His predecessor Barack Obama agonised over Syria but stayed clear of it. Trump seems to have no qualms about the potential for things to go drastically wrong in North Korea, a much tougher problem, says New York-based geopolitical analyst Ian Bremmer. In a wide-ranging e-mail interview with The Straits Times, Bremmer, president of the New York-based Eurasia Group, also sees challenges ahead for Trump’s relationship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, despite the apparent warmth of their meeting earlier this month.

President Donald Trump says he will not leave North Korea for the next administration to resolve, unsubtly blaming previous administrations for kicking the can, or the nuclear football, down the road. What are you expecting to see him do?

I expect him to keep pushing China, which he has already done with some success. But ultimately he has three choices: Work with China on a deal that North Korea could accept (as with the Iran deal), order extremely dangerous military strikes, or back down and live with a North Korea that can eventually reach mainland United States with a missile.

At this point, this is bluster but no strategy. Former president Barack Obama avoided involvement in Syria, after much agonising, because he knew there was no viable endgame that allowed for a good result. North Korea is a much tougher problem than Syria, but Mr Trump doesn’t agonise. He’s not worried about the endgame. But he’ll have to come up with a coherent strategy.

After meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump seemed to hint at a special bond with the Chinese President that transcended the scripted tone of bilateral meetings with Chinese leaders. How much truth is there in this perception? Is personal diplomacy at all possible with a Chinese leader? Does Mr Trump’s increased, direct pressure on China over North Korea augur well for China to play a more active role in solving longstanding world problems, what some see as China fulfilling its responsibility as a huge global power? How does this compare with his chemistry with Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe?

Mr Trump did go out of his way to keep things positive and professional with President Xi. He becomes a bit tamer when he recognises the importance of an occasion, as when he made his first visit to the Oval Office to meet Mr Obama during the transition period. The Mar-a-Lago meeting with Mr Xi could have gone very badly, and it’s important that it didn’t. Mr Trump did show seriousness on North Korea. He listened as well as spoke. China has responded to that, more than it did with Mr Obama’s complaints about Pyongyang.

That said, I’m not as optimistic as your question implies because personal diplomacy won’t get you very far. Mr Xi’s speaking points are scripted in advance and cleared by the Politburo Standing Committee; there’s only so much flexibility. You can nudge a discussion forwards or backwards, you can buy time to avoid unnecessary friction, but a breakthrough will remain out of reach because both their personal and national agendas lead them in different directions.

Mr Trump’s personal chemistry with Mr Abe is much better than with Mr Xi. Mr Abe likes to golf; Mr Xi doesn’t. Mr Abe is warmer, more spontaneous, more charismatic, and represents a country with interests more complementary to US interests, compared with China’s.

Ms Ivanka Trump is reportedly popular in China. Has Mr Trump’s appeal widened too? During the campaign, he was widely scorned and lampooned on social media in China. Has that changed now? Does a good working relationship with Mr Trump strengthen Mr Xi’s hand in the important Chinese Communist Party congress at the year end?

I don’t think Mr Trump’s appeal in China is particularly stronger than it was. When he was first elected, there was a view that he was a businessman with a transactional approach to relations who wouldn’t focus on human rights. Beijing probably believed it could work with him. That confidence eroded when Mr Trump took China to task on trade issues. And it was badly damaged by the flap over Mr Trump’s early comments on Taiwan. Things have improved in recent weeks, but trust is sharply limited on both sides.

In Mr Trump’s first 100 days, are there signs Washington is taming him? He seems to have upset his conservative base, but has not won over centrists and liberals by demonstrating a willingness to provide global leadership. You criticised his “America first” policy, which you saw as disastrous as it would cause the US to cede leadership on international issues. How do you now see his actions on Syria and Afghanistan, and his statements on Iran and North Korea?

He’s somewhat normalising, yes. On Syria, he listened to military advisers, and the limited strikes were a success. Otherwise, he’s not changing policy. On places where he’s changing policy – Iran and North Korea – danger is growing.

Observers tend to dismiss Mr Trump as a man without ideology who is influenced by the last adviser to brief him, but he has arguably displayed an ability to define tough issues and apply an impolitic “whatever works” approach to them. During the campaign, he suggested that Japan and South Korea should get nuclear weapons. How much currency does this idea have with his national security team?

