The Hermit Kingdoms

The US formally seeks the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, a process China has accused both Canada and the US of abusing:

The United States will proceed with the formal extradition from Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, Canada’s ambassador to the United States told the Globe and Mail, as Beijing vowed to respond to Washington’s actions. 

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A Chinese official is accusing Canada and the U.S. of abusing the extradition system after the Globe and Mail published a report saying officials in the U.S. will soon proceed with a formal extradition request for Meng Wanzhou. ...

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Tuesday said that both countries had abused the extradition agreement in Meng's case. 

Anyone with fair judgment would determine that Canada made a "serious mistake" in this matter, she told a regular news briefing.

She also had strong words for the U.S., saying that China strongly urges the U.S. to correct its "mistake," cancel the arrest order for Meng and not make a formal extradition request.

This Huawei:

Canada should ban China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from supplying equipment to Canadian 5G networks because the security risk is too great, a former spy chief said in an article published on Monday.  

China’s ambassador last week threatened repercussions if Ottawa blocked Huawei, a warning the Canadian government dismissed. Relations between the two nations have soured since a top Huawei executive was arrested in Vancouver last month on a U.S. extradition warrant. 

Canadian officials are studying the security implications of 5G networks, the latest generation of cellular mobile communications, but their report is not expected in the immediate future, a source close to the matter said last week. 

Richard Fadden, who served as the head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spy agency from 2009 to 2013, cited what he said was mounting evidence for blocking Huawei. 

“Canada’s government should ignore the threats and ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G networks to protect the security of Canadians,” he wrote in the Globe and Mail. 

Some Canadian allies have already imposed restrictions on using Huawei equipment, citing the risk of espionage. 

This China:

President Xi Jinping stressed the need to maintain political stability in an unusual meeting of China’s top leaders -- a fresh sign the ruling party is growing concerned about the social implications of the slowing economy.

Xi told a “seminar” of top provincial leaders and ministers in Beijing on Monday that the Communist Party needed greater efforts “to prevent and resolve major risks,” the official Xinhua News Agency said. He said areas of concern facing the leadership ranged from politics and ideology to the economy, environment and external situation.

“The party is facing long-term and complex tests in terms of maintaining long-term rule, reform and opening-up, a market-driven economy, and within the external environment,” Xi said, according to Xinhua. “The party is facing sharp and serious dangers of a slackness in spirit, lack of ability, distance from the people, and being passive and corrupt. This is an overall judgment based on the actual situation.”

Although Xi has issued similar warnings, including in February 2018, Monday’s statements contained signs of greater urgency. The mention of the “serious” threats to the party’s “long-standing rule” appeared new.

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China slammed the U.S. for warning Israel over investments by Chinese tech giants Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., calling its actions “ridiculous.”

“The U.S. has been abusing the idea of ‘national security,’ slandering and striking down the normal commercial activities of Chinese enterprises,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing in Beijing on Monday. “The U.S. has been ignoring the facts and is being extremely nervous, mistaking each bush and tree for the enemy and mistaking the shadow of a bow in one’s cup as a snake.”

“Even its allies find it ridiculous,” she said.

Does China think it can order everyone around?

I guess it does.


Also:

Andrew Scheer has been clear in his rejection of ‘free trade’ with China, taking a stand that Justin Trudeau has been unwilling to take.

However, with China’s continued mistreatment and disrespect towards Canadians – and with the world waking up to how the Communist State is a growing threat – the Conservatives need to go even further.

During their time in power, the Harper Conservatives signed a so-called Foreign Investment Protection Agreement with China – a deal that is disastrous for Canada.

Here’s why it’s so bad:

The deal lets the Communist State secretly challenge Canadian laws in an international court, and if Canada loses in that international court there’s nothing we can do about it.

There was no public debate or real discussion in Parliament about the deal – and many Conservative backbench MPs were deeply disturbed by it.

When Canada loses lawsuits brought by China, that info can be kept hidden from the public under the terms of the FIPA deal.

The deal lets Chinese citizens who own even a minority stake in a Canadian company sue Canada under the FIPA international courts.

The deal locked Canada in for 15 years, and even if it was cancelled, China would get protections under the deal for another 15 years. Of course, since the Communist State regularly unilaterally breaks trade rules, Canada could announce our unilateral cancellation of the agreement.

As law professor Gus Van Harten said about it, Canada is more exposed to potential ‘claims and corresponding constraints’ than China is under FIPA.

Thanks, Steve.



And:

Chinese authorities have collected more than 11 billion yuan ($1.62 billion) in unpaid taxes from celebrities and entertainment companies since they hit the industry with a crackdown, state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

Moving on ...



Donald Trump believes "historic achievements" have been made between his nation and North Korea:

US President Donald Trump identified his nuclear talks with North Korea as among his greatest achievements in the first half of his first term, amid hopes for substantial results from the second summit between Pyongyang and Washington next month.

In the “historic results of President Donald Trump’s first two years in office,” issued by the White House on Sunday, the US administration said he brought the beginning of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula by holding a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, referring to their meeting in Singapore last June. 

Yes, about that:

North Korea has developed a substantial arsenal of biological weapons that could be a bigger threat than its nuclear arms, it has been reported.

Experts have warned that the country’s nuclear programme has been a distraction from its capability of spreading anthrax, smallpox and other deadly diseases.

Scientists say US president Donald Trump’s administration have paid too little attention to the biological threat, as he gears up for another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

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North Korea appears to be hoping to increase pressure on Seoul over inter-Korean projects and human rights concerns ahead of the second US-North Korea summit.

North Korean media and propaganda websites on Monday said Seoul was being swayed by the US with regard to inter-Korean projects, while accusing the UN of creating friction between the two Koreas. 

The Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North’s ruling party, on Monday claimed that UN human rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana’s activities in the South were “very inappropriate behavior” and were working against developments on the Korean Peninsula.

This development:

North Korean propaganda outlets ramped up calls for full-scale economic cooperation with South Korea on Tuesday, saying that outside intervention should not stand in the way of cross-border exchanges.

The North has been making near-daily appeals for full-fledged cooperation and exchanges with South Korea since leader Kim Jong-un said in his New Year's Day address that he wants to restart two lucrative cross-border economic cooperation projects.

"Outside meddling and intervention that blocks our people's reconciliation, unity and unification should never be tolerated," Meari, a propaganda outlet, said in an article.

Why should a communist regime that has threatened South Korea and the US be stymied by a few sanctions? What's a little greed between two nations?