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WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence expects the reduced tempo in fighting in Ukraine to continue in the next several months and sees no evidence of a reduced Ukrainian will to resist, despite attacks on its power grid and other critical winter infrastructure, the Director of National Intelligence said on Saturday. She said Russia was also looking to affect Ukraine's capacity to prosecute conflict and added that Kyiv's economy had been suffering very badly. Haines said she thought Russian President Vladimir Putin had been surprised that his military had not accomplished more. "I do think he is becoming more informed of the challenges that the military faces in Russia. Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina and Eric Beech; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. senators warn China against any violent crackdown on protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of more than 40 U.S. senators warned China on Thursday against any violent crackdown on protests there, saying it would do "extraordinary damage" to the U.S.-China relationship. The 42 senators, led by Democrats Dan Sullivan and Jeff Merkley and Republicans Mitch McConnell and Todd Young, said in a letter to China's Washington ambassador Qin Gang that they were following the protests in China very carefully. "We are also closely watching the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) reaction to them," the senators' letter said, noting Beijing's violent crackdown on student protesters in 1989 that they said killed hundreds, if not thousands of people. "We caution the CCP in the strongest possible terms not to once again undertake a violent crackdown on peaceful Chinese protesters who simply want more freedom. Three decades ago, in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, the United States and many Western governments imposed sanctions against China over the killings.

On Monday, the White House said it backed the right of people to peacefully protest in China but stopped short of criticizing Beijing as protesters in multiple Chinese cities demonstrated against heavy COVID-19 measures. The Republican response was swift. Senator Ted Cruz called White House response "pitiful," adding in a tweet: "At a potentially historic inflection point, Dems shill for the CCP." Beyond this, say analysts, the U.S. wants to avoid language that allows China to pin the protests on U.S. interference. Daniel Russel, who served as the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia in the Obama administration, said the Biden White House would be focused on the next steps by Chinese authorities.

☆ Analysis: China has limited power, and perhaps little desire, to curb North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

China does not want to see a nuclear-armed North Korea, nor does it want to see U.S. nuclear weapons in the region, but the prospect of an expanding U.S. military footprint raises other priorities for China, said Jenny Town of 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project. "They see the United States, South Korea and Japan forming as a security bloc, creating a need for a counter bloc, which would include North Korea," she said, referring to China. "Americans have perennially overestimated China's influence over North Korea," said John Delury, professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University in Seoul. "Sanction North Korea, which cut itself off from the world for three years because of COVID and continued testing missiles? The whole point is China doesn’t control North Korea."

☆ U.S. calls for U.N. Security Council president's statement on North Korea missiles
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said it was vital the 15-member Security Council respond with one voice and reiterated U.S. charges that China and Russia were "emboldening" Pyongyang by blocking council action. The United States will be proposing a Presidential Statement to this end," she said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He said Washington should take the initiative and put forward realistic proposals to respond to North Korea's "legitimate concerns." A spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations said a draft president's statement would be shared with the Security Council soon and negotiations would follow. It said the Council must act to limit the advancement of North Korea's weapons programs.

☆ With Philippines visit VP Harris seeks to reset relations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REBUILDING TIESThe visit by Harris will be the highest-level trip to the Philippines by an administration official and marks a sharp turnaround in relations. With Marcos in office, the Biden administration is attempting a reset. China claims 90% of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory, but is opposed by five Southeast Asian states and Taiwan. Arsenio Andolong, a Philippine defense department spokesman, told Reuters there is no reason for China to fear Harris' visit. A senior Biden administration official offered a different summary.

Harris also plans a highly symbolic stop on the Philippine islands of Palawan in the South China Sea to show U.S. support for its ally. "So if they want American support in the South China Sea, the Americans will expect Philippine support on Taiwan." "The second Philippine demand is a continued clear commitment to defend Filipinos in the South China Sea," Poling said. If there was a Chinese attack on a Philippine base in the South China Sea tomorrow, could the Americans actually do anything about it? China claims 90% of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory, but is opposed by five Southeast Asian states and Taiwan.

☆ North Korea's Kim reveals daughter at ballistic missile test
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

North Korea test-fired a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday, state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday. "This is the first observed occasion where we have seen Kim Jong Un's daughter at a public event," said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the U.S.-based Stimson Center. "It is highly significant and represents a certain degree of comfort on Kim Jong Un's part that he would bring her out in public in such fashion." [1/9] North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, along with his daughter, inspects an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in this undated photo released on November 19, 2022 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). After a trip to North Korea that year, Rodman told The Guardian newspaper he had spent time with Kim and his family, and held the baby.