Very little. Japan would be strongly opposed to that, and nuclearising South Korea would be tremendously destabilising. Mr Trump’s defence and national security advisers understand this very well. It’s not going to happen. It’s a bit like Mr Trump’s campaign comment that Nato is “obsolete”. That was a political message he was testing, because he clearly felt he needed something striking to say. But then he arrived in the White House and realised just how useful Nato is. Nothing new here. Former president Bill Clinton was talking very differently about China in 1993 compared with presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.

White House adviser Steve Bannon seems to be out of favour, and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has emerged as the top administration and policy point man. What does Asia need to know about this smooth, young and liberal billionaire?

Mr Bannon is a bit out of favour following much written-about personality clashes in the inner circle. It’s not that his ideology is out of favour. Presidents need people they can trust, particularly when they arrive with few friends in Washington.

Mr Trump trusts family. Mr Jared Kushner and Ms Ivanka Trump are family. Mr Bannon is a valued strategist and adviser, but he is not family. That isn’t going to change. German Chancellor Angela Merkel understands this well. That is why she immediately invited Ms Ivanka Trump to Berlin. This is a smart way to build a relationship with President Trump. Mr Kushner is untested, but he’s smart and a calming influence on the President.

Has Mr Trump now “normalised” on trade, climbed down from extreme positions like imposing steep tariffs on Chinese products? Can Asian economies, which closely track the world’s No.1 consumer, breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to a year in which growth prospects have unexpectedly brightened?

No, I wouldn’t say that. Mr Trump is still the guy who couldn’t wait to kill the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite support for it within his party. He’s still talking about the North American Free Trade Agreement. And he just launched tariffs on softwood lumber from Canada. He’s bought time with Mr Xi, and the new US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is now engaging. But he’s hardly a globalisation cheerleader with China. That relationship is going to get more challenging.

On South China Sea territorial disputes, there is talk now of China sewing up a code of conduct with Asean nations to prevent the possibility of military flare-ups, do you see this as the triumph of Chinese diplomacy?

They’re making progress. But not with everyone – look at the backsliding with President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippines. There’s a lot more jostling going on there at the moment. China’s military growth will stoke more resentment in the region, even given their growing economic importance.

In France, you have been predicting that right-wing leader Marine Le Pen would win, yet polls favour rival Emmanuel Macron now. Do you still see scope for Ms Le Pen’s victory?

I’ve never predicted she would win. I’ve said only that her chances are much, much higher than most others appear to believe. In fact, I’ve got a public bet going with The Economist about this because I put her chances at “close to a coin flip” while they put her at 1 per cent.

I do think a Le Pen victory is possible, though not likely. In France, anti-establishment forces are still strong. The traditional parties of power in France finished in third and fifth place in the first round of presidential voting. And while Mr Macron is an outsider who has never run for office before, nobody sees him that way. He served in French President Francois Hollande’s (extremely unpopular) government. He’s a banker. He’s been endorsed by the European commission! That’s not going to play well with some French voters.

The bigger question is how he will govern without anything close to a majority in the National Assembly. The true anti-establishment parties just gained record levels of support. They won’t just disappear after Mr Macron wins.

After France, Britain will go to the polls. Do you expect Prime Minister Theresa May to be voted back in June with a strong mandate to carry out Brexit?

Yes, she has made a smart bet. The Conservative Party will do well. It already has a big lead on the Labour Party, and Mrs May believes, probably correctly, that she can steal away Labour voters who supported Brexit. And her victory will strengthen her position at Brexit negotiations. It was an intelligent move, particularly for her domestic mandate. She will be strengthened relative to those within her party who would second-guess her every move.

In Iran, do you see President Hassan Rouhani coming back in the May 19 elections and ensuring Iran stays on the moderate path?

Yes, that’s very likely. His economic record is relatively strong after the pain of the sanctions years. We expect centrist/reformist voters to turn out in big numbers. One of his leading conservative challengers is little known, and the other has faced accusations of corruption. And many senior leaders want to keep the nuclear deal in place as Iran’s economic prospects and geopolitical position improve. We’ve come a long way from the green revolution days of 2009.

