Hard to say. The main argument for is that both countries obviously have a lot in common; the main argument against is that it could tip China from vaguely pro-Russian neutrality to outright providing it with military supplies.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I remember hearing news that a Ukrainian woman named Larisa Bakurova was allowed to be a naturalized Taiwanese.
I don't know if her Ukrainian nationality was dropped. This was in 2016.
Short article on diplomats who died in their post in China.
From the Independent
U Myo Thant Pe, Myanmar’s envoy to Bejing, died in the Chinese capital on Sunday, becoming the fourth ambassador in China to die in the past year.
U Myo Thant Pe was appointed ambassador in 2019 and stayed in his post till the coup by Myanmar’s military in February 2021.
He was last seen on Saturday, meeting a local official in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan which borders Myanmar, reported Reuters.
Myanmar’s military junta seized power from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and since faced international condemnation for allegedly carrying out thousands of extrajudicial killings.
Last week four political prisoners were executed in the country’s first official executions in decades.
The ambassador’s demise was announced by Myanmar’s foreign ministry in a state newspaper on Monday.
He reportedly died on Sunday in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, according to the obituary.
However no specific cause of death has been announced.
According to diplomatic sources in Beijing and a Chinese language Myanmar media report the envoy reportedly died of a likely heart attack.
The Myanmar envoy’s death is the fourth in the last twelve months in China.
In September German ambassador Jan Hecker, 54, died less than two weeks into his Beijing posting.
In February Ukraine ambassador Serhiy Kamyshev, 65, died shortly after a visit to a Beijing Winter Olympics venue.
Philippines ambassador Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana, 74, died in quarantine in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui in April.
China is Myanmar’s old ally and biggest trading partner. Last month China’s top diplomat visited Myanmar in the first visit since the military coup in the country.
The country has invested billions of dollars in Myanmar’s mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure and is its major arms supplier, according to a report in the Associated Press.
China is also suspected of supporting the military takeover in Myanmar which Beijing has refused to condemn.
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/12/02/uk-council-rejects-chinas-plan-to-build-new-embassy-in-london/
China wanted to apply for constructing a new embasssy building in London. They were told no way.
Kevin Rudd being the ambassador to the US should be interesting... considering his background and ties with China.
With the caveat that I know little about the going-ons of the current Australian political landscape, I feel as though this is more a Kicked Upstairs move because Australia and the US are generally going to be on the same page for most big things on the world stage. The US does this all the time with cushy not-likely-to-cause-trouble-with-a-gaffe ambassadorships going to major party (both Republican and Democrat) donors more as a reward than for any particular diplomatic skill — when Trump was in office the US ambassador to the UK was Woody Johnson, whose credentials consisted of "donated to the Republicans for 2016" and "owner of the New York Jets". For the US at least, the big critical missions like to Russia and China are kept reserved for actual diplomats who have worked in the State Department for many years and are actually competent, but the others get filled in as spoils of victory in the last presidential election.
Edited by megarockman on Jan 6th 2023 at 9:55:15 AM
I think IMHO that's up in the air since KR's a known guy in the Asia Society in New York as an academic.
Estonian ambassador in Russia's told to GTFO in response to Tallinn ordering the Russian Embassy to downsize its staff.
NPR: Report by US intelligence agencies concludes Havana Syndrome was "very unlikely" to have been caused by foreign rivals. Of the seven agencies to contribute, five determined that the spate of new ailments suffered by workers at various US embassies starting in 2016 was "very unlikely" to have been done by "foreign rivals" — one said it was "unlikely" and one offered no determination. The report notes that the determination was partly due to the fact that the ailments were so varied from case to case, which lowers the chance of it being the exact same cause for all of them.
Chinese consul building in Odesa was damaged due to Russian attacks.
Japanese Embassy in Beijing reports that someone threw a brick at the building. Public Security quickly caught said person.
Indian High Commission in Canada says that visa processing for Canadians are being suspended due to operational reasons beyond their control.
This story broke out in Beijing and can only an article that's not paywalled.
An Israeli diplomat working in Beijing got stabbed. He's brought to the hospital safely.
BBC reports Bolivia cutting diplomatic ties with Israel due to the air strikes in Gaza.
News from Bahrain mentioned that the Israeli ambassador was expelled.
Hearing news that Honduras withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv aside from Chile.
AJ has a disclaimer that parental guidance is needed.
The news video is about the countris that withdrew their ambassadors from Israel.
So far, nine countries have done so.
Pretoria removed its diplomats from Israel. At the same time, they've [South Africa] have reached out to ICC representatives.
Edited by Ominae on Nov 20th 2023 at 10:26:18 AM
Posting it here... I think it's relevant in the wake of Michael Spavor blaming Michael Kovrig/Ottawa alike for using his "info" on North Korea that got him arrested. Sorta of forced the issue of the Global Security Reporting Program under Global Affairs Canada. It's not an intelligence agency, but it's used by GAC officials to review any relevant info from a foreign country that can be used to assess Canadian security/strategic interests.
The two Podcast UR Ls do talk about the GSRP. Not sure if they'll about Spavor's thing though.
https://cdainstitute.ca/does-the-global-security-reporting-program-gsrp-require-more-scrutiny/
https://borealisthreatandrisk.com/why-foreign-humint-collection-should-be-left-to-the-professionals/
French Embassy in Niger's closed for an undetermined period.
https://nitter.net/KyivPost/status/1739973202749841451
Kyiv Post reported that Ukrainian Embassy is open in Ghana.
Moscow appointed Nikolay Nozdrev. Like his predecessor, he's fluent in Japanese.
Funny considering Moscow made Japan an "unfriendly country".
Maybe a bit related...
The Israeli Embassy had an incident where an airman decided to (try and) immolate himself as a protest against the upcoming incursion in Rafah.
https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240317050037
Seoul and Havana agree to set up diplomatic relations. Pyongyang got its ambassador recalled back.
I was wiki-walking through Wikipedia's article on the list of diplomatic missions in Taiwan
(both formal and informal) and I noticed that Ukraine doesn't have any kind of office set up, even unofficially. Which leads to two questions:
1. I remember there are Ukrainians currently living in Taiwan - who's handling their official affairs?
2. Might there be one set up in the future, given that Taiwan seems to be warming up to Ukraine in light of the current war with Russia and the crowds that greeted Pelosi on her visit included wearing Ukraine's blue-and-yellow?