☆ Factbox: Top takeaways from the Biden-Xi meeting in Bali
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Xi too was explicit about Taiwan, calling it the "first red line" that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. The White House said Biden and Xi agreed to "deepen constructive efforts" to address issues such as climate change, health and food security. But according to the White House statement, Biden and Xi "underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine". Biden told reporters after the meeting there was no need for concerns about a new Cold War between the United States and China. At the same time, Biden warned Xi that such actions by North Korea would result in bolstered U.S. and allied military capabilities in Northeast Asia.

Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in person on Monday for the first time since taking office, with U.S. concerns over Taiwan, Russia's war in Ukraine and North Korea's nuclear ambitions on top of his agenda. Biden and Xi, who have held five phone or video calls since Biden became president in January 2021, last met in person during the Obama administration. Xi's government has also criticized the Biden administration's posture toward Taiwan as undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Biden will also discuss Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and plans to be "unapologetic" in his defence of Ukraine, U.S. officials said last week. Biden will also warn Xi that North Korea's continued pursuit of weapons development will lead to an enhanced U.S. military presence in the region, the White House said.

☆ Biden in Cambodia as global leaders join Southeast Asian summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden is greeted upon his arrival at the Phnom Penh International Airport to attend the 2022 ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, November 12, 2022. Cambodia is hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) annual summit and a parallel East Asian Summit, with the regional bloc engaging with a host of leaders. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met ASEAN leaders on Friday. "President Trump didn't attend a single East Asian Summit during four years in office," said Greg Poling, head of the Southeast Asia programme at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. ASEAN leaders on Friday issued a "warning" to Myanmar to make measurable progress on a peace plan or risk being barred from the bloc's meetings, as social and political chaos escalates in the country.

☆ Biden says U.S.-ASEAN pact to address 'biggest issues of our time'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the 2022 ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, November 12, 2022. In his first visit to Southeast Asia as president, Biden said the region was at the heart of his administration's Indo-Pacific strategy and Washington was committing resources, not just rhetoric, under a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. ASEAN is engaging a host of leaders, including Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. At the gatherings, Biden will focus on the Indo-Pacific region and talk about U.S. commitment to a rules-based order in the South China Sea, a senior administration official said earlier this week. Biden on Saturday said the meetings would discuss Russia's "brutal" war against Ukraine and U.S. efforts to address the war's global impact.

☆ Biden to warn Xi North Korea's path could prompt bigger U.S. military presence
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Nov 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will warn Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting on Monday that North Korea's continued pursuit of weapons development will lead to an enhanced U.S. military presence in the region, the White House said. "And so the People's Republic of China has an interest in playing a constructive role in restraining North Korea's worst tendencies," Sullivan added, using the country's official name. U.S.-led international sanctions have failed to halt North Korea's growing weapons programs. The day before his meeting with Xi, Biden will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol in Cambodia to discuss how to rein in North Korea's nuclear program. read moreSullivan also said Biden hoped his first face-to-face talks with Xi would lead to more such meetings.

The White House said Biden will hold talks on Monday with Xi, China's president, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 nations summit in Indonesia, their first face-to-face meeting since Biden became president in January 2021. China is Washington's main strategic rival and the world's second largest economy after the United States. The United States is looking to have stable relations with Beijing despite tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade and a host of other issues. Washington believes China and Russia have leverage to persuade North Korea not to resume nuclear bomb testing. "This is an area where China and the United States have had a history of working together ... there is a track record of being able to work together.

☆ U.S. privately asks Ukraine to show Russia it's open to talks, the Washington Post reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. "Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners," the Post quoted one unnamed U.S. official as saying. The White House National Security Council and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Kyiv on Friday that Washington's support for Ukraine would remain "unwavering and unflinching" following next Tuesday's midterm congressional elections. Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Sanctions fail to halt North Korea's accelerating weapons programs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( David Brunnstrom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Biden administration officials concede that sanctions have failed to stop North Korea's weapons programs - but they maintain they have at least been effective in slowing North Korea's nuclear program. The Security Council has imposed sanctions on North Korea since 2006 to choke off funding for it nuclear and ballistic missile programs. However U.N. experts regularly report that North Korea is evading sanctions and continuing to develop its programs. Some critics like sanctions expert Joshua Stanton fault both the Trump and Biden administrations for failing to exert maximum pressure to stop China allowing North Korea's sanctions evasion. He rejected the idea that Washington should recognize North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.

