Trump-Kim summit: Trump's Air Force One lands at Paya Lebar Airbase

INGAPORE - US President Donald Trump arrived in Singapore on Sunday (June 10) for a Tuesday meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un he has described as a "one-time shot"at peace.

Air Force One - the American's president's official plane - touched down at Paya Lebar Air Force Base at around 8.20pm. He was greeted by Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

The US president arrived in Singapore ahead of schedule after he left the G7 meeting in Canada early.

Asked by a reporter how he is feeling about the summit, Mr Trump said: “Very good.” He then got into his waiting limousine.

En route to Singapore, he had tweeted that the meeting here was a chance to achieve a"truly wonderful result for North Korea and the world".

He wrote : "It will certainly be an exciting day and I know that Kim Jong Un will work very hard to do something that rarely been done before. Create peace and great prosperity for his land.

"I look forward to meeting him and have a feeling that this one-time opportunity will not be wasted!"

It is not immediately clear the size of Mr Trump's travelling party although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Security Adviser John Bolton, and Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, are expected to be involved in the summit. First Lady Melania Trump did not travel with Mr Trump.

Though only a single plane landed at Paya Lebar Airbase, the president's convoy is expected to be a large one. Ahead of his arrival, a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport plane had been spotted at the base.

The massive transport plane has been known to carry the US president's custom limousine nicknamed "The Beast".

Mr Trump's motorcade arrived at Shangri-La Hotel just before 9pm. Mr Kim arrived at St Regis Hotel earlier on Sunday afternoon.

The US president is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday before the highly-anticipated summit with Mr Kim at Capella hotel in Sentosa on Tuesday.

https:// www.straitstimes.com/singapore/air-force-one-set-to-land-in-paya-lebar-airbase-us-president-donald-trump-to-arrive-in

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau 'stabbed us in the back' at G-7: US economic advisor

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States blamed Canada on Sunday (June 10) for the disastrous ending to the Group of 7 (G-7) summit, saying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “stabbed us in the back”, while American allies held Washington responsible.

Just minutes after a joint communique, approved by the leaders of the G-7 allies, was published in Canada’s summit host city Quebec, US President Donald Trump launched a Twitter broadside, taking exception to comments made by Mr Trudeau at a news conference.

“He really kinda stabbed us in the back,” top US economic advisor Larry Kudlow said of Mr Trudeau on CNN’s State Of The Union. “He did a great disservice to the whole G7.”

“We went through it. We agreed. We compromised on the communique. We joined the communique in good faith,” Mr Kudlow said.

US trade advisor Peter Navarro, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” reinforced that message.

“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” he said.

“That’s what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference. That’s what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did.”

Mr Kudlow sought to tie Mr Trump’s reaction to the upcoming summit with Mr Kim Jong Un, saying the North Korean leader “must not see American weakness”. Mr Trump – who has a history of hair-trigger responses to slights – landed in Singapore on Sunday for the Tuesday (June 12) summit meeting with Mr Kim.

Before his departure from Canada the previous day, he tweeted: “Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our US farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our US Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the US Market!” .

“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that … he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak,” Mr Trump said in his tweet.

Mr Trudeau had told reporters that Mr Trump’s decision to invoke national security to justify US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports was “kind of insulting” to Canadian veterans who had stood by their US allies in conflicts dating back to World War I.

“Canadians are polite and reasonable but we will also not be pushed around,” he said.

Mr Trudeau said he had told Mr Trump “it would be with regret but it would be with absolute clarity and firmness that we move forward with retaliatory measures on July 1, applying equivalent tariffs to the ones that the Americans have unjustly applied to us”.

After Mr Trump’s angry tweets, Mr Trudeau’s office issued a brief response: “We are focused on everything we accomplished here at the G7 summit. The Prime Minister said nothing he hasn’t said before – both in public, and in private conversations with the president.”

The outburst against Mr Trudeau, and by association the other G-7 members, is only the latest incident in which Mr Trump has clashed with America’s closest allies, even as he has had warm words for autocrats like Mr Kim and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office reacted on Sunday by saying that “international cooperation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks”. Reneging on the commitments agreed in the communique showed “incoherence and inconsistency,” it said in a statement.

And German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted on Sunday that Mr Trump had partly “destroyed” Washington’s trusting relationship with Europe by pulling out of the joint communique.

