Do North Korean propaganda writers really want to channel Abraham Lincoln

Do North Korean propaganda writers really want to channel Abraham Lincoln

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com WASHINGTON – Credit someone in North Korea with a sense of historical irony. Who would have thought anyone up there would have dreamed of writing an imaginary letter from Abraham Lincoln to President Obama berating him for endorsing harsh UN sanctions and failing to halt the U.S. nuclear […]

N. Korea propaganda update: ‘Honest Abe’ pens an open letter from the grave to Obama

N. Korea propaganda update: ‘Honest Abe’ pens an open letter from the grave to Obama

Special to WorldTribune.com Honest Abe has a message for the current occupant of the White House: President Barack Obama should rethink economic sanctions against North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. At least, that’s what North Korea’s propaganda machine said in a bizarre open letter, written in what it said was the voice of Abraham Lincoln. “Hi […]

China closely watching as Burma evolves from a socialist winter

China closely watching as Burma evolves from a socialist winter

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — A new dawn has come to Burma. At long last the political pariah state, also known as Myanmar, has ushered in a new civilian government in which Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has a strong if not formal hand at the democratic […]

Panama Papers implicate relatives of Xi, other top China leaders

Panama Papers implicate relatives of Xi, other top China leaders

Special to WorldTribune.com The Panama Papers have impacted officials at the top of China’s hierarchy which has spent the past year purging top rivals of President Xi Jinping on charges of corruption. At least three of the seven people on the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party’s most powerful committee, including Xi […]

Pop quiz: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Yes or no?

Pop quiz: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Yes or no?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com WASHINGTON ― Here’s a question people here keep asking: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Forget about the missile shots. They’ve all landed in the sea and harmed no one. What about the nuclear tests? They dislocated some rocks deep underground but were otherwise harmless. So what does […]

What’s stalling Xi Jinping’s grandiose imperial dream? No money

What’s stalling Xi Jinping’s grandiose imperial dream? No money

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com Remember the “One Belt One Road” (OBOR), a multi-trillion-dollar intercontinental project that underpins President Xi Jinping’s ambition to catapult China to super-power status? The “Silk Road Economic Belt” links China with Central Asia, Turkey and all the way to Eastern Europe through a series of high-speed railways, highways […]

Moscow need not apply: China’s new Central Asia military alliance

Moscow need not apply: China’s new Central Asia military alliance

Special to WorldTribune.com by Geostrategy-Direct Chinese PLA’s chief of staff has officially proposed a Central Asia military alliance that excludes Russia. The proposal was advanced by Gen. Fang Fenghui last month in Kabul, Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani spoke positively about the proposal after Gen. Fang promised $70 million in military aid. Beside China and Afghanistan, […]

Indonesia deploys F-16s to islands after maritime incident with Chinese ‘thieves’

Indonesia deploys F-16s to islands after maritime incident with Chinese ‘thieves’

Special to WorldTribune.com Indonesia’s defense minister called China’s intruding coast guard vessels “thieves” and vowed to deploy U.S. F-16 fighter jets to the Natuna islands. “Natuna is a door, if the door is not guarded then thieves will come inside,” said Ryamizard Ryacudu, a former army chief of staff. “There has been all this fuss […]