from the can't-we-all-just-get-along dept.
Obama Cancels Meeting with Philippine President Duterte
President Obama has cancelled a planned meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte after Duterte described Obama as a "son of a bitch" in comments made to reporters. Obama will instead meet with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, presumably to discuss North Korea's latest missile tests. Here is our previous article about Duterte.
G20 Summit in China: U.S.-China Tensions, North Korea, and Low-Cost Steel
The Group of 20 summit is now underway in Hangzhou, China. Before the summit even began, tensions between the U.S. and China were reflected by shouting matches between Chinese and American officials on the tarmac and at the West Lake State House where President Obama and President Xi Jinping met. Security guards also attempted to prevent foreign media from covering Obama's departure from Air Force One, and in a departure from protocol, no rolling staircase was provided for the President. When questioned about the incidents the next day, President Obama said that Americans "don't leave our values and ideals behind when we take these trips" but dismissed the incidents:
[Continues...]
The incidents reflect only a fraction of the American projection of security and force when the president travels. Acknowledging that point, President Obama said, "We've got a lot of planes, a lot of helicopters, a lot of cars, a lot of guys. You know, if you're a host country, sometimes it may feel a little bit much." That impression isn't limited to China, Obama said. He said friction has also developed when the U.S. leader visits close allies. Speaking alongside British Prime Minister Theresa May, Obama continued, "You notice some chortling among the Brits. They probably find it a little overwhelming as well." With China, Obama said, tensions can arise over issues such as human rights — but, he added, "that's part of our job, that's part of what we do. And so I wouldn't over-crank the significance of it."
To mark the summit, North Korea has reminded everyone it exists by firing some ballistic missiles into the sea. It marks the second time that North Korean missiles have entered Japan's "air defense identification zone" (the first encounter was the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from two weeks ago):
According to one analyst, the launches were timed for maximum effect. "This is Pyongyang's way of reminding everyone of their existence at a moment when all the parties are together, in a typically defiant, North Korean way," John Delury, assistant professor at Yonsei University in South Korea, told CNN. The launches also came hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping told his South Korean counterpart at the G20 that Beijing opposes the deployment of the United States' THAAD missile defense system to South Korea.
China has agreed to reduce its exports of cheap steel (considered market dumping), but did not set any binding limits:
Beijing made trade a theme of the gathering in this lakeside city southwest of Shanghai but faces complaints that a flood of low-cost Chinese steel into global markets threatens U.S. and European jobs, propelling the rise of political movements that promise to curb trade.
The joint statement [of the G20] calls for formation of a steel forum under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to study excess production capacity. In a concession to Beijing, the statement doesn't mention China by name and says excess steel capacity is a global issue, though U.S. and European officials say the vast Chinese state-owned industry, which accounts for half of worldwide output, is the root of the problem. Washington has hiked import duties by 500 percent on Chinese steel to offset what it says are improper subsidies.
The AP reports that President Obama and Russian President Putin negotiated on the sidelines over a humanitarian ceasefire for Syria, to no avail. Other issues brought up in the meeting include cybersecurity and Ukraine.
Previously: U.S. Quintuples Taxes on Chinese Cold-Rolled Flat Steel
Related Stories
The U.S. Commerce Department has massively increased the taxes on a particular kind of imported Chinese steel. U.S. steelmakers are separately asking the International Trade Commission to ban all Chinese steel imports:
The US has raised its import duties on Chinese steelmakers by more than five-fold after accusing them of selling their products below market prices. The taxes specifically apply to Chinese-made cold-rolled flat steel, which is used in car manufacturing, shipping containers and construction.
The US Commerce Department ruling comes amid heightened trade tensions between the two sides over several products, including chicken parts. Steel is an especially sensitive issue. US and European steel producers claim China is distorting the global market and undercutting them by dumping its excess supply abroad.
North Korea (DPRK — Democratic People's Republic of Korea) has launched an SLBM (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile) from a submarine in the Sea of Japan, according to a Reuters story. The missile travelled about 300 miles (500 km). A similar launch last month seemed to fail.
Having the ability to fire a missile from a submarine could help North Korea evade a new anti-missile system planned for South Korea and pose a threat even if nuclear-armed North Korea's land-based arsenal was destroyed, experts said.
The ballistic missile was fired at around 5:30 a.m. (2030 GMT) from near the coastal city of Sinpo, where a submarine base is located, officials at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defence Ministry told Reuters.
The projectile reached Japan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) for the first time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a briefing, referring to an area of control designated by countries to help maintain air security.