When Mr Trump left Quebec, it was thought that a compromise had been reached, despite the tension and the determination of European leaders Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to push back against the US president’s protectionist policies.

https:// www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/canadian-pm-justin-trudeau-stabbed-us-in-the-back-at-g-7-us-economic-advisor

Trump-Kim summit: North Korean media silent on Kim Jong Un's trip to Singapore

North Korea's state media has yet to report on leader Kim Jong Un's arrival in Singapore on Sunday (June 10) for his historic meeting with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

As of late Sunday, the latest report on Mr Kim seen on the website of the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party, is the 34-year-old leader's visit to a new seafood restaurant in Pyongyang on Saturday.

North Korean media was likewise silent on Mr Kim's invitation to meet Mr Trump back in March, or to South Korean President Moon Jae In to discuss the future of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

Observers told Reuters at that time that the North Korean leadership could have withheld the news from the media "until they know for sure the summits are happening".

"There has to be an agreement within the North's inner circle about this. There's no reason why it should promise denuclearisation of North Korea to its people right now when there is a possibility of things falling apart," Reuters cited Professor Shin Beom Chulat the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul as saying.

https:// www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/trump-kim-summit-north-korean-media-silent-on-kim-jong-uns-trip-to-singapore

US State Dept official to visit Taiwan for de facto embassy unveiling

TAIPEI (AFP) - An assistant US secretary of state will attend the unveiling of a massive new complex for Washington's de facto embassy in Taiwan, a visit less likely to unnerve Beijing which was concerned that higher-level American officials may attend.

There was speculation that US President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton may attend the unveiling ceremony at the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) on June 12, which would have made him one of the most senior American officials to visit Taiwan since 1979 and likely drawn China's ire.

Local media also reported last week that a visit by a member of Trump's Cabinet - secretary of health and human services Alex Azar - was a possibility.

But the AIT said in a statement Sunday that Marie Royce, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, will visit Taiwan June 10-14 and attend the ceremony.

Washington gave up official diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979 to recognise Beijing, but it remains the island's most powerful ally and top arms supplier.

Taiwan-US relations have since been handled delicately and in a low-key manner through the AIT to avoid riling China - which sees the island as part of its territory to be reunified, by force if necessary.

The AIT said Royce will "also hold discussions with… Taiwan authorities on the many partnerships and exchanges between the US and Taiwan".

Royce is the wife of pro-Taiwan congressman and House foreign affairs committee chairman Ed Royce.

The completion of the new AIT offices - built over nine years at a cost of US$250 million - comes amid closer US-Taiwan ties.

Trump in March approved new rules allowing top US officials to travel to the island. The move angered Beijing, which called on Washington to "correct its mistake".

There have also been expressions of support for Taipei from US officials and lawmakers in the face of growing pressure from Beijing, which has lured away Taiwan's allies and blocked the island's participation in international events.

The Royce announcement also comes at a time when the US and China are locked in tense trade negotiations, and as Trump heads to Singapore for a landmark nuclear summit with Kim Jong Un. The US leader has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for whirlwind diplomatic efforts with Pyongyang in recent months.

The AIT will move into its new complex later this year.

https:// www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/us-state-dept-official-to-visit-taiwan-for-de-facto-embassy-unveiling

>>1688202

He did for sure, and not without good reason either, did you read what they wanted him to sign? Crazy Globalist Crap they were trying to put in there.

>>1688249

That is crazy I didn't even know you could get fake brows. What a glue head!

>>1688272

Indeed! 2018 will be Glorious!!!

Turnbull wants Zuckerburg to answer questions in Australia

SYDNEY (AFP) - Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would "love" Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg to be grilled by Australian lawmakers, he said on Thursday (June 7), in the wake of revelations the tech giant allowed Chinese smartphone-makers access to user data.

The social media behemoth has drawn renewed criticism after confirming it shared data with Chinese electronics firms, including Huawei, which has been banned by the US military over cyber-espionage concerns.

Canberra has recently moved to strengthen its own intelligence capability amid growing fears of foreign, particularly Chinese, political interference.

"Certainly there are a lot of concerns about Facebook - about privacy," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Brisbane. "I would welcome Facebook coming and testifying before our parliamentary committees."

"Of course, we'd love to see the boss," he said when asked if Mr Zuckerburg should appear personally.

Social networks had rapidly become "dominant in every respect" of people's lives, the Prime Minister added, and it was important users were aware of how their data was used.

