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This year has witnessed the ever-changing political situation in Asia Pacific region, with the regional security challenged by DPRK nuclear crisis and frequent military exercises of American army as well as exacerbated bilateral relationships among countries. As 2017 comes to an end, APD has selected top 10 hot issues in Asia pacific region to review the past year.
Top 1 | S. Korea, U.S. conduct joint missile exercises after DPRK's ICBM test
The United States and South Korea have staged a missile drill by firing missiles into the Sea of Japan, in response to the latest missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The Eighth U.S. Army and South Korean servicemen conducted a combined event to counter the DPRK's missile test on July 4, utilizing the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and South Korea's Hyunmoo Missile II, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Forces Korea on July 5.
Emphasizing the system can be rapidly deployed, the statement said the deep precision strike capability enables the U.S.-South Korea alliance to engage the critical targets under all weather conditions.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed on July 4 that the DPRK's latest missile test was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Calling the test "a new escalation of the threat" to the United States, its allies and the world, Tillerson said in a statement that the United States intends to bring the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue before the UN Security Council and enact stronger measures against the DPRK.
UN Security Council resolutions ban the DPRK from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any other provocation.
Top 2 | DPRK's missile launch: What you need to know
2017 has been a year of rapid progress for DPRK's missile program.
The country has fired 23 missiles during 16 tests since February, further perfecting its technology with each launch.
Its most recent -- during the early hours of November 29 -- flew higher and farther than any other previous tests. The missile launch, which landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, came after a break of almost two months in testing.
The Hwasong-15 soared 4,475 kilometers (2,800 miles) in the sky, spending 53 minutes in the air, before splashing down in waters off the coast of Japan. The figures tallied with estimates released by Japan and South Korea.
State news agency KCNA called its so-called new missile "the most powerful ICBM" and said it meets the goal of the completion of the rocket weaponry system development.
After the launch, Kim said DPRK had "finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force," according to KCNA.
US Defense Secretary James Mattis, who was with Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, outlined how much tougher that situation has become. The test missile, he said, went "higher, frankly, than any previous shot they have taken" and demonstrates that DPRK leader Kim Jong Un now has the ability to hit "everywhere in the world basically."
Top 3 | UN chief urges Myanmar to end military operations in Rohingya crisis
The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority group residing in the Rakhine state, formerly known as Arakan. The Rohingya people are considered “stateless entities”, as the Myanmar government has been refusing to recognise them as one of the ethnic groups of the country.
For this reason, the Rohingya people lack legal protection from the Government of Myanmar, are regarded as mere refugees from Bangladesh, and face strong hostility in the country—often described as one of the most persecuted people on earth. To escape the dire situation in Myanmar, the Rohingya try to illegally enter Southeast Asian states, begging for humanitarian support from potential host countries
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has urged Myanmar’s authorities to immediately end military operations that have sent more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, calling the crisis “the world’s fastest developing refugee emergency and a humanitarian and human rights nightmare”.
Guterres warned that the humanitarian crisis was a breeding ground for radicalisation, criminals and traffickers. And he said the broader crisis “has generated multiple implications for neighbouring states and the larger region, including the risk of inter-communal strife”.
The Rohingya have faced decades of discrimination and persecution by the majority Buddhist population in Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship despite centuries-old roots in the country.
The current crisis erupted on 25 August, when an insurgent Rohingya group attacked police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, killing a dozen security personnel – an act that Guterres again condemned.
The attacks prompted Myanmar’s military to launch “clearance operations” against the rebels, setting off a wave of violence that has left hundreds dead, thousands of homes burned and the mass flight of Rohingya to Bangladesh.
Guterres previously called the Rohingya crisis “ethnic cleansing”. He didn’t use those words but he referred to “a deeply disturbing pattern to the violence and ensuing large movements of an ethnic group from their homes”.
Burmese authorities insist security operations ended on 5 September, but Guterres said that “displacement appeared to have continued, with reports of the burning of Muslim villages, as well as looting and acts of intimidation”.
