Category Archives: Government

Asia, Government, North Korea, United Nations, United States

Pentagon warns North Korea, ‘You will be destroyed’

NORTH KOREA

DONALD TRUMP’S military chief has warned North Korea that action against the United States would ‘lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people’.

Pentagon head Jim Mattis said that Kim Jong-Un would lose any arms race or conflict it started after Pyongyang threatened to strike the American territory of Guam.

Earlier, the US President had declared that his nuclear arsenal was ‘far stronger and more powerful than ever’.

Mr Mattis said that, while Washington was pursuing a diplomatic solution, the military power of the US and its allies was the most robust on Earth. Mr Trump had sent a shudder through Asia this week, threatening to unleash ‘fire and fury like the world has never seen’ against Kim Kong-Un’s regime.

Mr Trump’s comments came after US intelligence concluded that the Korean dictator had developed a nuclear warhead small enough to fit inside a ballistic missile – years sooner than expected.

Supersonic bombers from the American air force then carried out a ten-hour mission over the Korean peninsula, prompting Pyongyang to brand the US ‘nuclear war maniacs’.

The Korean People’s Army said it was ‘carefully examining’ a plan to strike the island of Guam in the Western Pacific – where US bombers are stationed.

Amid fears of nuclear war, Mr Trump continued to boost of his country’s military power on Twitter.

He posted: ‘My first order as president was to renovate and modernise our nuclear arsenal.

‘It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before. Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!’

However, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sought to ease tensions and said there was no imminent threat from North Korea.

Mr Trump’s chief diplomat suggested that the president’s sabre-rattling had been deliberately robust – because it was the only language that Kim would understand.

He said: ‘I think Americans should sleep well at night, have no particular concerns about this particular rhetoric of the last few days.’

Mr Tillerson’s comments came as his plane refuelled in Guam, which is 2,131 miles from North Korea, on the way to the US after a trip to Asia.

He added: ‘Nothing I have seen and nothing I know of would indicate that the situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours.

‘What the President is doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Kong-Un would understand, because he doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language.’

Tensions over the North Korean peninsula heightened as Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles.

It was understood they were capable of hitting Alaska, but not the US mainland.

But earlier in the week it was reported that intelligence agencies were convinced North Korea has produced a miniaturised nuclear warhead that could fit on one of its ballistic missiles.

The Defence Intelligence Agency’s assessment suggested Kim’s quest to turn North Korea into a fully-fledged nuclear power had been accelerated by several years.

Officials also increased estimates of the number of nuclear bombs in Kim’s arsenal to 60.

And they revised expectations of how soon the regime could mount a nuclear strike on the American mainland.

Critics countered that they did not believe North Korea has yet mastered the technology required to prevent its long-range missiles burning up in the atmosphere during re-entry from space.

Asia experts claim Mr Trump’s combative language is playing into the hands of Kim by allowing him to convince his people that he is protecting them from a real US threat to their existence.

Although analysts tend to believe North Korea’s ruler does not want war, they have warned he is willing to push tensions with the US as far as possible.

Mr Tillerson said he hoped international pressure – including from Russia and China – could persuade North Korea to reconsider and begin talks.

Britain’s Foreign Office said it would work to ‘maintain pressure on North Korea’.

COMMENT

FOR the second time this year, the escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula are a cause for serious concern.

Over Easter, random missile tests by Pyongyang and US sabre rattling alerted the world to how potentially dangerous the situation in this volatile region could be.

When the stand-off ended, there was at least some hope that North Korea would end its provocative weapons tests.

But instead, the country’s unhinged dictator Kim Jong-Un has doubled down, pressing ahead with the development of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles which he now claims can hit the US mainland.

According to reports sourced to US intelligence, North Korean scientists have overcome a critical technological hurdle in the production of a miniaturised nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles.

If true, this rogue state is close to having the power to inflict unimaginable death and destruction, and now presents the gravest of threats to the region and the West.

Whatever individual feelings are of President Trump, most people should accept that under such circumstances no president of the world’s most powerful democracy could stand by and do nothing. Mr Trump’s stance is in stark contrast to the softly-softly approach of the Obama administration, which arguably allowed the situation to dangerously escalate.

Yes, Trump is guilty of using inflammatory rhetoric when he says threats against the US will be met with ‘fire and fury like the world has never seen’. But the message is at least unequivocal, and expressed in language the North Korean regime cannot fail to understand as it threatens a missile strike against the US territory of Guam in the South Pacific.

The problem with such rhetoric, however, is that if the President fails to deliver on his threat, he will seem weak.