The deputy chair of Australia's joint intelligence and security committee, Mr Anthony Byrne, said the Facebook boss needed to explain to Australia's 15 million Facebook users why it was sharing their data with Chinese firms.

"It is completely unacceptable that information from Facebook users has been slyly handed over to Huawei by Facebook," he told the Australian newspaper.

"I want to know why Mr Zuckerberg allowed this to happen. If need be, he will be invited to appear before the (committee) in a public hearing to explain himself to our committee and the Australian people."

The revelations come weeks after Mr Zuckerberg was grilled in US Congress about the hijacking of personal data on some 87 million Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica, a consultancy working on US President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.

Facebook said its contracts with phone-makers placed tight limits on what could be done with data, and information obtained by Huawei was not stored on the firm's server.

The social media giant said it was winding up the interface arrangements with device-makers and its integration partnership with Huawei would end this week.

Huawei has said that it has never collected or stored any Facebook data and has claimed any national security concerns were unfounded.

https:// www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/turnbull-wants-zuckerburg-to-answer-questions-in-australia

Russia's Putin says ready to meet Trump ‘as soon as’ Washington is ready

Qingdao (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday (June 10) said he was ready to meet his United States counterpart Donald Trump as soon as Washington was ready, adding Vienna could be a possible venue for such a summit.

“As soon as the American side is ready this meeting would take place depending on my working schedule of course,” Mr Putin told reporters in the Chinese city of Qingdao.

“The US president himself repeatedly said that he would consider such a meeting helpful. I can confirm this. It’s true,” Mr Putin said.

He said he did not discuss a possible meeting venue with Mr Trump but “many” countries including Austria were keen to help in organising such a summit.

“But I believe it’s a technical issue,” he said. “It’s important for such meetings – if they take place – to have concrete contents.”

The Wall Street Journal, citing a senior European official, reported that Mr Putin asked Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on a visit to Vienna earlier this week to help organise such a meeting and that Washington was considering it.

Under the conservative Kurz, Austria has strived to act as a mediator between Russia and the West.

While the EU-state imposed sanctions on Russia over Crimea along with the rest of the bloc, Austria did not expel Russian diplomats like other Western nations following the March poisoning of a Russian former double agent and his daughter in Britain, an attack London has accused Moscow of being behind.

https:// www.straitstimes.com/world/kremlin-vienna-being-considered-as-venue-for-possible-putin-trump-summit

White House's trade adviser Peter Navarro says 'three strikes you're out' for ZTE

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Chinese technology company ZTE Corp will be "shut down" in the United States if it engages in one more bad activity, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro warned on Sunday (June 10).

ZTE last week agreed to pay a US$1 billion (S$1.34 billion) fine to the US and to overhaul its leadership to end a crippling ban on the Shenzhen-headquartered firm from buying parts from US suppliers and allowing it to get back into business.

The ban, which traces back to a breach of the US embargo on trade with Iran, had prevented China’s second largest telecoms equipment maker by revenue from buying the US components it relies on to make phones and other devices.

“It’s going to be three strikes you’re out on ZTE. If they do one more additional thing, they will be shut down,” Mr Navarro told Fox, adding that everyone within the administration understood this was the policy.

Mr Navarro was speaking as President Donald Trump arrived in Singapore for a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose regime is heavily dependent upon neighbouring communist ally China.

The US introduced the ban in April because ZTE broke the terms of an agreement it had entered into with the US government after pleading guilty last year to conspiring to violate US sanctions by shipping US goods to Iran.

The ZTE sanctions became a key focus in trade talks between Washington and Beijing, and a deal to lift the ban was struck as Mr Trump sought concessions from China in order to avoid a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Prominent US Democratic and Republican lawmakers last week introduced legislation to try to overturn the deal, saying ZTE posed a threat to America’s national security.

On Sunday, Mr Navarro said Mr Trump’s decision to allow ZTE to continue operating in the US was a gesture to help build goodwill with China.

“The President did this as a personal favour to the president of China as a way of showing some good will for bigger efforts such as the one here in Singapore,” said Mr Navarro, referring to the summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim.

He added that ZTE was a “bad actor” but that the deal included safeguards, such as requiring the company to retain a compliance team selected by the Commerce Department for 10 years. The company already has a US court-appointed monitor.

https:// www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/white-houses-trade-adviser-peter-navarro-says-three-strikes-youre-out-for-zte