China's strategy in Korean peninsula
- Thread starter Phead128
- Start date
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
The truth comes out. But of course only after so it doesn't get as much attention.
US warns Hong Kong on illicit North Korea trade
Hong Kong (AFP) - A senior United States official warned Hong Kong authorities Wednesday they must stop the city being used as a "safe harbour" for illicit trade with North Korea, in violation of United Nations sanctions.
The warning came weeks after a Hong Kong-flagged ship was seized in South Korea for transferring oil products to another vessel.
The UN -- at the urging of the US -- has imposed a series of sanctions against North Korea aimed at tightening the economic screws on Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear programme.
At a briefing in Hong Kong Wednesday, Sigal P. Mandelker, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US treasury, said it was "extremely easy" for companies to register in Hong Kong, and authorities needed to tighten up.
Hong Kong prides itself on making it easy to do business in the city, with light-touch regulation, discretion and non-cooperation with foreign tax authorities.
But it has also earned a reputation for murky dealings -- the 2016 Panama Papers leak exposed the city as playing a key role in channelling money to tax havens via thousands of shell companies, including some linked to China's top political brass.
Mandelker said that city authorities must "send a strong message that Hong Kong is not going to be a place where companies can find any kind of safe harbour" for front companies or shell companies.
"This shouldn't be a place where companies can establish themselves to help in the smuggling, ship-to-ship transfers, et cetera," she told reporters.
Hong Kong's government said Wednesday it "strictly implements" the UN sanctions and is "highly vigilant" about suspected violations, which would be investigated by authorities.
"Regarding company incorporation, Hong Kong's regime is similar to that of many other common law jurisdictions such as the UK and Singapore," it said in a statement provided to AFP.
Two new laws strengthening existing regulatory requirements will come into force in March, the statement added.
Mandelker also said her team had pressed Beijing to expel North Korean financial facilitators or bank representatives who "illicitly access the international financial system".
China is the North's biggest trading partner and has been accused by US President Donald Trump of helping Pyongyang skirt sanctions.
Last month it emerged that South Korea had briefly seized and inspected a Hong Kong-registered ship in November for transferring oil products to a North Korean vessel and breaching UN sanctions.
The Lighthouse Winmore, which was chartered by a Taiwanese company and carrying around 600 tonnes of oil products from South Korea's Yeosu port, transferred part of its cargo to a North Korean vessel on October 19, a foreign ministry official said.
The firm that owned the ship had a registered office in Hong Kong and a director with an address in the southern mainland city of Guangzhou, according to Hong Kong's companies registry.
Hong Kong is part of China but is semi-autonomous with its own British-style independent legal system. Rule of law has been a major factor in wooing global business.
US warns Hong Kong on illicit North Korea trade
Hong Kong (AFP) - A senior United States official warned Hong Kong authorities Wednesday they must stop the city being used as a "safe harbour" for illicit trade with North Korea, in violation of United Nations sanctions.
The warning came weeks after a Hong Kong-flagged ship was seized in South Korea for transferring oil products to another vessel.
The UN -- at the urging of the US -- has imposed a series of sanctions against North Korea aimed at tightening the economic screws on Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear programme.
At a briefing in Hong Kong Wednesday, Sigal P. Mandelker, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US treasury, said it was "extremely easy" for companies to register in Hong Kong, and authorities needed to tighten up.
Hong Kong prides itself on making it easy to do business in the city, with light-touch regulation, discretion and non-cooperation with foreign tax authorities.
But it has also earned a reputation for murky dealings -- the 2016 Panama Papers leak exposed the city as playing a key role in channelling money to tax havens via thousands of shell companies, including some linked to China's top political brass.
Mandelker said that city authorities must "send a strong message that Hong Kong is not going to be a place where companies can find any kind of safe harbour" for front companies or shell companies.
"This shouldn't be a place where companies can establish themselves to help in the smuggling, ship-to-ship transfers, et cetera," she told reporters.
Hong Kong's government said Wednesday it "strictly implements" the UN sanctions and is "highly vigilant" about suspected violations, which would be investigated by authorities.
"Regarding company incorporation, Hong Kong's regime is similar to that of many other common law jurisdictions such as the UK and Singapore," it said in a statement provided to AFP.
Two new laws strengthening existing regulatory requirements will come into force in March, the statement added.
Mandelker also said her team had pressed Beijing to expel North Korean financial facilitators or bank representatives who "illicitly access the international financial system".