Top 4 | Indonesia orders immediate evacuation as highest alert issued for Bali volcano
Indonesia closed the airport on the tourist island of Bali on Monday and ordered 100,000 residents living near a grumbling volcano spewing columns of ash to evacuate immediately, warning that the first major eruption in 54 years could be “imminent”.
The airport was closed for 24 hours from the morning on November 27, disrupting 445 flights and some 59,000 passengers, after Mount Agung, which killed hundreds of people in 1963, sent volcanic ash high into the sky, and officials said cancellations could be extended.
Bali, famous for its surf, beaches and temples, attracted nearly 5 million visitors last year, and its airport serves as a transport hub for the chain of islands in Indonesia’s eastern archipelago. But tourism has slumped in parts of Bali since September when Agung’s volcanic tremors began to increase and the alert level was raised to maximum before being lowered in October when seismic activity calmed.
Indonesia’s Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre (PVMBG) warned that if a similar eruption occurred, it could send rocks bigger than fist-size up to 8 km (5 miles) from the summit and volcanic gas to a distance of 10 km (6 miles) within three minutes.
Some analysis, however, suggests the threat should not be as great this time because “energy at Mount Agung’s magma chamber is not as big” and the ash column only around a quarter as high so far as the 20 km (12 miles) reached in 1963, Sutopo said.
Bali airport, about 60 km (37 miles) from the volcano, will be closed for 24 hours, its operator said.
Airlines avoid flying when volcanic ash is present because it can damage engines and can clog fuel and cooling systems and hamper visibility.
Top 5 | China Focus: Xi highlights peace, prosperity, opening up of Belt and Road
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a development strategy proposed by China's paramount leader Xi Jinping that focuses on connectivity and cooperation between Eurasian countries.
The strategy underlines China's push to take a larger role in global affairs with a China-centered trading network. It was unveiled in September and October 2013 for the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the oceangoing Maritime Silk Road (MSR) respectively.
On the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which was held on May 14–15, 2017 in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the Belt and Road should be built into a road of peace, prosperity, opening up, innovation and connecting different civilizations.
He proposed the five guiding principles for the pursuit of the Belt and Road initiative while delivering a keynote speech at the opening of the two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.
He called for fostering the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and creating a security environment built and shared by all.
The president urged the Belt and Road to be built into a road of prosperity.
Stressing infrastructure connectivity, Xi called for promoting land, maritime, air and cyberspace connectivity, focusing on key passageways, cities and projects, and connecting networks of highways, railways and sea ports.
He called for joint efforts to improve trans-regional logistics network and promote connectivity of policies, rules and standards so as to provide institutional safeguards for enhancing connectivity.
China welcomes the efforts made by other countries to grow open economies, participate in global governance and provide public goods, he said.
Xi called for establishing a multi-tiered mechanism for cultural and people-to-people exchanges, building more cooperation platforms and opening more cooperation channels.
The forum, the highest-level international meeting since Xi proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, gathers 29 foreign heads of state and government leaders as well as delegates from some 130 countries.
Top 6 | Ex-President Park Geun-hye indicted in corruption probe
South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye was indicted on April 17 on multiple charges, including bribery, as prosecutors wrapped up their probe into the influence-peddling scandal that brought her down last month.
The former president is accused of abuse of power, coercion, bribery and leaking government secrets, prosecutors said. She was taken into custody on March 31.
In addition to allegations Park colluded with her friend Choi Soon-sil in coercing local conglomerates to donate a total of 77.4 billion won (US$68 million) to two nonprofit foundations -- Mir and K-Sports -- the ex-leader is also accused of soliciting bribes from Lotte and SK groups.
Prosecutors suspect that Park promised favors in relation to the conglomerates' bids for duty-free shops and other business projects. The retail giant Lotte was selected by the Korea Customs Service (KCS) to operate the lucrative shop in Seoul, together with Hyundai and Shinsegae, in December.
Park reportedly denied all the charges during her five rounds of questioning in jail.
