By Julia Gu
Dec. 19 – The North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has died, the country’s state television reported today from the capital city Pyongyang. He was 69.
Kim had possibly suffered a stroke in 2008, said the report. He appeared to be in fairly good health recently however, when he paid official trips to China and Russia late August this year. It’s reported that the second-generation North Korean dictator, who was a chain-smoker and a gourmet, had diabetes as well as heart disease. Continue reading
Dec. 16 – China’s recent announcement of plans to build a supply and recuperation facility in the Seychelles, an archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean, has triggered speculations about China’s real interests.
Dec. 15 – China is facing increasingly hardened diplomatic attitudes from its neighboring countries, with four – Nepal, Myanmar, South Korea and Japan – allowing protests at varying degrees of what is considered Chinese belligerence.
Dec. 9 – The European Union (EU) will cut off all aid payments from its 2014-2020 budget to 19 emerging economies, including China, India, Brazil and Thailand, the EU’s development commissioner Andris Piebalgs said on Wednesday.
Dec. 7 – China’s General Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the People’s Liberation Army General Staff, will be leading a delegation to meet with Indian Defense Secretary Shashikant Sharma on December 9, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei confirmed at a press conference on Monday.
Dec. 1 – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton began her historic trip to Myanmar on Wednesday, marking the first appearance by an American diplomat of her rank in the long-isolated Southeast Asian country in 56 years.