China Reform Monitor: No. 1091

February 26:

Pyongyang is trying to restore business partnerships with Beijing following the purge of leader Kim Jong-un’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek, by reinstating key officials in charge of economic projects with China. In December, Kim Ki-sok and Kim Chol-jin, chief and deputy chief of the North's State Economic Development Commission, were sacked in connection with the Jang purge. They were later judged “not so close to Jang,” and reinstated after undergoing “ideology re-education.” After his reinstatement last week, Kim Ki-sok visited Beijing and Shenzhen, Yonhap reports.

February 28:

The People’s Liberation Army has taken possession of its second Ukrainian-made air cushion landing craft, codenamed Project 958, Interfax-Ukraine reports. In 2009, China and Ukraine signed a $350 million contract, the largest such contract since Ukraine’s independence, for the four air-cushion landing craft. The first two landing craft were built in Ukraine and the next two in China with Ukrainian specialists assistance. The PLA was satisfied with the first one delivered in 2013. The craft can transport 150 metric tons, including three medium tanks and up to 500 troops, at over 60 knots over ground, water, ice, and 1.5 m vertical obstacles. Pictures available via Military Russia.ru.

March 4:

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National People’s Congress standing committee, told Hong Kong’s delegates to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing that the territory’s future leaders must be “patriots,” that is, friendly to Beijing. In 2007, the National People’s Congress standing committee promised Hong Kong a leadership election by universal suffrage as early as 2017. But Hong Kong's prodemocracy camp has harshly criticized the litmus test for candidates set by Beijing, saying the patriotism requirement all but guarantees Beijing’s control over the Hong Kong leadership election process, the Kyodo News reports.

March 5:

A Chinese airliner carrying 220 people flew in the vicinity of North Korean rockets, the SCMP reports. A China Southern Airlines Airbus, Flight CZ628, took off from Japan’s Narita airport and was en route to Shenyang, Liaoning when without advance notice North Korea fired four 300-mm KN09 rocket-propelled projectiles toward the Sea of Japan. A North Korean military spokesman called the firings an “act of self-defense based on normal exercise plans.” Seoul notified Beijing about the incident, which, in turn, “contacted the North Korean side to convey deep concern,” The Hindustan Times reports. Between February 21 and March 4 North Korea fired rocket-propelled projectiles or short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan on three days. The firings are seen as gesture of defiance against the joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise that began on February 24.

March 7:

Yen Ming, Taiwan’s Minister of National Defense, has told the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that the island’s military can withstand a full-scale Chinese offensive for at least one month, reports the Taipei Times. Yen was responding to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsueh Ling about how well the military would be able to withstand a Chinese attack without U.S. help. Before Yen could answer, a military officer standing beside him told the minister “about 21 to 28 days” – a comment that was picked up by the microphone system. Yen, however, told Hsueh that the military could withstand an assault for “at least one month.”