Eastern Asia

China is fuming. It has obviously had enough, it is reaching the limit. For decades it tried to appease the West, to play by international laws, to be a good and responsible member of the international community. And for decades it never interfered in the internal affairs of other countries, it sponsored no coups and attacked no foreign lands.
Even its counter-propaganda has been measured, polite and mild.

In the session of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) of North Korea convened on June 29 in Pyongyang, the National Defense Commission was announced to be replaced with the State Affairs Commission. According to the amended North Korean Constitution, the Chairman of this new institution is considered the supreme leader of the country.

On July 7, 2016, the United States included the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the sanctions list for human rights violations. The statement made by the U.S. Treasury lists a total of 15 individuals, including Kim Jong-un, and 8 organizations directly involved in human rights violations, tracking down defectors and carrying out censorship.

Perception is something we often take for granted. That’s very much the case in the world’s perception of the actions of the Peoples’ Republic of China regarding its claims to a number of offshore uninhabited rocks in the South China Sea and beyond. For the most of the collective Western mind, the perception is that Beijing has become hysterical, obsessive—in short, a bit mad—over its asserted claims of territory under various precepts of international law.

Alongside the sanctions against the Kim Jong-un, North Korea have been accused of another crime that sounds plausible to the average citizen of the civilized world. Human trafficking!

On June 30, leading global news agencies announced (with reference to the Japanese Ministry of Defense) that in “mid July” Japan is planning to post an international tender for the procurement of about 100 fifth generation jet fighters to upgrade the country’s air forces.

The decision to deploy the American ABM system in South Korea triggered a negative reaction in the Northeast Asia. Despite Park Geun-hye’s assurances that this measure was taken solely for the protection of South Korea and its population, and that THAAD ABM systems do not infringe upon the security of the neighboring countries, the reaction of the latter was far from approval.

International law prohibits the use of food as a weapon. However, the new sanctions declared by the United States drastically inhibit the ability of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to export coal and other commodities on the international market. The new sanctions are part of long history of the United States attacking North Korea’s economy and harming its ability to provide food for the population.

At first glance, the mid-term elections in Japan’s upper house of parliament held on July 10 this year may seem a quite ordinary event. However, their results will almost certainly have a fundamental influence on the development of the political situation in the whole Asia-Pacific Region.

There was not a single author’s publication dedicated to the pending installation of an American ABM system in South Korea, but, alas, the decision has been made.