You’ve been overall pessimistic on 2017, forecasting this as a year of “geopolitical recession”. Has your view changed?

Not at all. This is a broad call. It doesn’t hit everywhere. Mr Trump continues to confuse allies, rivals and lots of Americans. Europe still has more than its share of problems. Brazil’s future is unclear, Turkey’s troubles have deepened, and things have gone very badly in South Africa. Yet, China remains solid, Russia is still stagnant, and India continues to do very well under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We still don’t have viable solutions to big transnational problems like climate change, and cyberspace is becoming a much more dangerous place. The effects are uneven, but the geopolitical recession is very much with us.

Most Asian capitals heaved a collective sigh of relief as US President Donald Trump marked his 100 days in office yesterday, because he has failed to carry out most of the threats he made during his campaign and the run-up to his inauguration.

However, anxieties remain as the American leader has proved to be as unpredictable as he showed he could be while on the campaign trail. One analyst, Professor Shi Yinhong of Renmin University in Beijing, called him “the most volatile” US president in many years.

Trade and Economics

The Chinese like Mr Trump, said Prof Shi, because he did not carry through with his threats to name China a currency manipulator and slap heavy tariffs on Chinese goods.

But some Chinese leaders are worried about the US plan to overhaul its tax system, which would see steep cuts in income tax and lower corporate tax from 35 per cent to 15 per cent. If approved, it could see companies moving their operations to the US from Asia.

A commentary in the People’s Daily newspaper warned that the US tax cuts would provoke a tax war.

Elsewhere in Asia, there was much disappointment when Mr Trump pulled out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal right after taking office.

There is also anxiety in many countries, from Japan and South Korea down to Indonesia, which have trade deficits with the US as Mr Trump has ordered a study of these deficits and ways to redress them.

In India, there is worry over the US policy to tighten work visa regulations which could affect the movement of Indian professionals. This is particularly after the White House recently accused top Indian software firms such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services of unfairly cornering the H1-B work visas, used by Indian software firms to send their workers to the US for onsite work.

In the Philippines, the initial fear that Mr Trump’s moves to protect American jobs could affect its outsourcing industry has passed.

“The jobs he wants to protect are blue-collar jobs, not IT jobs” common in the outsourcing firms, explained stock market analyst Luis Limlingan.

Security and Geopolitics

The US’ security allies and partners are relieved that Mr Trump has shown in the past months that he wants to stay engaged in the region. There were fears that he might pursue an isolationist policy given his narrow “America first” rhetoric.

His administration moved swiftly to deal forcefully with the North Korean nuclear issue, much to the delight of the South Koreans.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made clear during his visit to North-east Asia last month that the US’ “strategic patience” was over and that all options, including a military one, are on the table in dealing with the North’s nuclear and missile programmes. The US then sent the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula in a show of force.

It also pressured the Chinese to do more to rein in Pyongyang.

Dr Go Myong Hyun of the South Korean think-tank Asan Institute of Policy Studies said Mr Trump performed “beyond expectations”.

“South Korea has been asking the US to put North Korea at the top of US priority, and that’s exactly what (Trump) did this time,” said Dr Go.

However, he warned against the US doing too much. “It is a fine balance between pressuring North Korea and avoiding accidental escalation. If Trump does too much, there is a risk of accidental escalation.”

Indeed, Japan was alarmed by the Americans’ sudden strike on a Syrian airbase that military experts said was meant to intimidate Pyongyang, prompting its envoys to seek quiet reassurances that any strike on the North will be discussed beforehand.

South Korea is pleased that Mr Trump did not demand that more be paid for US troops stationed there and that he reaffirmed the US-South Korea military alliance.

Tokyo is likewise relieved that Washington reaffirmed its security obligations under the US-Japan alliance, including to defend the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands claimed by both Japan and China.

Security analyst Tosh Minohara of Kobe University said: “There was a good chance that Mr Trump will go deeper into the Middle East and disregard Asia. But he did not, and so Japan is relieved.”

