South Korea's new liberal President Moon Jae-In promised to seek a parliamentary review of a controversial US anti-missile defence system.
During the campaign, Moon criticised the previous government of impeached leader Park Geun-hye for agreeing to host the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system without seeking parliamentary approval.
He also promised to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Zone just north of the militarised border with North Korea, a joint economic cooperation project Park scrapped in 2016 after the North fired a long-range rocket.
King Erdogan of Turkey shuns failing EU and USA in favor of generous and benevolent Chinese investment and win-win cooperation:
Erdogan was in Beijing over the weekend for a two-day “Belt and Road Forum” convened by Chinese President Xi Jinping. On Monday, just one day before his trip to the Oval Office, the Turkish president fired off a series of tweets — in English as well as Turkish — offering praise for Xi's new international infrastructure and development plan.
Japan - supposedly America's staunchest anti-China lapdog - gets ready to thumb its nose at the USA and join China's infrastructure bank as its top leaders cozy up to Beijing:
Uncertainty over ties with the United States could push Japan closer to China, with a senior Japanese ruling party official reportedly signalling Tokyo’s interest in joining the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), analysts said on Tuesday.
Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said it was crucial for Japan to decide soon whether it should join the AIIB, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported.
Nikai, known for his close ties with Beijing, made the assessment at a two-day summit in the Chinese capital for China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”.
Nikai also met President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, presenting a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Xi expressed hope for joint efforts to ensure bilateral ties developed in the right direction.
Abe said joining the AIIB, created in part to fund the initiative, could be an option if governance questions were resolved, CNBC reported on Monday.