China is the North's biggest trading partner and has been accused by US President Donald Trump of helping Pyongyang skirt sanctions.
Last month it emerged that South Korea had briefly seized and inspected a Hong Kong-registered ship in November for transferring oil products to a North Korean vessel and breaching UN sanctions.
The Lighthouse Winmore, which was chartered by a Taiwanese company and carrying around 600 tonnes of oil products from South Korea's Yeosu port, transferred part of its cargo to a North Korean vessel on October 19, a foreign ministry official said.
The firm that owned the ship had a registered office in Hong Kong and a director with an address in the southern mainland city of Guangzhou, according to Hong Kong's companies registry.
Hong Kong is part of China but is semi-autonomous with its own British-style independent legal system. Rule of law has been a major factor in wooing global business.
manqiangrexue
Brigadier
Well well well, look who grew a nub of a spine...
South Korea hits back at U.S. tariffs with WTO challenge
By Tom Miles
,
•January 25, 2018
Delegates arrive at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Files
By Tom Miles
GENEVA (Reuters) - South Korea has hit back rapidly at U.S. tariffs on washing machines and solar panels, filing challenges and demands for compensation at the World Trade Organization.
The WTO published the South Korean complaints on Thursday two days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed the steep tariffs into law. He billed the move as a way to protect American jobs but the solar industry said it would lead to thousands of layoffs and raise consumer prices.
The 30 percent tariff on solar panels was among the first unilateral trade restrictions imposed by the Trump administration as part of a broader protectionist agenda aimed at helping U.S. manufacturers, but which has alarmed Asian trading partners that produce lower cost goods.
South Korea challenged the U.S. tariffs under the WTO's Safeguard Agreement, leaving open the possibility of a full trade dispute later.
The agreement gives the United States 30 days to settle the matter, after which South Korea has a 60-day window to impose trade sanctions, if the U.S. measures break WTO rules. It was not clear if the United States could challenge that assumption.
Seoul is already seeking WTO trade sanctions to retaliate for Washington's failure to comply with an earlier WTO ruling.
On Wednesday U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross brushed off the threat of South Korea going to the WTO.
“The fact that they may get a favourable decision (at the WTO) doesn’t mean that it’s a correct decision," he said. "But in any event there’s been no decision yet so it’s a little bit too early to assume that the safeguards will be knocked out.”
No country has ever negotiated a settlement under the WTO safeguard rules, and it was not clear if they could provide a quicker result than a full dispute, which could take three years or more, giving U.S. manufacturers a long period of protection from competition by their South Korean rivals.
Under WTO rules, a country can impose safeguards - temporary emergency tariffs - to shield its domestic industry from an sudden, unforeseen and damaging surge in imports.
Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz, head of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, said the solar tariffs would fail to boost U.S. solar manufacturing and would destroy U.S. jobs while impeding the fight against climate change.
"These tariffs are insufficient to really generate enough stimulus to create the manufacturing capacity that they are trying to stimulate," he told Reuters.
"It's just going to slow down the production of sustainable energy and solar in the U.S., in a big way."
South Korea hits back at U.S. tariffs with WTO challenge
By Tom Miles
,
•January 25, 2018
Delegates arrive at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Files
By Tom Miles
GENEVA (Reuters) - South Korea has hit back rapidly at U.S. tariffs on washing machines and solar panels, filing challenges and demands for compensation at the World Trade Organization.
The WTO published the South Korean complaints on Thursday two days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed the steep tariffs into law. He billed the move as a way to protect American jobs but the solar industry said it would lead to thousands of layoffs and raise consumer prices.
The 30 percent tariff on solar panels was among the first unilateral trade restrictions imposed by the Trump administration as part of a broader protectionist agenda aimed at helping U.S. manufacturers, but which has alarmed Asian trading partners that produce lower cost goods.
South Korea challenged the U.S. tariffs under the WTO's Safeguard Agreement, leaving open the possibility of a full trade dispute later.
The agreement gives the United States 30 days to settle the matter, after which South Korea has a 60-day window to impose trade sanctions, if the U.S. measures break WTO rules. It was not clear if the United States could challenge that assumption.
Seoul is already seeking WTO trade sanctions to retaliate for Washington's failure to comply with an earlier WTO ruling.
On Wednesday U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross brushed off the threat of South Korea going to the WTO.
“The fact that they may get a favourable decision (at the WTO) doesn’t mean that it’s a correct decision," he said. "But in any event there’s been no decision yet so it’s a little bit too early to assume that the safeguards will be knocked out.”
