THE KINGS OF THE EAST
Xi Jinping Rallies Communists in Three-Hour Speech: ‘Time for Us to Take Center Stage’
October 19, 2017 — Breitbart.com reports: “China’s Communist Party opened its once-every-five-years Congress on Wednesday with an extensive speech from President Xi Jinping, who debuted plans for the nation extending into 2050 that include extensive military buildup, economic hegemony, and ‘sweeping victory’ against ‘corruption,’ often interpreted as any dissenting thought within the party.
‘It is time for us to take centre stage in the world and to make a greater contribution to humankind,’ Xi declared, according to the BBC, as he welcomed over two thousand Communist Party delegates to Beijing.
He added a promise to turn China into a ‘prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful’ country between 2035 and 2050.
Prior to the opening of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Congress, outside observers noted that Chinese state-run media had begun laying the groundwork for the debut of ‘Xi Jinping Thought,’ a new philosophy towards China’s role in the world that would seek to centralize power in Xi’s person and elevate him to greater status within the party. Experts already consider Xi one of the most powerful leaders in modern Chinese history, but reports in outlets like Reuters suggest Xi may be seeking to elevate his position to that of ‘chairman’—a title no president has held in decades—and to introduce a ‘Xi Jinping Thought’ doctrine into the Communist Party Constitution, immortalizing him within the party…” (China prepares for one of the most devastating wars in history. It is the second invasion of Israel after Russia and her Muslim allies fail in their bloodbath in the Middle East – Ezekiel 38:1, 2, 8, 16; 39:1, 2, 12, 13; Revelation 16:12; Revelation 9:14 – 18. See the next two reports.)
As China aims for ‘world-class army’, Asia starts to worry
November 2, 2017 — SpaceDaily.com reports: “Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pledge to build a ‘world-class army’ by 2050 is making his neighbours nervous, but analysts say Beijing’s military ambitions do not constitute a strategic threat — for now.
With purchases and construction of fighter jets, ships and hi-tech weaponry, China’s military budget has grown steadily for 30 years, but remains three times smaller than that of the United States.
Now, Beijing wants to catch up.
‘We should strive to fully transform the people’s armed forces into a world-class military by the mid-21st century,’ Xi told 2,300 delegates of the Chinese Communist Party, which he heads and which controls the army.
The comments, made during the party’s twice-a-decade congress, were aimed in part at domestic nationalists, but also intended to show other countries ‘China’s desire to be strong economically as well as militarily,’ said James Char, a military analyst at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University…”
Xi as demi-god portends ever darker times for ‘free’ Hong Kong
October 31, 2017 — Asia Times Online reports: “In troubled Hong Kong, the virtual coronation of hardline Chinese President Xi Jinping last week in the Great Hall of the People cast a long, dark shadow over the special freedoms and autonomy the city has enjoyed in the 20 years since its handover from British to Chinese rule.
It’s no coincidence that Xi’s extraordinary ascension over the last five years has paralleled Hong Kong’s steady decline as a special administrative region of China operating under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle agreed to prior to the handover. While Hong Kong today remains, by far, the freest and most vibrant and efficient city in China, during Xi’s presidency it has repeatedly seen its autonomy violated, its individual freedoms eroded and its independent judiciary compromised.
Now that ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era’ has been enshrined in the Chinese constitution at last week’s twice-a-decade party congress — an honor shared only by the revolutionary founder of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong, and his celebrated successor, former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping – Xi’s near-absolute grip on power appears guaranteed for many years to come. These years promise to be tough ones for Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million people, many of whom, despite their Chinese ethnicity, refuse to be labeled as Chinese…”
Hundreds dead as North Korean nuclear base collapses
October 31, 2017 — Israel National News reports: “An underground North Korean military facility used for nuclear tests collapsed earlier this month, Pyongyang revealed Tuesday.
The collapse occurred on October 10th at the Punggye-ri underground nuclear facility, 50 miles from the Chinese border, South Korea’s Yonhap media outlet reported.
According to a North Korean official, the collapse occurred during the construction of an underground tunnel.
The Punggye-ri facility is located underneath the southern slope of Mount Mantap. Recent thermonuclear weapons tests at the site are believed to be responsible for the collapse.
Roughly 100 people were trapped in the initial collapse, Asahi TV reported, with 100 more lost during failed rescue attempts.
On Monday, South Korean weather agency chief Nam Jae-Cheol told lawmakers that the Punggye-ri facility could collapse if used for further testing, the Associated Press reported.
Last month, just after North Korea confirmed it had tested a hydrogen bomb, Chinese scientists warned that he Punggye-ri facility was at risk.
