What Do North Korean Provocations Mean for China?
Tong Zhao | One Earth Future
The world is shocked by the blowing up of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office by North Korea who has continued to upgrade its threats and raise tensions along the inter-Korean border. These have followed multiple short-range missile tests and other relatively low-level provocations by North Korea earlier in the year. As the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic tapers, North Korea may be stepping up efforts to carry out “offensive measures” and a “new path” pledged by Kim Jong Un since the end of 2019. The intensifying U.S.-China great power competition provides an important opportunity for Pyongyang to exploit.
US, Russia Hold New Nuclear Arms Talks, But Without China
David Rising | AP
American and Russian negotiators have concluded a round of nuclear arms control talks in Vienna, aimed at producing a new agreement to replace the New START treaty that expires in February — the last remaining pact constraining the arsenals of the world’s two major nuclear powers. U.S. negotiator Marshall Billingslea told reporters Tuesday that a day of high-level “marathon discussions” ended late Monday night and had been productive enough to conclude with the establishment of several technical working groups to delve deeper into the issues with the idea of paving the way for a second round of talks by late July or early August. New START can be extended by five years by mutual consent. Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister who led his country’s delegation in Vienna, told reporters in Moscow that he had reiterated the position that it should be.
UN Nuclear Watchdog Presses Iran for Access to Suspect Sites
Patrick Wintour | Guardian
The UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation board of governors has called on Iran to stop denying the agency access to two suspected former sites and to cooperate fully with it. The endorsement of a resolution that was tabled by the European powers is the International Atomic Energy Authority’s first such criticism of Iran in eight years, and comes as the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK met in Berlin to discuss the nuclear issue. The IAEA’s director general, Rafael Grossi, has reported repeated denials of access to the two sites, and the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has accused Iran of unprecedented obstruction.
Europe Tells US: We Won't Back Unilateral Iran Sanctions Snapback
John Irish | Reuters
Britain, France and Germany said on Friday they would not back U.S. efforts to unilaterally trigger the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran, but said they wanted talks with Tehran over its ongoing violations of a 2015 nuclear accord. Under Iran’s 2015 deal with world powers to accept limits to its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions, a U.N. weapons embargo is due to expire in October. The United States, which exited the deal in 2018, says it wants to extend the embargo. If the U.N. Security Council does not extend the embargo, Washington has threatened to trigger a so-called snapback of all U.N. sanctions on Iran, using a process outlined in the nuclear deal.
Chinese Navy Steps Closer to New Generation of Nuclear Submarines
H I Sutton | Forbes
New evidence at the Bohai shipyard in China points to the construction of the next generation of nuclear submarines for the Chinese Navy (known as the PLAN). While many have argued that the new Type 095 and 096 subs will be built there, it is only now that the infrastructure is largely ready. The new submarines will be important if the PLAN wishes to patrol the open Pacific, or routinely venture into the Indian Ocean. Analysis of commercial imagery shows a new launch barge has recently been completed at the site.
India Urgently Seeks Russian Missile System After China Clash
Sudhi Ranjan Sen and Henry Meyer | Bloomberg
India is pushing Russia to speed up the delivery of a missile defense system as ties with China deteriorate following the worst military clash between the Asian nations in four decades. The request comes as China and India’s foreign ministers met on Tuesday in their first face-to-face interaction since a fight along their disputed Himalayan border killed 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops. India and China agreed to deescalate the situation along their undemarcated boundary, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular news briefing Tuesday in Beijing. Singh plans to seek the advanced delivery of the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile defense system -- currently due in December 2021 -- and the purchase of Russian-made jet fighters Su-30Mki and MiG-29, people familiar with the details said.