No country has ever negotiated a settlement under the WTO safeguard rules, and it was not clear if they could provide a quicker result than a full dispute, which could take three years or more, giving U.S. manufacturers a long period of protection from competition by their South Korean rivals.
Under WTO rules, a country can impose safeguards - temporary emergency tariffs - to shield its domestic industry from an sudden, unforeseen and damaging surge in imports.
Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz, head of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, said the solar tariffs would fail to boost U.S. solar manufacturing and would destroy U.S. jobs while impeding the fight against climate change.
"These tariffs are insufficient to really generate enough stimulus to create the manufacturing capacity that they are trying to stimulate," he told Reuters.
"It's just going to slow down the production of sustainable energy and solar in the U.S., in a big way."
Hah.... I hope South Korea loses the WTO Appeal. South Korea was so eager to do the US bidding and licking uncle Sam's boot at the drop of a hat. Deployment of THAAD by refusing to listen to China's concern, stepping up the rhetoric on North Korea under Uncle Sam's bidding, hoping that South Korea would be looked upon favorably in the eyes of the 'West' even to the detriment of trade relations with its giant neighbor with whom it has the highest trade surplus, and forgetting that by stirring up trouble in Asia, it will only harm South Korea in the near and long term. South Korea should know by now where her most important interests should lie, which is developing good relations with its neighbors, rather than cozying up to an entity settled thousands of miles away, because Uncle Sam will only look out for its own interests. I hope South Korea learns a lesson.Well well well, look who grew a nub of a spine...
South Korea hits back at U.S. tariffs with WTO challenge
By Tom Miles
,
•January 25, 2018
Delegates arrive at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Files
By Tom Miles
GENEVA (Reuters) - South Korea has hit back rapidly at U.S. tariffs on washing machines and solar panels, filing challenges and demands for compensation at the World Trade Organization.
The WTO published the South Korean complaints on Thursday two days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed the steep tariffs into law. He billed the move as a way to protect American jobs but the solar industry said it would lead to thousands of layoffs and raise consumer prices.
The 30 percent tariff on solar panels was among the first unilateral trade restrictions imposed by the Trump administration as part of a broader protectionist agenda aimed at helping U.S. manufacturers, but which has alarmed Asian trading partners that produce lower cost goods.
South Korea challenged the U.S. tariffs under the WTO's Safeguard Agreement, leaving open the possibility of a full trade dispute later.
The agreement gives the United States 30 days to settle the matter, after which South Korea has a 60-day window to impose trade sanctions, if the U.S. measures break WTO rules. It was not clear if the United States could challenge that assumption.
Seoul is already seeking WTO trade sanctions to retaliate for Washington's failure to comply with an earlier WTO ruling.
On Wednesday U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross brushed off the threat of South Korea going to the WTO.
“The fact that they may get a favourable decision (at the WTO) doesn’t mean that it’s a correct decision," he said. "But in any event there’s been no decision yet so it’s a little bit too early to assume that the safeguards will be knocked out.”
No country has ever negotiated a settlement under the WTO safeguard rules, and it was not clear if they could provide a quicker result than a full dispute, which could take three years or more, giving U.S. manufacturers a long period of protection from competition by their South Korean rivals.
Under WTO rules, a country can impose safeguards - temporary emergency tariffs - to shield its domestic industry from an sudden, unforeseen and damaging surge in imports.
Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz, head of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, said the solar tariffs would fail to boost U.S. solar manufacturing and would destroy U.S. jobs while impeding the fight against climate change.
"These tariffs are insufficient to really generate enough stimulus to create the manufacturing capacity that they are trying to stimulate," he told Reuters.
"It's just going to slow down the production of sustainable energy and solar in the U.S., in a big way."
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This could still be an elaborate play to corner China. South Korea could be part of the ploy after all. What if South Korea's appeal is successful. And America gets to point out to China that, well, the WTO (and by extensiom, the "International Order") is fair after all. But if China is to appeal her case, then suddenly mysterious obstacles appear from nowhere to deny her.
I hope I'm far off the case here though. And China doesn't seem bothered to appeal at all, which may be the best form of action?
I hope I'm far off the case here though. And China doesn't seem bothered to appeal at all, which may be the best form of action?
Man... That would be quite a ploy. I sincerely don't believe South Korea could be a part of such a devious ploy though. The consequences for trying to trap China would be an even bigger retaliation from China by one means or another even though it takes years.
