before Xi Jinping retires as paramount leader, US analysts continue to see an attempted invasion of Taiwan as prohibitively risky for China. As China’s soft power proves ineffective, Beijing relies more heavily on coercion to force political unification on Taipei. China will continue in the coming years to enlarge the gap between its total military power and that of Taiwan, but this... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2156237/what-would-us-do-if-beijing-decided-take-taiwan-force?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2156237/what-would-us-do-if-beijing-decided-take-taiwan-force?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Jul 2018 12:32:16 +0000 The actual meeting of US President Donald Trump and North Korean paramount leader Kim Jong-un marks the end of what could be called the pre-summit period. In a sense this was the first round of negotiation. Because much of this negotiation was public, whether the United States or North Korea won the pre-summit negotiations can be assessed by comparing each side’s agenda against the concessions made by the other side. Both governments had their respective victories, but Kim was the bigger... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2149476/singapores-trump-kim-summit-north-korea-wins-first-round-3-2?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2149476/singapores-trump-kim-summit-north-korea-wins-first-round-3-2?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Jun 2018 03:45:00 +0000 As the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme has intensified, the focus of many outsiders has shifted from the country’s leader – often and inaccurately described as crazy – to US policy on the issue. In recent days there have been reports suggesting the US might attempt to solve the crisis through military means. Last month, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported the Trump administration was considering a surgical strike on North Korea’s nuclear or missile infrastructure. A... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2128029/dont-be-confused-trumps-mixed-messages-us-approach-north-korea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2128029/dont-be-confused-trumps-mixed-messages-us-approach-north-korea?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jan 2018 10:33:08 +0000 Oil has been an important factor in several wars in the modern era. The US oil embargo against Japan in 1941 led to a Japanese strategic decision that included the attack on Pearl Harbour. Many critics of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 allege the conflict was chiefly about the control of oil supplies. Now oil is emerging as an important issue in the North Korea nuclear weapons crisis. Washington and Pyongyang appear to be on course for a military clash that could easily escalate into a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2127071/full-oil-embargo-against-north-korea-even-possible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2127071/full-oil-embargo-against-north-korea-even-possible?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Jan 2018 01:32:36 +0000 Accustomed to the privileges of being a superpower, Americans have a low tolerance for insecurity. They cannot abide the notion that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) government, which Americans generally believe is both irrational and extremely hostile, will soon be able to hit the US homeland with a nuclear missile. In Hawaii, for example, public anxiety over North Korea recently caused the state government to release guidelines for coping with “nuclear detonation”. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2107403/why-north-korea-nuclear-crisis-will-return-vengeance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2107403/why-north-korea-nuclear-crisis-will-return-vengeance?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Aug 2017 03:11:49 +0000