☆ Train crosses North Korea border into Russia after arms report, think tank says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

North Korea said in September it had never supplied weapons or ammunition to Russia and has no plans to do so. read moreAccording to a statement from Russia's state veterinary service on Wednesday, Russia and North Korea restarted train travel for the first time since the pandemic with a cargo of 30 grey thoroughbred "Orlov Trotter" horses into North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is known as a keen horseman. He was shown in 2019 by North Korean media trekking through mountain snows astride a white stallion. Russian customs data shows North Korea has spent thousands of dollars on thoroughbred horses from Russia in previous years.

"We do think that they (North Korea) are making calculations about the degree of receptivity for others in the region, I think, particularly Russia and China. However in recent years the 15-member body has been split on how to deal with North Korea. He said he thought the latter crisis made North Korea "more focused on ways in which they could get support from particularly China." "China and Russia have long been on the record as opposing the DPRK nuclear program," the official said referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name. The official rejected growing calls among some North Korea experts for Washington to recognize North Korea as a nuclear power that is never going to disarm.

☆ White House says North Korea supplying Russia with artillery shells
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby addresses the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The United States has information that indicates North Korea is covertly supplying Russia with a "significant" number of artillery shells for its war in Ukraine, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday. Kirby told a virtual briefing that North Korea was attempting to obscure the shipments by funneling them through countries in the Middle East and North Africa. "We do have a sense on where they are going to transfer these shells," Kirby said, but declined to give any more details as the U.S. weighs its possible options. North Korea fired at least 23 missiles into the sea on Wednesday, including one that landed less than 60 km (40 miles) off South Korea's coast, which the South's President Yoon Suk-yeol described as "territorial encroachment."

SEOUL, Nov 2 (Reuters) - A North Korean ballistic missile landed less than 60 kilometres off South Korea's coast on Wednesday, the first time an apparent test had landed near the South's waters, leading to air raid warnings, officials said. The missile was one of three short-range ballistic missiles fired from the North Korean coastal area of Wonsan into the sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The JCS said at least one of the missiles landed 26 kilometres south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a disputed inter-Korean maritime border. The missile landed 57 kilometres from the South Korean city of Sokcho, on the east coast, and 167 kilometres from Ulleung, where air raid warnings were issued. It was the first time a North Korean ballistic missile had landed near South Korean waters, JCS said.

[1/2] People watch a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing three ballistic missiles into the sea, in Seoul, South Korea, November 2, 2022. South Korean warplanes fired three air-to-ground missiles into the sea north across the NLL in response, the South's military said. The South's launches came after Yoon's office vowed a "swift and firm response" so North Korea "pays the price for provocation". The North Korean weapon was one of three short-range ballistic missiles fired from the North Korean coastal area of Wonsan into the sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. It was the first time a North Korean ballistic missile had landed near South Korean waters, JCS said.

☆ U.S. says China resisting nuclear talks after Xi vow to boost deterrent
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Pentagon says China is undergoing a major expansion of its nuclear forces and is moving toward having 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. But Beijing has long resisted arms control talks with Washington, arguing that the United States already has a much larger arsenal. But Xi signaled during a Communist Party Congress in October that China would strengthen its strategic deterrent, a term often used to describe nuclear weapons. We're saying, let's talk about putting some guardrails into the relationship so that we don't have unnecessary crises," he said. Reporting by Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom; editing by Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ North Korea says U.S.-South Korea drills 'can no longer be tolerated'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - North Korea on Tuesday again demanded that the United States and South Korea halt joint military exercises, saying such "rashness and provocation can be no longer tolerated," while the White House said concern remains high about the potential for a North Korean nuclear test. In denouncing the drills in a statement carried by North Korea's official news agency, Pak Jong Chon, secretary of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, warned the United States and South Korea against any attempt to attack. North Korea's foreign ministry on Monday demanded an end to the drills, saying they could draw "more powerful follow-up measures" from Pyongyang. North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war since an armistice agreement ended fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

☆ North Korea demands the U.S., South Korea halt joint military drills
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - North Korea on Monday demanded that the United States and South Korea stop large-scale military exercises, calling them a provocation that may draw "more powerful follow-up measures" from Pyongyang. The United States and South Korea began one of their largest combined military air drills on Monday, with hundreds of warplanes from both sides staging mock attacks 24 hours a day for the better part of a week. read moreThe foreign ministry statement said North Korea was "ready to take all necessary measures for defending its sovereignty, people's security and territorial integrity from outside military threats." North Korea condemns the joint drills as a rehearsal for invasion and proof of hostile policies by Washington and Seoul. read moreAsked if the United States would eventually recognize North Korea as such, Price replied: "That is not our policy.

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