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Fri, June 23, 2017 | 14:06

Opinion > Columnists > Frank Ching >

Hong Kong: Whither one country, two systems?

Twenty years ago, on July 1, 1997, Britain turned Hong Kong over to China under the Sino-British Joint Declaration which provided that the territory would be largely autonomous under the “one country, two systems” formula devised by then paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. By and large, for the last two decades, rule of law has been upheld in the former British colony and rights and freedoms protected. And yet, as the 20th anniversary nears, there is a general feeling of unease that the situation is deteriorating and may get worse.

Frank Ching | 2017-06-13 17:22

US-China trade: A tale of two reports

By Frank Ching The release by China’s Ministry of Commerce of a research report on economic and trade relations with the United States is an opportunity for the two countries to narrow differences over trade. In particular, it is an opportunity for the US to take a more balanced view regarding its trade deficit with China.It is especially illuminating when the Chinese report is place side by side with that of the US Congressional Research Service made public last month on trade issues between the two countries. Both reports agree on certain factors that caused the high trade surplus fo...

Frank Ching | 2017-06-02 17:18

Korean Peninsula dynamics shifting

The election of Moon Jae-in as South Korea’s presidentmarks the re-emergence of a major player that had been silenced for five crucial months because of the country’s political paralysis, which ended with the impeachment and arrest of his conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye. Moon in many ways is the opposite of Park. He is a liberal who, as a student activist, was imprisoned by Park Chung-hee, the father of the last president. A former human rights lawyer, he has made known his desire to improve relations with both North Korea and China, while insisting that the alliance with the United ...

Frank Ching | 2017-05-22 17:37

ASEAN softens stand at US call

What a difference a year makes. Last year, at the 29th Asean summit in Laos, a Chairman’s Statement, without mentioning China, “took note of concerns expressed by some Leaders on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the area.” While the leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations were careful not to criticize China by name, they let it be known that Chinese actions had eroded trust and raised tensions. But even such subdued voicing of co...

Frank Ching | 2017-05-04 17:04

Trump makes Xi buckle

North Korea’s failed missile test on Sunday provides an opportunity for the United States to press for more stringent sanctions and for China to demonstrate its willingness to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. Even though the missile blew up, the attempted launch was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. This means the US can now ask for additional sanctions. Clearly, those in place aren’t enough. If they were, North Korea wouldn’t have been able to conduct over the years five nuclear tests and a series of ballistic missile tests.

Frank Ching | 2017-04-19 17:06

Trump should give burger to Xi, not state dinner

The meeting between Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was announced barely a week before it was to be held, suggesting difficult problems ahead. Almost simultaneously, Trump tweeted, “The meeting next week with China will be a very difficult one.” Indeed, the difficulties are likely to be much greater than the American president expects. Trump has zero experience in government, in diplomacy or in the military. He has no overall global policy and no Asia regional policy into which to fit a China policy. His foreign policy team is not in place. Aside from Secretary of State...

Frank Ching | 2017-04-07 17:27

Stark choices on N. Korea

In October 1939, when World War II was just beginning, Winston Churchill, in a radio broadcast, described Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Today, the same can be said of North Korea, which continues to defy the world with its nuclear and missile programs, despite biting United Nations sanctions. Churchill went on to say, “perhaps there is a key that key is Russian national interest.” The same applies today to North Korea. From its leaders’ standpoint, the nation’s very survival is at stake. They can do without food, but they cannot do without nuclear weapons.

Frank Ching | 2017-03-24 17:17

Trump-Xi rivalry

At his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump delivered an inward-looking speech in which he promised to “make America great again,” without any reference to its friends and allies overseas. Then Trump withdrew the U.S. from what he called the “job-killing” Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trading bloc that sought to raise standards while excluding China. He also declared the North Atlantic alliance “obsolete.” This led to howls in Washington and overseas that the U.S. was ceding ground to an expansionist China. Even so, the Chinese declared modestly that they had little inter...

Frank Ching | 2017-03-10 17:22

Trump's bromance with Xi

The telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Feb. 9moved the two countries back from the edge of a precipice. Trump had announced that he might reject the “one China policy,” which all American administrations had accepted since the 1970s, unless Beijing made trade concessions .China made it clear that this basic policy was not up for negotiation. The policy means Washington recognizes Beijing as the sole legal government of China and acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China. According to a White House statement, durin...

Frank Ching | 2017-02-21 16:08

China wants to have cake and want to eat it too

In the confusing environment generated by US President Donald Trump, in which he has criticized his allies more than America’s opponents, the trip by Defence Secretary James M. Mattis to Seoul and Tokyo was reassuring, with the United States reiterating its defence commitments to South Korea and Japan. It was the first such reaffirmation of American policy by a senior administration official since the inauguration of the Trump administration. China responded to the American statements as expected, denouncing the US-Korea decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, a...

Frank Ching | 2017-02-10 17:29

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