In Manila, while President Rodrigo Duterte has continued to complain about the presence of US troops in the Philippines, that has not caused a palpable shift in defence relations between the two countries, noted defence analyst Jose Antonio Custodio. It helped that Mr Trump has refrained from criticising Mr Duterte’s human rights record over his brutal crackdown on drug crime.

Mr Trump’s fight against terrorism has elicited different reactions in the region. It struck a chord with the Hindu nationalists of India but caused wariness in Indonesia.

The right-wing group Hindu Sena held prayers for a Trump victory and has not been disappointed.

“He has taken strong action against terrorism. He has bombed Syria and Afghanistan,” said the group’s president Vishnu Gupta. He believes the Trump administration will be tough on India’s rival Pakistan, a Muslim state.

However, Mr Trump’s attempt to order a travel ban against several Muslim-majority countries after he was elected did not go down well with Jakarta although Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, was not on the list.

The visit of US Vice-President Mike Pence earlier this month did, however, take the edge off tensions between the two countries. His visit to a mosque and meeting with religious leaders assuaged concern.

“Hopefully, Pence’s visit indicates a change in attitude, at least that they are moving away from the stance that they don’t like Islam much,” said Indonesian Ulema Council chief Maruf Amin.

Taiwan, however, is deeply disappointed after the initial elation that followed a phone call between Mr Trump and its President Tsai Ing-wen, a break with protocol as the US and the island have no formal diplomatic ties.

And last Thursday, Ms Tsai, who had earlier expressed the hope of speaking on the phone with Mr Trump again, was given the cold shoulder when Mr Trump told Reuters he had no plans to do so as he did not want to create problems for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Now the island, seen as a breakaway province by Beijing, is worried about whether the US will sell arms to it. Political analyst Chen I-hsin of the Chinese Culture University is not optimistic, saying that Mr Trump is a realist who does not want to rock the boat with China.

What lies ahead

There may be relief for now, but Asian countries are under no illusion that all will be hunky-dory.

China, for one, remains very wary of Mr Trump because “he is irresponsible, changeable and likes to blackmail”, said Prof Shi.

He did not elaborate, but Mr Trump, in a tweet earlier this month to explain why he did not declare China a currency manipulator, said: “Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens!”

Said Dr Minohara: “I think this is the quiet before the storm. It looks like the US has reverted back to its conventional foreign policy – but only on appearance.

“Mr Trump is his own person and is quite different from previous presidents. We cannot judge him by traditional game theory because he is playing his own game.”

In an hour-long speech Trump lambasted the media and predecessor Barack Obama, boasted of his support for US industry and the military, and vaunted his foreign policy positions including on confronting North Korea, earning cheers from the crowd in Pennsylvania.

The president held the campaign-style rally — in a state that helped tip the election in his favor — while snubbing a traditional White House correspondents’ dinner taking place late Saturday, where he had risked being roasted by comedians.

Declaring himself “thrilled” to be far from “the Washington swamp” and the “very boring” dinner, the president sneered at “fake news” CNN and the “failing” New York Times.

“They are a disgrace,” he said.

The black-tie affair in Washington was headlined by veteran investigative journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who gained fame in the Watergate scandal that prompted the resignation of former President Richard Nixon.

Woodward rebuffed the president’s relentless barbs against news outlets.

“Mr President, the media is not fake news — let’s take that off the table as we proceed,” he said.

“Whatever the climate, whether the media is revered or reviled, we should and must persist and I believe we will.”

‘Keeping promises’

Some of Trump’s animosity stemmed from US media evaluating his 100-day record as meager and mixed.

They have noted embarrassing setbacks for the Republican on health care and a travel ban, and reversals on China and NATO — while also recognizing campaign pledges he has met, like appointing a conservative Supreme Court judge and pulling the country out of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

In his speech Trump presented his record so far — including the signing of many executive orders — as “very exciting and very productive,” despite what he described as the “mess” left by Obama’s administration.

“We are keeping one promise after another,” he asserted, adding that he was preparing for “the great, great battles to come and that we will win in every case.”

Trump also highlighted his tough approach to immigration.

Stepped-up law enforcement was removing “drug dealers, gang members and killers” from the country, he said, while reinforced vetting was keeping America “safe from terrorism.”

“We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” he said to applause and cheers of “USA! USA!”

