Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-japan-foreign-affairs-8261e3583defaea2df3f0d602f6bd9c8
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently met with journalists at a press conference, where he stated his opinion on various issues. The first of these issues was about the South China Sea and how they have essentially claimed all the waters around the Philippines. Wang blamed the U.S. for this issue, claiming they were manipulating The Philippines and it was all a play to smear China’s name. Secondly, he announced that China and its neighbors have eliminated scam centers in Myanmar that would lure Chinese citizens with false promises of stable jobs. These schemes are typically linked to organized crime and relocate quickly, which has frustrated the Chinese government for years now. Thirdly, he warned Japan about its ties to Taiwan, and that if the Taiwanese were to cause trouble, Japan would get the beating with them. Finally, he criticized the U.S., stating they don’t do anything but cause trouble and create divisions.
That’s China for you. I’m not surprised that Wang placed the blame on someone else entirely for their unethical stranglehold on the South China Sea. It almost comes across as a sign of weakness. Not being able to own up to one’s strategy means that not even they believe what they’re doing is right. Looks like organized crime is at the forefront of this article too. My previous article talked about the smuggling of PEDs in the country along with others. When I think of organized crime, China is not the first country I think of, but it seems like they have their fair share of issues. What better anniversary gift is there to Japan than an invasion threat? The 80th anniversary of the end of WWII is what prompted Wang to address Japan here. I understand why they’re still very salty about the war, but maybe there are bigger fish to fry, specifically across the Pacific Ocean. He did address the U.S., but it’s what we’ve been hearing from everyone else in the past few months. It’s trendy to criticize the United States government.
This relates to class because China is dealing with a few security threats. One of them is their border with Myanmar, where Chinese citizens are being lured illegally. These types of instances can snowball into a rivalry with another state and overall hatred between the two, which can ultimately lead to conflict. We also see organized crime mentioned in this article, which is a threat to national security because organizations like this can be dangerous and sometimes violent. Finally, we can see that Wang Yi is conducting foreign relations by addressing the press, which is how states communicate and attempt to work together to solve the collective goods problem.