When you meet an assassin who has killed six people, you don't expect to encounter a diminutive, nervous young woman carrying a baby. "My first job was two years ago in this province nearby. I felt really scared and nervous because it was my first time." Maria, not her real name, now carries out contract killings as part of the government-sanctioned war on drugs. She is part of a hit team that includes three women, who are valued because they can get close to their victims without arousing the same suspicion a man would.
Since President Duterte was elected, and urged citizens and police to kill drug dealers who resisted arrest, Maria has killed five more people, shooting them all in the head. I asked her who gave the orders for these assassinations: "Our boss, the police officer," she said.
[Continues...]
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that relations between South Korea and China are strained after Lotte agreed to provide a site for an American THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea's Jeju Province.
Beijing has issued two "solemn representations" to Seoul over the impending deployment, and the People's Daily, a Communist party mouthpiece, said in an editorial that Beijing could potentially sever diplomatic ties.
On Tuesday, after months of negotiations, South Korean retail giant Lotte Group reached a deal to swap land at its Lotte Skyhill Country Club - a lush, mountainous resort in on the southern side of Jeju Island - for a military-owned parcel on the outskirts of Seoul, making way for the missile shield to be placed on the country club site.
That same day, Chinese authorities fined one of Lotte's Beijing supermarkets $US6500 for displaying a "false advertisement" - a vanishingly rare charge in the city, according to the state-run Legal Daily.
South Korean musicians, cosmetics, and television productions have also been subjected to adverse actions by the Chinese government, the article says.
A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry after a meeting with the Assistant Foreign Minister of China said
Both parties emphasised that collective political and diplomatic efforts should be stepped up to ease tensions and initiate the process of military and political detente across the board in Northeast Asia, in order to create conditions conducive to resolving the nuclear issue, as well as other issues, on the Korean Peninsula.
Submitter's comment: I'm puzzled by the choice of a site to the south of the Korean peninsula.
Additional coverage:
- Stars and Stripes
- Xinhua (Chinese government news service)
- RT (supported by Russian government)
- Value Walk
- Reuters
- CNN
- The Korea Herald
- UPI
- Sputnik (supported by Russian government)
further information:
golfshot.com entry for Lotte Sky Hill Jeju Country Club
previous stories:
- South Korea to Receive U.S. Anti-Missile Interceptor System
- G20 Summit Roundup
- Lotte Group Vice Chairman, Facing Corruption Probe, Found Dead in Apparent Suicide
U.S. Begins Installing Missile Defense System in South Korea
The U.S. has begun the installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missiles system:
The US military has started installing a controversial missile defence system at a site in South Korea, amid high tensions over neighbouring North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions. The Thaad system is designed to protect against threats from North Korea.
Hundreds of local residents protested against the deployment, as vehicles carrying equipment arrived at the site in the south of the country. China argues Thaad will destabilise security in the region. The US has in recent days deployed warships and a submarine to the Korean peninsula, amid fears North Korea could be planning further missile or nuclear tests.
Admiral Harry Harris said that the THAAD system would bring Kim Jong-un "to his senses, not to his knees".
FireEye recently claimed that China is attempting to hack South Korean targets to delay the deployment of THAAD.
U.S. Moves Anti-Missile Kit to S. Korea
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law Tuesday in the southern region of Mindanao, after deadly clashes between security forces and Islamic State group-linked militants in a major city there.
The announcement, made by his spokesman at a press conference in Moscow where Duterte was on an official visit, fulfills an often-repeated warning by the president that he would enforce military rule to quell security threats. "As of 10:00pm Manila time (1400 GMT) Duterte has declared martial law for the entire island of Mindanao," spokesman Ernesto Abella said in the nationally televised briefing. Abella said martial law would be in place for 60 days, in line with constitutional limits on the use of military rule.
Martial law is particularly sensitive in the Philippines because it was used by dictator Ferdinand Marcos to remain in power during his two-decade reign, which ended in 1986 with a "People Power" revolution.
Mindanao is made up of a large island of the same name, plus smaller islands, and the region of about 20 million people makes up roughly one third of the mainly Catholic country.
[...] The announcement came after security forces battled dozens of IS-linked gunmen in a built-up area of Marawi, a city of about 200,000 people in Mindanao, on Tuesday.
Source: Yahoo! News
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @06:31AM
Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte [...] described Obama as a "son of a bitch"
So lame. Just call the son of a bitch a "nigger!" When a deal breaker is a deal breaker, just go full nigger.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @06:48AM
To which head of state do you refer? Hard to tell when you are being so "diplomatic".
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @06:52AM
So confusing they both niggers neither of them dick heads is white.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @07:00AM
Well thank goodness neither of them is white! Otherwise, they would be trying to invade someone else's country, like that white boy Bush, and the freakishly white Darth Cheney.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @07:03AM
White as a ghost Biden doesn't do shit, might as well be a ghost.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Username on Tuesday September 06 2016, @08:27AM
The tagalog version of “son of a bitch” seems to be Duterte’s swear word of choice.
