International Scoop: a student’s take on eastern Asian politics

BY AMYWULFF
Cardinal Staff

Last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Russia in an attempt to improve ties with Moscow. After U.S. condemnations of Russia’s undemocratic practices, corruption and human rights violations, Clinton went to meet with both liberal activists and the Kremlin. Democratic rights activists in Russia have been speaking out for years and fearing for their lives. According to Fox News, prominent rights activist Lev Ponomaryov said Clinton understands how hard it is for rights defenders to work in Russia and noted the number of journalists and rights activists who have been killed in Russia in recent years. Clinton reported that she felt positive about the future of Russian democracy. Fox News said, “Critics, however, note that the words have not been followed by deeds.”

According to Xinhuanet.com, a source for Chinese news, Clinton’s visit to Russia wasn’t all about democracy, but about working together with other U.N. nations to improve issues including the Middle East, Iran, and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). Clinton, in her talks with the Russian secretary of state, suggested that the U.S. and Russia be leaders in world problemsolving.

Speaking of cooperating and doing deals, Russia and China just signed a multi-billion dollar economic and bilateral trade deal, according to CNN and Chinese state Media. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao hosted Vladimir Putin in Beijing as the countries both celebrated their 60 years of working together (officially the Russia-China strategic cooperative partnership) and a new plan to share oil. One of the economic deals laid out at this meeting was a plan between Chinese and Russian banks, and another was the plan to exchange energy. According to CNN, the construction on the China section of an oil pipeline from Siberia started in May. This pipeline will allow China and Russia to share energy and ensure gas prices do not fluctuate too much. “It is expected to carry 15 million tons of crude oil annually from Russia to China from 2011 to 2030.”

And while we are speaking of East Asia, North Korea has some interested plans coming up. This month, according to NewsVOA, they have agreed to engage in talks with South Korea over a number of significant issues to the region. First, South Korea wants its citizens to be able to visit relatives that had been separated by the 1950s war. Second, they want to talk about managing shared waterways. Last month, North Korea “suddenly released water from a dam, flooding camping areas in the South and six South Koreans drown,” according to News VOA. Strangely, after agreeing to these talks, North Korea did a series of short-range missile tests. Even stranger: the South is not concerned. News VOA echoes my feelings when it says, “Whether it is intended or not, the missile launches serve as an implicit reminder to South Korea of the North’s ability to inflict massive damage on very short notice.” I hope those talks work! As always, dear reader, there is a world outside Saint Mary’s! Be part of it!