What is needed now is not more bellicose language but calm thinking by diplomats and Mr Trump’s senior generals, some of whom have impressive pedigrees. What is also vital is that the Chinese, who could have imposed reform on North Korea – effectively their client state – years ago, now behave responsibly and sensibly.

To their credit, they and Russia have supported the new UN sanctions against Pyongyang. Those sanctions must now be given the chance to work.

Kim’s Target:

guam-map

Protecting the island is the US military’s Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, used to shoot down ballistic missiles.

. Andersen Air Force Base, located in the south-west of the island, hosts B-52 bombers, as well as B-1B Lancer bombers and B-2 Stealth bombers.

. Guam is a 210-square mile volcanic island in the Western Pacific.

. It has a population of just 160,000 with some 6,000 US troops stationed there.

. 4 nuclear submarines. A Naval Base is located in the north-east of the island.

 

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Britain, Economic, European Union, Government, Politics

Project Fear? Countries are lining up to trade with UK

BREXIT

NEARLY all of the countries that Remain campaigners said would not want to trade with Britain post-Brexit have called for deeper trade links.

Of the 111 countries that ‘Project Fear’ campaigners said would not want a deal if the UK chose to leave the EU, 105 have signalled that they want to work with Britain.

In the build-up to last year’s EU referendum, the official Britain Stronger in Europe campaign claimed that the countries would have ‘moved on’ after Brexit.

But campaign group Change Britain found that eight nations have ‘enthusiastically’ asked for a free-trade deal with the UK, 97 have said they want a deal in principle, and just six have not yet said whether they are interested in a deal.

Former trade minister, Lord Jones, a Change Britain supporter, said: ‘This report demonstrates that the pro EU Project Fear campaign was nonsense. The UK has the world’s fifth largest economy, the world’s leading financial centre and many of its best companies, innovators and universities. The rest of the world is queuing up to do trade deals with us.’

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Britain, European Union, Government, Politics

The UK’s Brexit negotiating position is to be hardened up

BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS

BELGIUM-EU-BRITAIN

It is hoped ‘position papers’ will unify a fractious Cabinet towards a more agreeable position. This comes amid criticism that the UK is woefully underprepared for talks with the EU.

The UK Government is to start publishing a series of ‘Brexit position papers’ ahead of the next round of talks at the end of August in a bid to show the British prime minister is “getting on with the job” and that the Cabinet is unified around a collective position.

At the time of writing it is understood that a number of position papers have been sent to Cabinet ministers for sign off as No 10 prepares to publish the documents outlining its stance on some of the most pressing Brexit matters.

Some of those papers could be published in the next two weeks.

“These papers are meant to facilitate collective decision-making based on facts and evidence,” a senior source has said.

Position papers have been prepared on a range of issues from digital economy and data protection, to Northern Ireland, customs agreement and goods and services arrangements once Britain quits the European Union.

No 10 hopes the position papers will unify a fractious Cabinet on an agreed position; counter the perception that the British Government is unprepared for Brexit; and ease the burden of workload on the civil service.

“I know there is a desire to narrow the set of options and that is coming from departments rather than DExEU. It is a lot of work to keep open five or six scenarios, so there is a desire to make some decisions now, regardless of negotiations,” the source said.

Ministers and officials have been working flat out to draw up the position papers, aware that the Brexit deadline is fast approaching.

“Position papers may determine whether or not we can move to the second stage of negotiations, work in recess is vital,” the source added.

The Government is planning a ministerial write round – where relevant ministers beyond the Cabinet are given sight of the position papers – for the week beginning 21 August, suggesting papers could be published from that week onwards.

Britain and the EU cannot move onto talks about Britain’s future relationship with the EU, the second stage of negotiations, until the European Commission is satisfied “sufficient progress” has been made on the top three priorities: citizens’ rights, Britain’s Brexit bill and the Irish border.

The border issue is proving difficult. The Irish government has rejected a proposal from the British to use technology – cameras, pre-registered cargo – to avoid a hard border, and is instead pushing for the UK to join a new bilateral customs union with the EU.

Mrs May’s renewed focus on Britain’s Brexit position comes after a chaotic few weeks, with her cabinet split over a possible transition period after the UK quits the European Union and what a post-Brexit immigration policy might look like.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said in recent weeks there is now “broad acceptance” among the cabinet that a transitional period will be needed after Britain quits the EU and has said “many things will look similar” for up to three years after leaving.

That position is expected to be formalised in the position paper, with the government seeking a transitional customs arrangement to avoid a hard cliff edge for business.

 

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