Researchers claimed that an explosion at the facility could spread dangerous radiation across the entire hemisphere…” (North Korea marches with Russia and China for the war of the latter years and latter days – Ezekiel 38:8, 16. Atomic bombs will produce global incineration – Psalm 97:3; Isaiah 66:15; Joel 2:3, 30; Zephaniah 1:18; Malachi 4:1; Revelation 8:7 and 9:18. See the next report.)
North Korea Threatens ‘Unimaginable Strike at an Unimaginable Time’ on U.S.
October 22, 2017 — Breitbart.com reports: “North Korea threatened to deliver an ‘unimaginable strike’ on the United States amid strained relations between Pyongyang and Washington over the rogue regime’s nuclear and missile programs.
‘The U.S. is running amok by introducing under our nose the targets we have set as primary ones. The U.S. should expect that it would face unimaginable strike [sic] at an unimaginable time,’ warned an unnamed North Koran agency in a statement reportedly published by the Pyongyang-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday.
Reuters, citing the Russian-controlled RIA Novosti news agency the following day, reported that a North Korean diplomat indicated that dictator Kim Jong-un does not intend to conduct any discussions with the United States over its nuclear program, claiming that having nukes is a ‘matter of life and death for us.’…”
US: North Korea Months Away From Being Able to Hit US with Nuclear Missile
October 20, 2017 — Voice of America News reports: “North Korea is likely just months away from being capable of striking the United States with a nuclear missile, according to two top U.S. officials.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo told a forum in Washington on Thursday he is ‘deeply worried’ about the advancing threat from North Korea and the possibility it could spark a nuclear arms race across East Asia.
‘We ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective,’ Pompeo said when asked about Pyongyang’s pursuit of missile technology that could launch a warhead to targets in the U.S….” (A huge nuclear war is prophesied multiplied times in God’s Word. Revelation 9:14 – 18 depicts Armageddon: “Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.” And Revelation 16:16 tells of the longest and final battle of the ages. See the next three reports.)
North Korea threats at ‘unprecedented, critical’ level, Japan official says
October 24, 2017 — FoxNews.com reports: “The threat of nuclear war posed by North Korea has grown to an ‘unprecedented’ level amid escalating tensions with the rogue regime and now requires the U.S., Japan and South Korea to demonstrate ‘different responses’ to the threat, a Japanese official said Monday.
Speaking with the U.S. and South Korean counterparts at a meeting of Asian defense chiefs in the Philippines, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said ‘(The) threat posed by North Korea has grown to the unprecedented, critical and imminent level,’ according to a Reuters report. ‘Therefore, we have to take calibrated and different responses to meet with that level of threat.’
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had similar remarks, noting that North Korea’s ongoing intimidations ‘threaten regional and global security.’
‘North Korea’s provocative behavior is becoming worse and worse,’ South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-Moo added…”
Trump urges North Korea to ‘come to table’ over nuclear issue
November 7, 2017 — BBC News reports: “US President Donald Trump has urged North Korea to ‘come to the table’ and discuss giving up its nuclear weapons.
Striking a different tone from previous fiery rhetoric, he said he ‘hoped to God’ he did not have to use the US military against Pyongyang.
Mr Trump was speaking at a press conference with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in Seoul, as part of his tour of Asia.
The US leader has previously threatened ‘fire and fury’ against Pyongyang.
He is on a five-nation tour of Asia, where North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have been high on his agenda.
At a press conference, Mr Trump and Mr Moon reiterated their call for the North to denuclearise, with Mr Trump saying it ‘makes sense for North Korea to come to the table’, and to ‘do the right thing, not only for North Korea but for humanity all over the world’.
Though the US had deployed a significant military presence in the region, he said he ‘hoped to God’ he would not have to use it against North Korea…”
Japanese Leader Echoes Trump on North Korea: ‘All Options are On the Table’
November 6, 2017 — Voice of America News reports: “Japan’s prime minister, standing alongside the U.S. president, borrowed a Donald Trump phrase on Monday, agreeing that ‘all options are on the table’ when it comes to responding to North Korea’s weapons development.
Abe, at a news conference with Trump at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, said there is ‘no point in dialogue for the sake of dialogue with North Korea’ and the time has come to exert maximum pressure on Pyongyang.
Abe and Trump, following a second day of meetings, confirmed that North Korea has been the dominant topic of their discussions.
The U.S. president called Pyongyang’s pursuit of the ability to place a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile ‘a threat to the civilized world and international peace and stability.’
Trump repeated that the era of strategic patience, in attempting to deal with Pyongyang, is over…”