He did not acknowledge the difficulty he has had in finding the money to start work on the wall he vowed would be built on the Mexican border.

Instead he insisted that “we need the wall to stop the drugs and the human trafficking” and “we’ll have the wall — don’t worry about it.”

China and North Korea

On foreign policy, he admitted he had backed down on a vow to label China a currency manipulator, but said “flexibility” was needed because Chinese President Xi Jinping was a “good man” who was trying to help Trump rein in North Korea.

Later Saturday the White House announced that Trump in a “friendly” call invited Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte — who has drawn international condemnation for his deadly drug war — to Washington.

The leaders discussed the “threat” of North Korea, the White House said, as well as “the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs.”

At his rally Trump also said the US economy had surged since he took office, reinvigorating America’s construction, manufacturing and energy sectors, as well as its declining coal and steel industries — a key message for the crowd in Pennsylvania, a rust-belt state.

On the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he has vowed to renegotiate, he said “if we can’t make a fair deal for our companies and our workers we will terminate NAFTA.”

Other trade deals allowing nations such as China, Russia and India to contribute to “the theft and plunder of American wealth” were being torn up, Trump said.

He said he would be making a decision on the “one-sided Paris climate accord” in the next two weeks. He described the pact, meant to curb global warming, as an impediment to US economic growth.

‘Snake’ poem

He spoke of his plans to reform US taxes and swore that health care legislation brought in by Obama that gives greater medical access to Americans was “dying” and would be repealed — despite a signal failure by Republicans in Congress to do so in March.

Trump also read a poem called “The Snake,” — from the lyrics of a 1968 song recorded by American soul singer Al Wilson — that reworks a fable about a maiden who saves a half-frozen serpent but who is then killed by its bite, as it stays true to its nature.

“You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in!” Trump intoned, dedicating the reading to the border patrol service for “keeping America safe.”

The large-scale celebrations come despite increased concerns over Beijing meddling in the semi-autonomous city and deep political divisions between Hong Kong’s pro-democracy and pro-China camps.

China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to visit for the July 1 anniversary, with security exercises under way in preparation.

Hundreds of events, from art exhibitions to sports tournaments, will take place between now and the end of the year as part of the festivities, with the government proposing to spend HK$640 million ($82 million).

Coloured lights and rainbow posters already adorn local neighbourhoods under the slogan “Together, Progress, Opportunity”.

An official video of Canto pop stars performing a new song “Hong Kong, our home” is frequently broadcast on television networks.

The city’s unpopular outgoing leader Leung Chun-ying said the celebrations reflected the city’s “vision of tomorrow”, and aimed to engage all residents.

“The handover to me is historically significant and worth commemorating because Hong Kong is originally a part of China,” a 51-year-old resident who gave his name as Michael said.

Retiree Ah Yu, 76, agreed.

“The (anniversary) is important for Hong Kong because we are all Chinese,” he said.

But others were sceptical.

“Are we celebrating the fact that we don’t have freedom and have no democracy?” 67-year-old Ales Li asked.

“Why don’t they use all these resources to mend divisions?”

The agreement made between Britain and China in 1997 was designed to secure Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous status, protecting its freedoms and way of life for 50 years.

But Beijing stands accused of undermining the deal, triggering protests and a fledgling independence movement.

Some young residents told AFP they felt the celebrations were simply a stunt.

“It isn’t really helpful towards anyone,” said university student Miranda Yeung, 20.

“It’s a great publicity campaign and it looks very exciting for a tourist, but it doesn’t really mean that much.”

Others said the amount of money being spent was a waste in a city with a yawning wealth gap.

Growing anger

Frustration over a lack of political reform despite mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 has led to the emergence of groups demanding self-determination for Hong Kong or even a full split from China.

That has sparked a backlash from Beijing, with Chinese authorities intervening to effectively bar two democratically elected pro-independence lawmakers from taking up their parliamentary seats in Hong Kong last year.

The pair are now facing criminal charges over their behaviour in parliament.

There are also concerns Beijing is interfering in other areas, from media to education.

Those fears were heightened by the disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers known for publishing salacious titles about Chinese leaders in 2015.

All five resurfaced on the mainland.

