Asia - Page 6

Contents: Vietnam government surprised by widespread anti-China and anti-government protests; Anti-government protests grow in Vietnam along with anti-China protests

News organizations across Asia responded to the Singapore summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un with a mixture of cynicism and guarded optimism on Tuesday.

North Korea’s state media outlets extensively covered dictator Kim Jong-un’s departure to Singapore on Sunday to meet President Donald Trump, calling the meeting “historic” and telling readers the two leaders will share “wide-ranging and profound views” on everything from denuclearization to ending the Korean War.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is prepared to take actions to provide North Korea with “sufficient certainty” that denuclearization “is not something that ends badly for them.”

Chinese authorities have blocked internet searches for all words and articles deemed critical to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, a report from South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency revealed Thursday.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that he would resign if all the women in the Philippines sign a petition calling for him to quit in response to widespread outrage after he forced a married woman to kiss him on stage in South Korea.

Multiple South Korean newspapers reported on Monday that North and South Korea seek to declare an official end to the Korean War, perhaps as soon as on the date of the scheduled summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean communist dictator Kim Jong-un, June 12.

The Chinese Communist Party, under Xi Jinping, has expanded its religious crackdown on Islam and Christianity to Taoism. In a column Friday, the Global Times cites a “patriotic” Taoist priest who insists the native Chinese religion is not Chinese enough without “core socialist values.”

An official in South Korea’s presidential palace, the Blue House, told the South Korean news service Yonhap that leftist President Moon Jae-in could participate in the possible summit between North Korean communist dictator Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The communist government of China, which has poured billions into the country, did not congratulate Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on the completion of a presidential election widely considered fraudulent in the free world, instead referring to the election as a domestic matter on Monday.

North Korea reportedly charged international reporters $10,000 each for flight visas to cover the shutdown of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, scheduled to occur sometime between May 23 and 25

China’s state-run Global Times newspaper reported on Monday that over 11.14 million instances of individuals not being able to board flights – and 4.25 million similar incidents on trains – had occurred “by the end of April.”

A bipartisan bill called the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA) seeks an addition $1.5 billion in annual defense spending for the next five years, for a total of $7.5 billion, to counter Chinese influence in the region.

Former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho, who defected and now operates out of South Korea, warned in a press conference Monday that the “final destination” of the Kim regime is to possess nuclear weapons and that, in his estimation, Kim Jong-un “will never give them up.”

Contents: North Korea schedules dismantling of nuclear test site as TV ceremony; North Korea offers series of theatrical noncommittal gestures; The most likely Kim-Trump meeting outcome: Mutual accusations and recriminations

North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Saturday that the communist regime would hold a ceremony on a date between May 23 and 25 to permanently shut down the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, and journalists from five countries, including the United States, were invited to attend.

A study by two British economists this week estimated that the reconstruction of North Korea to bring it into alignment with South Korea in the case of reunification would cost at least $2 trillion, money that South Korea would largely be responsible for.

WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly told North Korean officials on Monday that the United States will help the communist country with its economy if it is willing to dismantle its illegal nuclear weapons program.

The future of Christianity overseas looks “bleak” if U.S.-based Christians continue to ignore the persecution of their spiritual brothers and sisters in places like the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, Frank Gaffney, the president of the Center for Security Policy think tank, suggested on Thursday.

North Korean state media quoted dictator Kim Jong-un as stating in talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday that his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump would be an “excellent first step toward promotion of the positive situation development in the Korean peninsula,” the first mention of the meeting in state media.

For the first time since dictator Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump agreed to an unprecedented in-person meeting, North Korea’s state media – the only media available to North Korean citizens – reported on Kim’s ongoing diplomacy with the United States on Thursday.

China’s state-run Global Times newspaper reported Wednesday that the nation’s religious regulation agency has drafted new rules to “protect foreigners’ religious beliefs” by demanding they rigorously detail their religious activity in the country when participating in “group religious activities.”

In a totally unexpected development, the defection of a high-level North Korean official has caught both North Korea and the U.S. by surprise days before the yet-to-be-scheduled meeting between President Donald Trump and dictator Kim Jong Un.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on a flight to North Korea Wednesday that the United States is “not going to relieve sanctions” without having fully eliminated the threat from Kim Jong-un’s rogue communist regime, despite the reported release of unjustly imprisoned Americans in the country.

Chinese state media confirmed on Tuesday that this week, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un made his second visit in as many months to China, attending a “welcome banquet” that Xi Jinping said made him “feel happy” about their relationship.

Contents: Cambodia’s dictatorial Hun Sen forces sale of independent Phnom Penh Post; Phnom Penh Post had a combative relationship with Hun Sen

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in North Korea Wednesday for the first visit by a Chinese top diplomat to Pyongyang in 11 years. Wang told high-level North Korean officials that China “supports and congratulates” dictator Kim Jong-un’s new policy of diplomacy with South Korea.

American media outlets circulated news reports Wednesday afternoon alleging that North Korea had “released” the three U.S. prisoners it is known to have placed in labor camps as punishment for crimes against the nation’s communist ideology.

Having significantly modified its tone on the nation’s illegal nuclear weapons program, North Korea’s state media outlets have turned their outrage towards American-style free societies, referring to democracy on Wednesday as the world’s “most reactionary and unpopular ruling system.”

Chinese state media urged citizens to work hard to benefit Beijing in celebration of International Workers’ Day, a Marxist holiday, on Tuesday, extensively quoting Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s assurance that “happiness is achieved through hard work.”

Contents: Armenia’s parliament refuses to support popular opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan; Nikol Pashinyan pledges loyalty to Russia, and everyone else; Armenia in a generational Awakening era

The leaders of nuclear-armed rivals China and India endorsed the ongoing efforts by representatives from both countries to reach a “mutually acceptable settlement” to the tensions along their border during an informal meeting over the weekend.

The office of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte published a list of over 200 elected officials in the country accused of ties to drug trafficking organizations on Monday, urging the public not to vote for them in upcoming elections.

North Korean state media reported Monday that dictator Kim Jong-un has proposed changing North Korea’s time zone to align with South Korea as it was for decades before Kim chose to move the time up by half an hour as a symbolic gesture against Japan.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met for the first time on their border today, reportedly discussing an end to the Korean War, family reunification, and joint infrastructure projects.

North Korea’s state media focused heavily on the nation’s relationship with China Thursday, highlighting a visit from a Chinese group and arrangements for the bodies of Chinese tourists killed in a recent accident while on a tour of communist sites in the country.