“And you know, you’re talking about thousands of years… and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China,” Trump went on. Beijing is Pyongyang’s sole major ally and Washington wants it to do more about the North’s nuclear and missile programmes, while the US has a security alliance with Seoul and stations more than 28,000 troops in South to defend it. The exact details of what Xi said and whether Trump accurately represented him are not known, but South Koreans are wary of Chinese expansionism, and politicians, historians and citizens have been outraged.The Korean peninsula has been heavily influenced by China politically and culturally for centuries. But while its ruling kingdoms sometimes paid tribute to their giant neighbour, South Korean historians stress they did not come under its territorial control, despite repeated invasions. Seoul’s foreign ministry spokesman countered: “The fact that Korea was not part of China for thousands of years is a clear historical fact acknowledged by the international community.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang declined to confirm the details of Xi’s wording, saying that: “The Korean people should not be worried about it.” But Seoul’s major JoongAng Ilbo daily said South Koreans had been “dumbfounded” by the Chinese leader. “If Trump really conveyed Xi’s words correctly, it is nothing but a grave challenge to the identity of the Korean people,” it said. South Korean historians and activists rallied outside the Chinese embassy on Friday to protest against Xi’s “absurd remarks”, Yonhap news agency reported.
Seoul and Beijing are at loggerheads over the deployment of the US missile defence system THAAD to the South to guard against threats from the North, infuriating China, which sees it as weakening its own capabilities. Beijing has imposed a series of moves including a ban on group tours to the South and suspensions of South Korean businesses in China, which are seen by Seoul as economic retaliation.
South Korea’s top-selling Chosun newspaper turned on both leaders, castigating Xi for his “premodern expansionist view” and Trump for a lack of awareness of diplomatic sensitivities. “The fact that Trump publicly disclosed such a remark (by Xi) demonstrates that he is completely ignorant about the history of the Korean peninsula,” it said in an editorial Friday.
The row came after South Koreans were dismayed by the revelation that the US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and a supporting battle group were still thousands of kilometres (miles) from the peninsula, despite the White House saying it was dispatching them to the area as tensions mounted with the North. Trump had described the vessels as an “armada” and “very powerful” and the revelation drew jeers and disappointment.
“What Trump said was very important for the national security of South Korea,” conservative South Korean presidential candidate Hong Joon-Pyo told the Wall Street Journal. “If that was a lie, then during Trump’s term, South Korea will not trust whatever Trump says.” The series of missteps demonstrate lack of communications within Trump’s nascent administration, said Bong Young-Shik, analyst at the Yonsei University’s Institute for North Korean Studies.
“Trump is an outsider inexperienced with how Washington works… and the co-ordination among his White House, the State Department and the Pentagon seems to be poor for now,” he told AFP. Relations between Seoul and Beijing are “at their lowest for years,” said Bong, and Trump’s description of Xi’s remark was likely to worsen them further, “whether he intended to or not.”
Fears of potential Korean conflict have mounted in recent weeks with Pyongyang showing no sign of any willingness to abandon its nuclear and missile programmes, and the US saying that military action was an “option on the table”. The North has vast amounts of artillery deployed within striking range of Seoul, putting the South Korean capital at risk of devastation in even a conventional conflict.
The carrier controversy illustrated Trump’s “unpredictable behaviour” that could lead to “disastrous events”, the Kyunghyang daily said. “We are worried whether the Trump administration… can properly handle a crisis on the Korean peninsula,” it added. “The South Korean government should brace itself against the ‘Trump Risk’.”
ance’s last presidential vote, Europe has seen a massive migrant crisis and a rise in populism, both contributing to the Brexit vote. None of the four main French candidates can afford to be neutral on the EU, whether they portray it as the source of all woes or a guarantee of peace and stability.
Like Macron, conservative candidate Francois Fillon is bullish on Brussels, highlighting the Franco-German leadershipp axis and defending the euro Both candidates met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the campaign. Arrayed on the other side are Le Pen, who advocates leaving the EU immediately, and hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who demands a renegotiations of key treaty provisions.
“Positions have hardened,” said Manuel Lafont Rapnouil of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Melenchon was very influenced by what happened to (Greek anti-austerity party) Syriza,” which gave in to European demands after months of crisis. Syriza, the party of Greek premier Alexis Tsipras, endorsed Melenchon, saying he “represents hope for change for France and Europe”.
Le Pen, on the other hand, “is riding the wave of Brexit” and Donald Trump’s surprise accession to the White House, he said. The ideological underpinnings of the two candidates’ eurosceptism are worlds apart, however. Le Pen stresses economic, monetary and territorial “sovereignty”, along with a “national preference” for French citizens in the workplace and the allocation of state benefits. Melenchon vows to end the “nightmare” of an EU that submits its members to “the dictatorship of the banks” and the austerity policies they impose.
But both promise a showdown with Brussels and say they are certain to come out on top given the strength of France within the bloc. Le Pen says she will launch six months of talks aimed at withdrawing France from the visa-free Schengen area, as well as from the euro, before calling a referendum on whether the French want to leave the EU – a so-called “Frexit”. For his part, Melenchon has a two-pronged approach summed up as “change the EU or leave it”: a Plan A by which France will renegotiate its membership terms and a Plan B for a unilateral Frexit.
On the eve of Sunday’s first round, Melenchon has toned down his euroscepticism, saying that he would prefer for France to stay in the EU and the eurozone. Le Pen has also adjusted her rhetoric, focusing more on FN staple issues such as immigration and security – the latter question surging to the fore after Thursday’s jihadist killing of a policeman in the Champs Elysees. On the pro-EU side, Macron says he has “Europe at heart”, wants to bolster the eurozone and is the only candidate who favours CETA, the free-trade agreement between the EU and Canada that will provisionally come into force in a few weeks.
Fillon, more protective of French sovereignty, wants a re-calibration of the balance of power between Brussels and EU members states. Jean-Dominique Giuliani of the Robert Schuman Foundation said both Fillon and Macron are too complacent with the status quo, calling the EU planks of their platforms “unimaginative”. Candidates should talk about the EU’s renewal and how France needs to revitalise its role within it, Giuliani said.
Jung Ha-Won, "South Korea outraged over Trump’s China comment," Business Recorder. 2017-04-23.Keywords: Political science , Nuclear weapons , Security alliance , Aircraft carrier , Migrant crisis , Unilateral frexit , Free trade agreement , Referendum , EU , US , CETA