Some believe a visit to the city by President Xi — his first to Hong Kong since coming to power in 2012 — could be incendiary in the current climate.

“The angry people will become more angry,” said student Yeung.

Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao came to mark the 15th handover anniversary in 2012 and swore in city leader Leung, triggering hundreds of thousands to take to the streets in protest.

Hong Kong’s new pro-China leader Carrie Lam — hated by the city’s pro-democracy activists — will be sworn in on July 1.

She has vowed to heal divisions but critics say the extensive handover festivities are unlikely to help.

‘Ugly scenes’

Art works from the Louvre, Egyptian mummies from the British Museum and an exhibition from Beijing’s Palace Museum will be on show as part of the celebrations.

Other events include jiansi tournament — a game where participants kick a shuttlecock about — and a performance by renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

Authorities said government ministers would visit communities to “show care” to the vulnerable and elderly, including giving out gifts and care packages as part of the anniversary programme.

But political analyst Willy Lam said the festivities were a display for Beijing.

Both Leung and Lam would want to give the impression that the public was “ecstatic about China’s support for Hong Kong” to counteract the recent political turbulence, he said.

Lam predicted a Xi visit would be a red rag to some activists.

“I expect there will be ugly scenes,” he said.

“The police will be under heavy pressure to ensure that Xi Jinping will be out of earshot.”

The latest launch, which South Korea said was a failure, came just hours after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned the UN Security Council of “catastrophic consequences” if the international community — most notably China — failed to pressure the North into abandoning its weapons programme.

Military options for dealing with the North were still “on the table”, Tillerson warned in his first address to the UN body.

The launch ratchets up tensions on the Korean peninsula, with Washington and Pyongyang locked in an ever-tighter spiral of threat, counter-threat, and escalating military preparedness.

US President Donald Trump, who has warned of a “major conflict” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s regime, said the latest test was a pointed snub to China — the North’s main ally and economic lifeline.

“North Korea disrespected the wishes of China & its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!” Trump tweeted.

The US is deploying a naval strike group led by an aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula, and a missile-defence system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) that officials say will be operational “within days”.

North Korea recently conducted its biggest-ever firing drill and has threatened to “bury at sea” the US aircraft carrier, and there are signs it could be preparing for a sixth nuclear test.

South Korea’s defence ministry said it suspected Saturday’s missile test had failed after a brief flight, while the US military’s Pacific Command confirmed the rocket did not leave North Korean territory.

Risk of nuclear attack ‘real’

China pushed back at Tillerson’s call at the UN Security Council for it to do more to rein in Pyongyang, arguing that it was unrealistic to expect one country to solve the conflict.

“The use of force does not solve differences and will only lead to bigger disasters,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

His country, he said, should not be “a focal point of the problem on the peninsula” and stressed that “the key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the Chinese side”.

Russia joined China in saying a military response would be disastrous and appealing for a return to talks and de-escalation.

Military action was “completely unacceptable”, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the council, and a miscalculation could have “frightening consequences”.

But Tillerson argued that diplomacy had to be backed with credible muscle.

“Diplomatic and financial levers of power will be backed up by willingness to counteract North Korean aggression with military action, if necessary,” he said.

“The threat of a North Korean nuclear attack on Seoul or Tokyo is real, and it is likely only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the US mainland.”

China wants talks

The meeting of the top UN body on Friday laid bare major differences among key powers over the way to address the North Korea crisis.

Over the past 11 years, the Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions on Pyongyang — two adopted last year — to significantly ramp up pressure and deny the North Korean regime the hard currency revenue needed for its military programmes.

But UN sanctions experts have repeatedly told the council the measures have had little impact because they have been poorly implemented.

Tillerson called on all countries to downgrade or sever diplomatic relations with North Korea and impose targeted sanctions on entities and individuals supporting its missile and nuclear program.

The United States is ready to impose sanctions on third countries where companies or individuals are found to have helped North Korea’s military programmes, he said.

China instead wants Pyongyang to freeze its military programmes in exchange for a halt to US-South Korean annual drills.

“Now is the time to seriously consider talks,” said Wang.

But Tillerson was blunt in saying it was up to North Korea to take the first concrete steps.