I'm sure China will retaliate against US protective measures if pushed too much.
manqiangrexue
Brigadier
That makes no sense. Who is the target of that "ploy"? China? China doesn't care; if the ruling turns out against China, China will consider it unfair regardless of the outcome of other cases involving Korea and China will always use we have to get our way, WTO ruling or not. If it's to the rest of the world, really, they don't care either if it's fair or not; everyone just thinks about whether or not the WTO serves them properly. Nobody is going to defend China and say that the WTO is unfair to China, nor is anyone going to defend the fairness of the WTO when its outcome is unfavorable or does not affect them. So I don't see the point or the target audience of such a "ploy."
It's the same shit as with the South China Sea ruling. China doesn't care, but it has still emboldened totally unrelated actors, such as France and Britain, to sail in the SCS and declare those things FON ops.
A Chinese loss at the WTO will invite half ( the western half) of the EU to slap sanctions on China, because they all hate China's rise to a power that isn't just selling cheap plastic toys and electronics, but increasingly high tech products that threatens them. The West will only be satisfied if China became a third world crap hole that can't produce anything of worth and only exists as a market for the West to conquer. Be it militarily or economically, the West will use any means to turn China into what they desire.
A Chinese loss at the WTO will invite half ( the western half) of the EU to slap sanctions on China, because they all hate China's rise to a power that isn't just selling cheap plastic toys and electronics, but increasingly high tech products that threatens them. The West will only be satisfied if China became a third world crap hole that can't produce anything of worth and only exists as a market for the West to conquer. Be it militarily or economically, the West will use any means to turn China into what they desire.
manqiangrexue
Brigadier
Well, the reason that those members of the EU has not slapped those tariffs (not sanctions) on Chinese goods is because they need to buy them at good prices for the benefit of their own citizens and for whatever reciprocity that China offers into the Chinese market; it's not because they're afraid that they couldn't in a case at the WTO. They believe that instituting these tariffs would ultimately damage their own economies. (For example, many American solar panel installers and manufacturers of supplemental systems are crying bloody murder for their businesses because of these tariffs and they outnumber the actual solar panel manufacturers by some 36,000 to 2,000. []) There's no reason that any WTO ruling would change that calculus (especially because China hasn't even initiated one in this case.) As a matter of fact, countries that cannot compete with Chinese manufacturing (especially the US) bring WTO cases against China all the time, and they usually win, but China usually uses her tools to either delay the implementation of the ruling by so long (10+years) that it becomes moot or retaliate in other ways while keeping the back-and-forth very limited.
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China will NOT willing to bear it's full might on NK within the narrow confines of deniclearization unless it's part of a wider "Grand Bargain" that includes full scale complete withdrawal of US troops/bases from Korean peninsula and a peace treaty to end Korean war.
It is the same demand Ming Emperor Wanli gave to Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1596: the full scale withdrawal of all Japanese troops from Korea before diplomatic talks on tribute trade can resume.
In China's view, the nuclear issue is 80% US-NK issue, 20% CHN-NK issue.
Therefore, US has to give massive concessions for China to act on the nuclear issue, because the threat of a pro-US unified Korean proxy on Chinese border is far more threatening to Chinese fundamental security interests than what NK has done or will do. In other words, China is willing to risk a trade war with US over stable unified NK rather than a real real war with US over destabilized sanction-induced collapsed NK since we all know US-SK will swoop into annex the dead carcass, thus activating Chinese intervention.
In short, what is needed is a covert behind-the-door negotiation on a "Grand Bargain" on the date of Korea and East Asia/SCS/Taiwan in general between the Two Superpowers only. The Fate of Korean peninsula will once again be determined by foreign actors.
It is the same demand Ming Emperor Wanli gave to Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1596: the full scale withdrawal of all Japanese troops from Korea before diplomatic talks on tribute trade can resume.
In China's view, the nuclear issue is 80% US-NK issue, 20% CHN-NK issue.
Therefore, US has to give massive concessions for China to act on the nuclear issue, because the threat of a pro-US unified Korean proxy on Chinese border is far more threatening to Chinese fundamental security interests than what NK has done or will do. In other words, China is willing to risk a trade war with US over stable unified NK rather than a real real war with US over destabilized sanction-induced collapsed NK since we all know US-SK will swoop into annex the dead carcass, thus activating Chinese intervention.
In short, what is needed is a covert behind-the-door negotiation on a "Grand Bargain" on the date of Korea and East Asia/SCS/Taiwan in general between the Two Superpowers only. The Fate of Korean peninsula will once again be determined by foreign actors.
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