Their meeting “constitutes a step further in the walk of peace, not only on that peninsula but in the entire world.” Pope Francis.
May God guide them and watch over them.
It has been an interesting week in US-China relations. As recently as a few of weeks ago, China had been threatening to blacklist foreign companies that “sided” with the US in the ongoing trade war.
The move to establish the blacklist came after the United States hit Huawei with an export ban, effectively barring US companies from doing business with the smartphone and telecom equipment maker.
The ban was designed to keep the nation’s networks secure from foreign adversaries. The concern is that the company’s products could offer the Chinese government a way to spy on sensitive US communications. Huawei denied the accusations.
In the middle of May, Xi Jinping, China’s leader, had warned his people of a new “Long March.” “We are here at the starting point of the Long March to remember the time when the Red Army began its journey,” Xi told cheering crowds in Jiangxi province. “We are now embarking on a new Long March, and we must start all over again.” Jiangxi province is the site of the Red Army’s retreat in 1934-36. Xi appeared to be warning his people that hardships lay ahead.
As noted yesterday, Asia, specifically China, is providing some interesting bits of news this week. On Sunday some 2 million Hong Kongers protested in the streets over China’s attempt to subvert their rights within their legal justice system. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive officer, may have been the target of their immediate anger. However, clearly China is their concern.
The heavy-handed response by Lam, rubber bullets and tear gas, against protesters who were peaceful has brought at least silent condemnation from most of the civilized world. This was no UC-Berkley protest. There were no fires in the streets. There were no broken windows. There was no looting. Emergency vehicles that needed to get through were allowed to pass. There were more than 70 injuries from the police response.
For Memorial Day weekend, let us remember those who protected our right to be free.
The Hanoi meetings ended early when the two sides could not come to an agreement regarding the removal of nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula. The MSM was quick to jump on this as a failure for PDJT. However, failure is not the word I would use.
There is every sign that this is just a stage in getting the North Koreans to understand that they must give up the strategy of confrontation and isolation. Instead, they need to open up to the outside world and to the possibilities that market economies can generate.
Clearly much progress has been made as a result of the two meetings. The possibility of war has been reduced. In 2016 North Korea crowed that the Obama administration’s “strategic patience” policy had allowed it to get armed with nuclear weapons. At the time Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s main newspaper, said North Korea needed to develop nuclear weapons to protect itself from Washington’s “hostile policy” toward Pyongyang.
When North Korea held its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9, 2016, the Obama administration responded with the following statement: