Results tagged “kimjongil”

• Prepare to fight China, Qaeda figure tells Uighurs [Washington Post] "A prominent al Qaeda militant urged Uighurs in Xianjiang to make serious preparations for a holy war against "oppressive" China and called on fellow Muslims to offer support. Abu Yahya al-Libi, in a video posted on an Islamist website on Wednesday, warned China of a fate similar to that of former communist superpower, the Soviet Union, which disintegrated some two decades ago."
• Inside the Ring [Washington Times] "China's most senior military intelligence official, a veteran of spy operations in Europe and cyberspace, recently made a secret visit to the United States and complained to the Pentagon about the press leak on the Chinese submarine that secretly shadowed the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in 2006. Maj. Gen. Yang Hui said senior Chinese leaders suspected the Pentagon deliberately disclosed the encounter as part of a U.S. effort to send a political message of displeasure to China's military."
• A Beautiful Life: Mean Streets and Meaner People [NYTimes] "It takes nerve to award Bai Ling a singing role in a serious drama, but nerve may be the one thing “A Beautiful Life” does not lack. Set among the mean streets and meaner people of downtown Los Angeles, this laughably clichéd dive into sexual masochism and hardscrabble survival replaces story with outline and characters with place holders. No wonder Ms. Ling’s breasts are the most animated objects on screen."

North Korea had some strong words for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she referred to the country's leaders as "unruly children" and pointed out that even their most steadfast friends, China and Russia, were no longer willing to support their hijinks. The Foreign Ministry issued the following statement, "We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady, as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community," adding that "Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping." Low blow, North Korea! We're not sure those words are going to convince the world you're not acting juvenile. Source: NY Times

• NKorea's Kim Jong Il looks OK in new photographs [AP] "North Korea released new photographs of Kim Jong Il touring a factory following reports earlier this week that the 67-year-old leader has pancreatic cancer and less than five years to live. Wearing sunglasses and a short-sleeved shirt, Kim appeared generally OK in the images released Tuesday night — thin but no worse than in other recent photographs. He has grown frailer over the past year after reportedly suffering a stroke last summer."
• How China Wins and Loses Xinjiang [Foreign Policy] "The government's crackdown on the Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority group that has long chafed under Beijing's rule, was nasty, brutish, and short. Overnight curfews were imposed. Thousands of police officers dispersed. President Hu Jintao left the G-8 summit in Europe to focus on putting out fires at home. But not all aspects of China's policies toward Uighurs and other minorities are characterized by such precision."
• Something’s Rotten in Chinese Steel Industry [NYT Dealbook] "Long before four employees of the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto were detained in Shanghai last week on suspicion of stealing state secrets, people working in China’s steel industry were complaining about bribery, deceit and a system turned rotten, The New York Times’s David Barboza writes."

Dear Leader, our close if crazy friend over on the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, apparently is dying of pancreatic cancer, according to Korean news source Yonhap Television News. The information was attributed to unidentified Chinese and South Korean intelligence sources, and was backed up by a report by a Japanese paper that Kim Jong-Il had a "serious pancreatic disorder." So what will North Korea do if their one God-like leader falls? It seems that Kim may be paving the way for his youngest son, 25-year-old Kim Jong Un to succeed him. The Times UK said that Jong Un had been in Beijing this past week meeting the leaders of the only country still willing (and perhaps not for long) to call the DPRK its ally.

It's good to know that despite us being bosom buddies, China is still “resolutely opposed” to North Korea's nuclear weapons test. A Foreign Ministry statement called Pyongyang's test in defiance of the international community and its own commitments against nuclear weaponry. It called for North Korea to avoid actions that would raise the tension between it and other nations, and return to dismantling its nuclear programs. But will stern words from their compatriots (and aid providers... and tickets to the 60th Anniversary bash providers) be enough to stop Kim Jong-Il from going ahead with his atomic vision? Nobody puts Dear Leader in a corner! Source: AP

Seems like we may be looking forward to a visit from China's good buddy, Kim Jong-Il, during the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Chinese Communist Party. The Great Leader has allegedly accepted an invitation from Premier Wen Jiabao to join in on the fun. Previously, Wen was quoted telling North Korean officials that “We will ardently welcome Comrade Kim Jong-Il and senior officials of the Korean party and government to visit China at a convenient time.” Source: Channel News Asia

President Kim Jong-Il may not have been there personally for yesterday's Olympic torch relay in Pyongyang, but that did not stop hundreds of thousands of ecstatic North Koreans from turning out in full force and waving the Kim Jong Ilia (flower named after the "Dear Leader") as the flame went across their city for the first time in the history of the Olympics. Earlier this week, DPRK officials promised the Chinese a smooth and trouble-free event (no doubt the greatest challenge of their lives), and my my, just take a look at this exuberant and spontaneous display of enthusiasm from the people. Sure made us shed a single tear.

A prominent former Thai senator accused of sex crimes against four underage girls was sentenced to 36 years in prison on Tuesday, when an appeals court stiffened the sentence of a lower court.

On the same day that the "Dear Leader" of our friendly northeastern neighbour decided to press ahead with nuclear tests, a brave Singaporean entrepreneur announced his decision to invade the reclusive commie state with his brand of -- guess what -- sushi!

Seems to be accessible in Shanghai ... for now.

• Kim Jong Il visits Shanghai! Or maybe not.
• A 19.305-carat diamond is expected to fetch US$1.25 million at a Shanghai auction January 16, making all men in Shanghai look cheap.
• Katie bar the door! Ten million visitors headed to Shanghai for Spring Festival.

Photo of students in Shaanxi Province lining up to buy train tickets back home for Spring Festival from Xinhua.