Obama was going to criticize him for putting bounties on drug dealers. Which is kind of ironic because Obama himself is king of extra-judiciary executions. So it makes sense he would be pissed, saying he’s only beholden to the Philippine people. He has a 91% approval rating.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @08:43AM
There would be nothing easier than for the (next?) president of the USA and the president of the Phillipines to get "angry at each other" and go to war with each other.
All domestic problems forgotten. Mass media focuses on the former ally, new enemy.
Surplus young male population of potential troublemakers decimated.
Great Leader's popularity soars.
And the upper crust just continues getting richer, safe in the knowledge that the common people's attention to their dire situation has been deflected once again, because jingoïsm.
There's a song about it: difficult to hear the lyrics though, because Jello can't actually sing very well, and they are playing their guitars too loudly in the background.
From 10 years before the Gulf War:
The Dead Kennedys - Kinky Sex Makes the World go Round
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @09:15PM
There would be nothing easier than for the (next?) president of the USA and the president of the Phillipines to get "angry at each other" and go to war with each other.
Yeah nothing easier.
Except that the PI and the USA really need each other to counter a rising a china. The PI definitely needs the US, they are begging for the US military to come back [militarytimes.com] because China is literally building islands off the shore of Palawan. [newsweek.com]
I swear the idiotic shit that gets up-modded on this site is getting worse by the day.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday September 06 2016, @10:08PM
Yes it makes about as much sense as the leader of Israel snubbing the President of the United States. That is, it makes no sense. Doesn't matter who the president is or how we feel about him, to snub the president is to snub every American. Those people in those countries will rue ten thousand times the words of their insulting leaders when they ask American boys to die on their behalf.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @10:31PM
> Yes it makes about as much sense as the leader of Israel snubbing the President of the United States. That is, it makes no sense.
Bibi snubs the potus to play to his hard right nationalist base. Duterte insults the potus to play to his hard right nationalist base.
Politics is tension among multiple competing interests. It is never black and white. Anyone who thinks it is black and white is either absurdly ignorant or absurdly stupid.
(Score: 4, Informative) by FatPhil on Tuesday September 06 2016, @09:23AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 06 2016, @11:33AM
I saw it reported originally as "son of a whore", then it was watered down to "son of a bitch". I figured it was due to translation problems. No matter what slant anyone puts on it, if Obama's mama was a "puta", it's an insult.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @03:20PM
watch Dreams of My Real Father to find out about Barry Soetero's(oboma) mother.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Username on Tuesday September 06 2016, @09:55PM
Insulting, yes, but not incorrect. Obama was a product of a relationship between his mother and a married man. She was the other woman. Though that probably makes the insult worse than better.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @09:27AM
Chinese company gets state aid. - Tariffs, TARIFFS, raise their TAXES, it's EVIL !!
Apple gets state aid. - Why are the Europeans picking on a poor defenseless American company!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @10:31AM
Steel is more important than crapple.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 06 2016, @11:36AM
It it - really? Which steel company has a liquid fortune as large as Apple's? There WAS A DAY when steel was really important. US Steel and it's subsidiaries and associated companies were simply freaking HUGE. They represented a significant portion of the economy. But, even then, I'm not sure that they were as big as Apple is today.
Apple is a fucking monster, no matter how you look at it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @07:24PM
Or just percieved 'virtual' value?
While electronics require a non-trivial amount of manufacturing to produce, without steel they would have nothing to be housed in, and nothing to in turn house their housings in.
Concrete and Steel are two of the most important materials in the world, even if they are not normally considered worth much (compared to electronics that is!)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @10:50AM
There is not many certainties on what a Trump presidency would bring, but one certainty is that Trump would pull Duterte multiple times.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Bot on Tuesday September 06 2016, @11:59AM
> President Obama has cancelled a planned meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte after Duterte described Obama as a "son of a bitch"
This is a good decision. I never said the same, about a politician, in decades BTW.
It would be good journalism to tell the readers why Don Rodrigo [wikipedia.org] has this disposition towards the POTUS. The guy has balls.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @03:59PM
But he forgets who his masters are which coukd leave him dead, balls or no.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 06 2016, @09:18PM
> This is a good decision. I never said the same, about a politician, in decades BTW.
Is it now?
I get it appeals to your machismo with all the talk of "balls," but what is the net effect?
One of the people with the most clout to call out Duterte for turning his country into a lawless murder-zone has been redirected.
Oh, but the US looks strong! And looking strong is what matters. Fuck results.