Aug. 30 – Is this the face of Kim Jong-un, the son of Kim Jong-il whose visits to China were apparently to gain acceptance for his son as the new leader of North Korea? The identity of the smiling man in the photo, courtesy of Getty Images, remains unverified, but strong suggestions are that this indeed is the man who is to be the successor of the world’s only Marxist dynasty, and the man with the key to potential Korean unification in his pocket.

Little is known about Kim Jong-un other than he was born in 1982, and is Kim Jong-il’s third and youngest son. Kim Jong-il’s first two sons have apparently fallen out of favor, with a variety of embarrassing faux pas being committed at various times, including being caught in Japan on false passports and being photographed with several Louis Vuitton bags while shopping. Kim Jong-un, known officially as “The Brilliant Comrade” in North Korea, was born to Kim and his wife, Ko Young-hee, who is said to have died of breast cancer in 2004. » Read rest of the article

Aug. 30 – In an unscheduled meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting in Danang, Vietnam last week, China’s Commerce Minister Chen Deming “assured” India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma that China will open up more sectors to Indian companies in the future.

Specifically, Sharma said that Indian companies will be given greater access to government contracts and the IT and pharmaceutical sectors in China. » Read rest of the article

Aug. 26 – North Korea’s enigmatic leader Kim Jong-il has apparently left his country and traveled across the border into China, according to sources at South Korea’s presidential office.

“We’re detecting moves that Kim Jong-il is traveling to China,” the source told Reuters. “If he hasn’t arrived he is on his way.”

Kim rarely leaves his home country but, if reports are true, this would be his second trip to China this year. North Korea’s 68-year-old supreme leader, who has a fear of flying, traveled by private train to Beijing in May to talk with Chinese government officials including Hu Jintao in his first trip outside the country in four years. » Read rest of the article

Aug. 25 – South African President Jacob Zuma touched down in Beijing on Tuesday for his first state visit to China with an aim to strengthen strategic and commercial ties between the two nations.

Wasting no time, Zuma and Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a “comprehensive strategic partnership” immediately following a one-hour talk in the Great Hall of the People yesterday afternoon and both parties signed the Beijing Declaration which covers trade, investment, mineral exploration and agriculture. » Read rest of the article

Aug. 23 – A draft amendment regarding China’s criminal law was submitted to the National People’s Congress today, requesting the elimination of capital punishment for 13 economic-related nonviolent offenses.

China’s reputation of being quite liberal in its use of the death penalty and the lack of transparency in its methods has drawn criticism from many nations and human rights groups. The country executes thousands of people each year, usually by firing squad or lethal injection, and put more people to death in 2009 than the rest of the world combined, according to an Amnesty International report issued in March. » Read rest of the article

Aug. 17 – Although economic and political cooperation between India and China has been improving over the last few years, bilateral relations remain tense regarding international borders according to a congressionally mandated annual report released on Monday by the Pentagon.

Using alarmist and self-serving rhetoric at times, the Pentagon’s 83-page report, titled Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (2010), assesses and analyzes China’s military ambitions; dedicating a portion of the document to current Sino-Indian relations. » Read rest of the article

Aug. 9 – Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao believes that the relationship between India and China has grown stronger over the years and that bilateral relations between the two emerging Asian powers are set to be the “big story of the 21st Century.”

Speaking with Karan Thapar during a televised interview on India’s CNN-IBN Network, Rao touched on several sensitive and current foreign affairs topics ranging from the U.S.-Pakistan military relationship to the need for “intelligently transacted dialogue” with Beijing. » Read rest of the article

Aug. 6 – Officials from Taiwan and Singapore said on Thursday that a bilateral free trade type agreement is in the works and may be signed by the end of the year.

“We will negotiate with Singapore an economic cooperation deal under the World Trade Organization framework,” Lo Chih-Chiang, Taiwan’s presidential spokesman, said on Thursday. “We won’t necessarily use ‘free trade agreement’ for the deal’s title. The administrative departments will decide the official title of the deal after negotiations.” » Read rest of the article

Op/Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Aug. 6 – The fallout from the recently held ASEAN summit in Hanoi has far reaching implications for China and the region, but also indicates rising disquiet of China’s attempts to gain regional assertiveness. With Vietnam currently chairing ASEAN, the item that China had wanted to avoid discussion over – ownership of parts of the South China Sea – well and truly gained the glare of the spotlight. » Read rest of the article

Aug. 4 – China’s military began a major five-day air defense exercise on Tuesday in seven cities across the country’s eastern provinces of Henan and Shandong.

The operation, code named “Vanguard-2010,” includes more than 12,000 troops and over 100 aircraft of seven different types, in addition to air defense and artillery units. » Read rest of the article