News Story: DPRK condemns U.S. VP's attempt to turn LatAm against Pyongyang

PYONGYANG, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Saturday condemned U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's pressure on some Latin American countries to break ties with Pyongyang, saying this is another example of U.S. interference into other countries' internal affairs.

"This was not the first time for the U.S. to urge the countries which have friendly and cooperative relations with the DPRK to sever the diplomatic and economic relations with it," the DPRK official Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs as saying.

On Wednesday, Pence called several Latin American countries to join U.S. efforts to isolate the DPRK.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Expert says Pacific Alliance to serve as LatAm's tool to expand trade integration with Asia

by Carlos Acat

LIMA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc founded by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru in 2011, stands to outperform its regional counterparts and contribute to the continent's closer ties with Asia, Peruvian economist Carlos Aquino has said.

Acquino, an Asia expert and director of the Economic Research Institute at the National University of San Marcos in Lima, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the strength of the Pacific Alliance (AP) lies in the fact that its members not only share a common goal, but also are fundamentally similar.

The AP is holding its 12th meeting in Cali, Colombia, Thursday through Friday.

"Of all the Latin American integration blocs, such as the Community of Andean Nations (CAN) or the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), it's the one that can succeed the most, because it is a homogeneous group of representative democracies with market economies and an interest in Asia," he said.

According to Aquino, the four nations within the AP have already established free trade between each other, and 92 percent of the goods trade are duty free. "The remainder will be liberalized in 15 years at the latest," he added.

The main weakness of the bloc -- which has 52 observer countries, including China -- is that it is fairly new, the expert said, adding that insufficient transport and communication infrastructure has hindered intra-bloc flow of people as well as trade ties with Asia.

"Here, China can help," said Aquino, who pointed out that Chinese investment, the extension of the Belt and Road Initiative into Latin America, as well as increased air routes and e-commerce platforms are all needed to help local companies connect with Asia.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Related Stories:

• Australia launches free trade negotiations with Pacific Alliance
• Peru hails new associated countries with Pacific Alliance

News Report: Trump May Use Taiwan and Trade Cards as Bargaining Chips in US-China Ties

Governor of Texas Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz met with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in Texas to discuss energy, trade relations and commercial ties as well as arms trade, despite China's protests over the Taiwanese president’s visit to the US.

Director of the China Institute of International Relations of the People's University, Wang Yiwei, told Sputnik China that “Tsai Ing-wen should realize that Taiwan is just a card that Trump is playing in the field of Sino-US relations.”

The analyst further said that, “Since Trump and Tsai Ing-wen held a telephone conversation; the issue of Taiwan became increasingly urgent in relations between China and the US. Nevertheless, Taiwan should not relax because Trump allowed Taiwan to buy more US weapons, which, in turn, affected budget of the whole administration.”

Having won the presidential race, Trump has both political and economic motives in playing the Taiwan card. In particular, the US President-elect hopes to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip in relations with China, including the one-China policy.

News Story: Tricks do no good to China-U.S. ties

by Xinhua Writer Chen Shilei

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Allowing Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's stopovers in the United States and even meetings with U.S. officials goes against the globally recognized one-China policy, a cornerstone for the long-term healthy development of the China-U.S. ties.

Tsai on Sunday met with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Texas Governor Greg Abbott during a stopover in Houston on her way to Central America.

Although both Taiwan and the United States described Tsai's stay as nothing unusual, Tsai's meetings with Cruz and Abbott revealed the pro-independence Taiwan leader's ambition to seek U.S. support and some U.S. politicians' ambiguous attitude toward the one-China policy that the United States recognizes: there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is a part of China.

The one-China principle, which has been formed during the Chinese people's fight to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, has its unshakable factual and legal basis.

The United States severed ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China in the 1970s, admitting Beijing is the only legitimate government representing China -- a principle China conducts diplomacy with other countries.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: What is Behind Taiwanese President’s Visit to Latin America Amid Speculations

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen left for the United States Saturday on her way to Central America, a trip that will be scrutinized by China. Sputnik spoke with Chinese political experts in an interview about this trip and how it may be related to US-Chinese bilateral relations.

While the focus of the nine-day trip is to bolster relations with Taiwan's Central American allies, Tsai's US stopovers are being closely watched by experts amid speculation that she may make contact with president-elect Donald Trump and his team.

This is President Tsai Ing-wen’s second foreign trip. In June last year she visited Panama and Paraguay.

The political and legal status of Taiwan has been a matter of dispute between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan for many years. Due to this tension, Taiwan president’s visit to Latin America is being highly scrutinized.

In Central America, Taiwan is friends with 11 countries, in the Caribbean with 5 countries and in South America with Paraguay. It is noteworthy that on the eve of Tsai Ing-wen’s trip, the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Luis Miguel Hincapie assured that his country has excellent relations with Taiwan despite the fact that the president has not planned to visit the country.

News Report: Taiwanese President Lands in US

President Tsai Ing-wen (Image: Wiki Commons)

Taiwan's president landed in Houston Saturday in the southern state of Texas on her way to visit Central America.

President Tsai Ing-wen will not be meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump or any of his officials, the transition team said, despite a surprise call between the two leaders last month.

Tsai had not said who she might contact while in Houston for about a day on her way to Central America or in San Francisco for about the same length of time enroute home later on.

The de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei - the American Institute in Taiwan - says Tsai’s stopovers, a courtesy Washington normally gives Latin America-bound Taiwan leaders, are for private business only.

The trip, viewed in Taiwan as a test of Taiwan’s stable but fragile foreign relations in the Americas, has drawn attention in Beijing, which already protested the U.S. stopovers and is expected to react if Tsai shows new signs of getting close to Trump.

China sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, not as a state entitled to foreign relations.

Tsai is to visit Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador during her nine-day trip.

This story first appeared on Voice of America & is reposted here with permission.

News Report: Taiwan President Heading to the Americas to Protect Fragile Foreign Relations

Tsai Ing-wen (Image: Wiki Commons)

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will start a trip Saturday to the United States with the possibility of advancing relations with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump after a surprise call last month, and to Central American countries that could someday switch allegiance from Taipei to its powerful rival China.

The trip viewed at home as a test of Taiwan’s stable but fragile foreign relations in the Americas has raised alert in Beijing, which already protested the U.S. stopovers and is expected to react if Tsai shows new signs of getting close to Trump.

China sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, not as a state entitled to foreign relations. It frets when the island’s leaders make inroads overseas.