“We will not negotiate our way back to the negotiating table,” he said. “We will not reward their bad behaviour with talks.”

The United States, Russia and China took part in six-party talks on North Korea’s denuclearisation from 2003 to 2009, along with Japan, South Korea and Pyongyang.

Members of the government’s human rights commission, accompanied by journalists, found the men and women in a surprise visit to the station in the heart of Manila’s slum area on Thursday evening.

Cries of “here we are, here we are” were heard from behind a wall, according to the rights workers and journalists. The rights workers then found a hidden door behind a bookshelf, leading to the cell.

Stunned detainees came stumbling out of the room, some begging for water while others, in tears, pleaded with the rights workers not to abandon them.

The detainees said they had been held for about a week after being arrested on allegations of drug use or trafficking and that police were demanding hefty payments in exchange for their freedom.

“They were picked up on the pretext of drugs but they had not filed any charges against them,” Gilbert Boisner, Manila director for the rights commission who led the inspection, told AFP on Friday.

The station commander, Superintendent Robert Domingo, told reporters at the scene the detainees were arrested only the previous night and police were preparing to file charges against them.

Domingo was suspended on Friday pending an investigation, national police spokesman Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos said.

“He (Domingo) will undergo an administrative case. If evidence warrants, a criminal case will also be filed against him and the persons involved,” Carlos said in a statement to AFP.

Human Rights Watch said the incident was another sign of widespread rights abuse under Duterte’s war on drugs, which has seen thousands of drug suspects killed either by policemen or mysterious vigilantes.

“The discovery of the secret jail is just the latest sign of how police are exploiting Duterte’s abusive antidrug campaign for personal gain,” a Human Rights Watch statement said.

Duterte briefly suspended all police from the crackdown in January after an official investigation found drug officers kidnapped a South Korean businessman and murdered him as part of an extortion scam.

Duterte described the police force then as “corrupt to the core” and vowed it would not be allowed to prosecute the drug war its ranks had been “cleansed”.

Duterte redeployed police onto the drug war about a month later, without major reforms.

A Philippine lawyer on Monday filed a complaint at International Criminal Court accusing Duterte of mass murder, alleging his war on drugs had led to about 8,000 deaths.

The incident occurred as Duterte began welcoming Southeast Asian leaders for a summit in Manila.//AFP

Little Marion and James Kelly, who had crashed their father Robert Kelly’s skype interview with the British broadcaster in March, are the stars of a new series called The Adventures Of Mina And Jack.

In the 3min 9sec prologue video, the pair are shown in the outfits they wore in the viral video, which was reported in international news media.

The series, by Hans House Productions and animated by RAXO, follows the globe-trotting misadventures of a precocious young girl named Mina and her pesky baby brother Jack, as they help their dad, a United Nations official, out of various jams, said the production house in a press release on April 19.

“I thought it was so cute. My wife and I both laughed. They made me look suitably dorky,” said Prof Kelly, who is an associate at Pusan National University in South Korea.

Writer Lauren Martin and her app developer husband Jarryd Mandy conceptualised the series after watching the viral video more than a hundred times, according to the press release.So far, the video has been given the thumbs up by several YouTube users, with one Madison Miller calling it “amazing” and Derek Bromley saying it was “super sweet”.

Prayut arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) at 3 p.m. and was welcomed by government officials. He will be meeting Duterte and other Asean leaders on Saturday for the 30th Asean Summit.

Duterte recently visited Thailand and discussed defense and terrorism with Prayut. The two heads of state signed three bilateral agreements on science and technology, tourism and agriculture.

Among the things that Duterte and Prayut agreed on was the need to complete the framework for the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, one of the expected results of the Asean Summit later this year.

A number of Asean member states, including the Philippines, have overlapping claims with China on parts of South China Asean.

Thailand is not a claimant state but during Duterte’s visit to Thailand, Prayut said international laws must be observed in disputed territories.

“We both also stressed the need to maintain peace and stability in the region, including the South China Sea,” Duterte said during his visit to Thailand in March. “We recognized both that respect for freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea is in the interest of all countries within or outside the region.”

The Philippines is the chairman and host of this year’s Asean Summit.