Latest News Clips 2017.12.18

                       

1.      Moon visits at 'critical period'

China Daily 2017-12-15

President Xi Jinping accompaniesRepublic of Korea President Moon Jae-in at a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.WU ZHIYI / CHINA DAILY

Xi says trip can help bring about better relations

The visit of the Republic of Korea's President Moon Jae-in will provide opportunities for the two sides to improve bilateral ties that were affected "for reasons known by all", President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Analysts said that Moon's first state visit to China marks the start of a new stage for China-ROK relations jeopardized by the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system on the Korean Peninsula. Moon's four-day visit came amid escalating tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile program.

"I hope and believe that your visit will provide important opportunities for the improvement and development of China-ROK relations," Xi said.

China and the ROK signed seven documents, witnessed by the two presidents, to boost cooperation in such areas as trade, health and agriculture.

The two countries will launch the second phase of negotiations on building the China-ROK free trade zone, according to a memorandum of understanding.

The fluctuation of China-ROK relations has provided a lesson for the two nations to usher in a better future for their ties on the basis of respecting each other's core interests, he said.

"China-ROK relations and the Korean Peninsula situation are in a critical period," Xi said.

As friendly neighbors and strategic partners, China and the ROK have great potential in maintaining regional peace and promoting common development, Xi said.

The two presidents exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

The goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula must be firmly upheld, Xi said, adding that war and chaos is not acceptable in the peninsula and the nuclear issue should be resolved through dialogue and consultation.

Saying that China and the ROK have important common interests in maintaining the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, Xi said China will continue to strengthen communication and coordination with the ROK on maintaining stability and preventing wars on the peninsula and promoting peace and talks.

China will continue to support the northern and southern sides of the peninsula to improve relations through dialogue and push reconciliation and cooperation, which will be good for the alleviation and resolution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, he said.

Moon said that the ROK is firmly dedicated to peaceful resolution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and Seoul would like to make joint efforts with Beijing to maintain regional peace.

Noting that the ROK ambassador to China attended the State memorial ceremony for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre held in Nanjing on Wednesday, Xi said that it reflected the great importance given by the ROK to the event.

Moon's visit shows that China-ROK relations are "entering a new stage" because it is essential for the two countries to exchange strategic views at a time when the Korean Peninsula is facing increasingly unstable factors, said Ruan Zongze, vice-president at the China Institute of International Studies.

"However, this does not mean that the page of THAAD has been turned," he said, adding that the two countries will continue to have dialogue and negotiations on the issue.

2.      Israel braced for clashes following Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital

UN security council to meet to discuss US decision amid widespread international condemnation and violence in occupied territories

The Guardian     8 December 2017

  

US missions across the Middle East are braced for a second day of violent protests over Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after widespread clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces on Thursday.

American diplomatic staff and families are operating under tight security restrictions ordered by the state department as fears mounted that spreading protests could target US interests in the region after Friday prayers.

Israel deployed extra security forces in anticipation of more clashes in Jerusalem and West Bank cities. 

The increased security measures came as Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, echoed calls made by Hamas earlier in the day for support for a new Palestinian intifada. 

The most violent confrontations on Thursday occurred in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron, where Israeli forces fired teargas and plastic-coated rounds as hundreds of protesters threw stones and set alight barricades.

In the Gaza Strip, dozens of protesters gathered near the border fence with Israel and clashed with Israeli troops. Two missiles reportedly launched against Israel later in the day both detonated within the coastal enclave.

Protests took place across the region: in Jordan, demonstrators near the US embassy in Amman torched the US flag and pictures of Trump. In Tunisia, thousands of people joined peaceful protests in Tunis and several other cities, and labour unions called for even bigger demonstrations after Friday prayers.

The UN security council called a meeting for Friday to discuss Trump’s decision, condemnation of which continues to mount across the Middle East and internationally.

Eight countries on the 15-member council requested the meeting, including the UK, Italy and France, amid claims from Palestine and Turkey that the recognition was in breach of international law and UN resolutions.

The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the bloc had a united position that Jerusalem must be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state. France said it rejected the “unilateral” US decision, while the UK prime minister, Theresa May, and the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, both described Trump’s announcement as “unhelpful”.

The Russian foreign ministry said US recognition risked “dangerous and uncontrollable consequences”.

The Palestinian Authority announced that the US vice-president, Mike Pence, would “not be welcome in Palestinian Territories” when he travels to the region later this month.

Pence had been scheduled to meet the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, during the trip, but Jibril Rajoub, a senior Fatah figure, said that the meeting would not take place.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hailed the US move as “historic” and claimed other countries were in contact about following Trump’s lead. But he was alone among regional leaders in praising the decision.

