At the end of the year, the geopolitical situation in East Asia is affecting the expectations of the new year!
According to reports, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency recently announced a $300 million arms sale to China's Taiwan region to provide command, control, communications, computer lifecycle support, and related equipment. This morning, Wu Qian, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said that the United States' arms sales to China's Taiwan region have seriously violated the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, especially the "August 17 Communique," seriously undermined China's sovereignty and security, seriously threatened peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and sent a wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.
At the same time, the border between the two Koreas has also undergone drastic changes. Yonhap News Agency reported that the "United Nations Command" issued a statement on Tuesday (December 19) saying that considering that North Korean soldiers were carrying pistols, it was decided to give the security personnel of the joint security area the authority and qualifications to rearm to ensure the safety of the people and soldiers.
North Korea yesterday conducted training on the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) of the Hwasong-18 type using solid fuel. North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, observed the event and stressed that the training had made Washington aware of what North Korea would be prepared to do and what choices it would make if the United States made the wrong decision. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-hyun warned on a TV program on the 18th that if North Korea continues to provoke, South Korea and the United States may practice "beheading" operations against North Korean leaders.
The Ministry of Defense has spoken out
According to reports, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency recently announced a $300 million arms sale to China's Taiwan region to provide command, control, communications, computer lifecycle support, and related equipment.
This morning, the WeChat public account "Ministry of National Defense Release" issued a document saying that Wu Qian, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said that the United States' arms sales to China's Taiwan region seriously violated the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, especially the "August 17 Communique", seriously undermined China's sovereignty and security, seriously threatened peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and sent a wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.
The Taiwan issue has always been the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-US relations. We demand that the US stop arming Taiwan, earnestly translate its statement of non-support for "Taiwan independence" into concrete actions, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and refrain from going further and further down the wrong and dangerous path. "Using Taiwan to contain China" is doomed to failure, and "seeking independence by force" is a dead end. The Chinese People's Liberation Army has strengthened training and preparedness for war, resolutely defended national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely safeguarded peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
It is worth mentioning that this is the fifth US arms sale to Taiwan this year, and the 12th since US President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that the United States has flagrantly violated the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, especially the August 17 communiqué, and once again announced arms sales to China's Taiwan region, seriously undermining China's sovereignty and security interests, seriously jeopardizing peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and sending a seriously wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. The Chinese side strongly deplores and resolutely opposes this, and has lodged solemn representations with the US side.
The Taiwan issue is purely China's internal affair and brooks no foreign interference. No matter how many weapons the United States provides to the Taiwan region, it will not stop the historical process of China's reunification and shake the firm will of the Chinese people to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. China urges the US to implement its commitments to adhere to the one-China policy and not to support "Taiwan independence", stop arming Taiwan, stop creating tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and stop conniving at and supporting "Taiwan independence" separatist forces to "seek independence by force". China will eventually be reunified, and it will be reunified. China will take resolute and forceful measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and we will take countermeasures against relevant enterprises involved in arms sales to Taiwan.
The border between the two Koreas has changed dramatically
It can be said that today's world is in the midst of a trend towards conflict. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is still not over, the spillover impact of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict continues to expand, and the fire in East Asia seems to be arched by the United States.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the "United Nations Command" issued a statement on Tuesday (December 19) saying that considering that North Korean soldiers carry pistols, it has decided to give the authority and qualification of the guards of the joint security area to rearm to ensure the safety of the population and soldiers.
The "United Nations Command" made the decision after careful consideration and conveyed to the ROK and the DPRK their position that the disarmament of the joint security area would be more conducive to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula in accordance with the previous consensus. According to the statement, the "United Nations Command" also explained to relevant people of the DPRK military that the joint security area is still an occasion for dialogue and the implementation of the "Armistice Agreement" of the Korean War.
South Korean military sources revealed that the South Korean government asked the "United Nations Command" earlier this month to allow South Korean officers on duty to re-arm because North Korean officers and soldiers on duty in the joint security area began to carry pistols at the end of November.
On 22 November, the ROK Government suspended the effect of Article 1, Paragraph 3 of the "919 ROK-DPRK Military Agreement" on "establishing a no-fly zone over the demilitarized zone" to counter the DPRK's launch of a military reconnaissance satellite. North Korea immediately announced the full dissolution of the agreement and the resumption of military measures, repairing 11 frontline posts previously dismantled under the military agreement and deploying troops and heavy weapons from November 24, effectively nullifying the agreement. After that, North Korean servicemen on duty in the Panmunjom joint security area began to carry pistols.
Earlier, at a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 14 November, when the United States, South Korea, and other countries convened a meeting of the defense ministers of the member states of the "United Nations Command" for the first time in Seoul on the same day, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded that as everyone knows, the so-called "United Nations Forces" are a product of the Cold War, which has no basis in law and has long been out of date. China urges the countries concerned to stop misappropriating the name of the United Nations for personal gain and take concrete actions to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula.
The United States and South Korea rehearse the "decapitation" operation?
It is worth mentioning that the recent actions and statements of the South Korean side to some extent have the meaning of "provoking" the DPRK. In the aforementioned problems on the border between the DPRK and South Korea, South Korea was the first to stir up trouble. Yesterday, North Korea test-fired a cruise missile as a result of a joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea, and the arrival of a U.S. nuclear submarine in Busan.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Seoul, December 18, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-hyun warned North Korea that if it continues to provoke, South Korea and the United States will likely rehearse a "beheading" operation against the North Korean leader when he was a guest on a TV program on the 18th. This naked threat against the North Korean leader is highly likely to trigger a new conflict.
After the aforementioned North Korean missile test, the South Korean Joint Staff Headquarters (Joint Staff) said on the 19th that a joint Xi exercise between the special forces of the South Korean and US militaries was being conducted somewhere on the Korean Peninsula. According to the Joint Staff Officer, the joint exercise was launched the day before when the DPRK launched the "Hwasong-18" intercontinental missile, which uses solid fuel, and officers and soldiers of the South Korean and US special forces participated in the exercise. In the joint exercise, the two countries shared special operations technologies such as combat shooting and internal sweeping operations in core areas, with a focus on improving the interoperability of the two militaries.
The video released by the Joint Staff shows officers and soldiers whose faces were treated with mosaics infiltrating the building and shooting at the character model. Based on this, some people speculate that South Korea and the United States may have conducted a "beheading" operation against Kim Jong-un, chairman of the DPRK State Affairs Commission, and other North Korean leaders.
It is rare for the Joint Staff to make public the live video of the joint special forces exercise. However, a relevant person of the South Korean military said on the same day that the joint exercise made public that day was not directly related to the "decapitation" combat training. The Joint Staff said that the ROK and US special forces have an overwhelming capability and posture that can be defeated at any time through such exercises. The US military stationed in South Korea also posted news on the official account of social media X (formerly Twitter) a few days ago that the green berets and Navy SEALs under the special forces of the US forces stationed in South Korea conducted a two-week joint Xi with the South Korean Special Operations Command.
Editor-in-charge: Lin Gen
Proofreading: Gao Yuan