Top 7 | One China policy "nonnegotiable," China tells US
China on Saturday told the United States that one China policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and "is nonnegotiable."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks in response to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's statement that the one China policy on Taiwan is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.
"Everything is under negotiation including one China," Trump was quoted as saying in a interview with the Wall Street Journal.
It must be pointed out that there is but one China in the world, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Lu said in a statement issued on January 14.
The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, "which is an internationally recognized fact and no one can change it," said Lu.
"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by previous U.S. governments to the one China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques," he said.
Lu urged the U.S. side to properly deal with the Taiwan issue so as to avoid undermining the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties and cooperation in major areas.
Top 8 | Thai court issues second arrest warrant for fugitive former PM Yingluck
A Thai criminal court has issued a second arrest warrant for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who fled the country weeks ago before she was sentenced to jail in absentia, police said on October 5.
The warrant, issued on October 4, was for violating the immigration law, deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul told reporters.
Yingluck fled abroad in August fearing that the military government, set up after a coup in 2014, would seek a harsh sentence. It remains unclear how she left the country.
Last week, the Supreme Court convicted and sentenced Yingluck in absentia to five years in jail for mismanaging a rice subsidy scheme that cost the country billions of dollars.
Throughout her trial, Yingluck said she was innocent and not responsible for the day-to-day running of the scheme, arguing that she was a victim of political persecution.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief who led the 2014 coup against Yingluck’s government, recently said Thailand would pursue her through diplomatic channels and police cooperation, using Interpol.
The military government said last week she was in Dubai. But a source in the United Arab Emirates said Yingluck left Dubai for London on Sept. 11, without giving details.
Top 9 | US aircraft carrier-led strike group headed toward Korean Peninsula
A US aircraft carrier-led strike group is headed toward the Western Pacific Ocean near the Korean Peninsula, a US defense official confirmed to CNN.
The move of the Vinson strike group is in response to recent DPRK provocations, the official said.
Adm. Harry Harris, the commander of US Pacific Command, directed the USS Carl Vinson strike group to sail north to the Western Pacific after departing Singapore on April 16, Pacific Command announced.
It is not uncommon for aircraft carriers to operate in that area, and the United States regularly deploys military assets, such as aircraft, to the region as a show of force. In fact, the Vinson was in South Korea in March for military exercises.
Just days ago, DPRK launched a Scud extended-range missile, which US officials said exploded in flight. The regime also has recently conducted several missile engine tests as it works to improve its ballistic missile technology.
In September of last year, DPRK claimed to have successfully tested a nuclear warhead. Pyongyang says it is pursuing nuclear weapons to defend itself from what it calls US aggression.
Top 10 | South Korean people, religious figures shout "THAAD Out, Peace In"
South Korean people and religious figures gathered in central Seoul, where millions of people had demanded the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, for the removal of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) from their territory and bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
Religious figures, including Buddhist monks, Roman Catholic fathers and Protestant ministers, participated in the Won Buddhist service that was held on April 27 at the Gwanghwamun square.
Scores of ordinary people voluntarily attended the service to pray for peace in their soil by throwing away the U.S. missile shield that was deployed in defiance of people's will and oppositions from the political arena.
Overcoming the religious differences, all the participants hoped in unison for the removal of what they called the "war weapon" as THAAD fuels arms race and escalates tensions on the peninsula.
Three of Won Buddhist monks planned to stage a hunger strike at the square from April 27. It will last until the THAAD deployment decision is reversed, one of the organizers of the service said.
The organizers have held the service at the square for about an hour since April 21. It will also continue till the THAAD system is removed from South Korea.
Local civic group Tongil Korea has staged a protest rally outside the U.S. embassy in Seoul for three weeks to call for the reversal of the THAAD deployment decision. The embassy is located beside the square.
THAAD in South Korea has been strongly opposed by regional countries, including China and Russia, as it breaks strategic balance in the region.
The U.S. missile shield can bring more nuclear missiles in the region that can break through missile shields. It can be likened to a fight between spear and shield.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