Of all the issues at the heart of the enduring conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, none is as sensitive as the status of Jerusalem. The holy city has been at the centre of peace-making efforts for decades.

Seventy years ago, when the UN voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, Jerusalem was defined as a separate entity under international supervision. In the war of 1948 it was divided, like Berlin in the cold war, into western and eastern sectors under Israeli and Jordanian control respectively. Nineteen years later, in June 1967, Israel captured the eastern side, expanded the city’s boundaries and annexed it – an act that was never recognised internationally.

Israel routinely describes the city, with its Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy places, as its “united and eternal” capital. For their part, the Palestinians say East Jerusalem must be the capital of a future independent Palestinian state. The unequivocal international view, accepted by all previous US administrations, is that the city’s status must be addressed in peace negotiations.

3.      Fox-Disney Deal Gives Rupert Murdoch His King Lear Moment

The New York Times   DEC. 14, 2017

 

Mr. Murdoch, center, and his sons Lachlan, left, and James, at a celebration of Mr. Murdoch’s marriage to the former supermodel Jerry Hall in 2016. The sale of 21st Century Fox has left uncertain the succession plan for the remaining pieces of the Murdoch media empire.CreditJustin Tallis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Rupert Murdoch built his empire by following the motto “buy, buy, buy.” Now he has broken it apart to sell significant pieces to The Walt Disney Company. 

 For a while, Rupert Murdoch seemed invincible.

First, the mogul emerged relatively unscathed from a 2011 phone hacking scandal involving his British tabloids that threatened to upend his empire. Then, he installed his sons, Lachlan and James, in leadership roles at 21st Century Fox. And, last year, the thrice-divorced Mr. Murdoch married Jerry Hall, a former supermodel 25 years his junior.

But even Mr. Murdoch, a self-made billionaire whose range of media assets wield enormous political influence on three continents, was no match for Silicon Valley.

Like King Lear confronting his mortality, Mr. Murdoch, 86, is preparing to divide up a lifetime of spoils. And as he moves to sell off wide swaths of his media and entertainment business, he is also throwing into confusion the line of succession and testing the ties that bind the family-run fief.

The Walt Disney Company announced on Thursday it had reached a deal to acquire most of 21st Century Fox Inc., the Murdoch-owned company that includes the storied movie and television studio, national cable networks like FX and National Geographic, 22 regional cable channels dedicated to sports and a 39 percent stake in Britain’s pay TV service, Sky.

The $52.4 billion deal — which would not include Fox News, the Fox broadcast network or the FS1 sports cable channel, which will be spun off into a newly listed company — has come about as part of the consolidation sweeping over traditional media companies as they try to fight off threats from Amazon, Apple and Netflix. It also represents a remarkable shift for Mr. Murdoch, a visionary businessman who has long lived by a single credo: Buy, buy, buy.

After all, Mr. Murdoch didn’t grow a single newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, into a $100 billion media business by selling. “Rupert has always been a collector, a builder,” said Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham & Company.

In 2007, when newspapers were facing a decline, Mr. Murdoch defied Wall Street investors and his own advisers to pay $5 billion for Dow Jones, the company that publishes The Wall Street Journal. Why? Because he wanted to.

In 2012, under pressure in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, Mr. Murdoch split his entertainment assets into a separate publicly traded company, 21st Century Fox, from News Corporation, the company that includes The Journal, the New York Post and other newspapers. For a time Mr. Murdoch’s enterprise looked like an entertainment company with a newspaper problem, with glitzy Hollywood assets and lucrative Fox News keeping Mr. Murdoch’s true love, printed papers, afloat.

But 21st Century Fox soon faced the same economic headwinds affecting other traditional media companies that have been disrupted by the rise of digital: customers cut the cable cord and streamed TV shows and movies on multiple devices. At the same time, Fox News, the highly rated basic cable channel and a big moneymaker, has suffered setbacks after a series of sexual harassment allegations at the network led to high-level departures and costly legal settlements.

Mr. Murdoch must have known he needed to get even bigger to survive. But lately his buying prowess has taken a hit. In 2014, investors rebuffed him when he tried to gain scale with an $80 billion offer for Time Warner Inc., the company that owns HBO and CNN — and which may end up the property of AT&T, if a deal long in the making survives the scrutiny of a skeptical Justice Department. Regulatory hassles have also thwarted Mr. Murdoch’s efforts to pay $15 billion for the 61 percent stake in Sky not already owned by 21st Century Fox.

“He tried to buy, and when that didn’t work, he doesn’t sulk — he sells,” Ms. Martin said.

Disney’s planned acquisition of 21st Century Fox — Mr. Murdoch’s confidants call it a merger — makes economic sense, analysts say, and may be the best way for Mr. Murdoch’s broader empire to thrive. But it also makes the identity of his heir less apparent.