PEACE

On Jan. 16, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, known for its hardline approach to cross-strait relations with China, won a landslide victory becoming the first female president in the island’s history.

While Washington’s response to Tsai’s election has been cautiously warm, China carried out live-fire military drills immediately after the elections, a move many analysts interpret as a Chinese show of force to the DPP-controlled Taipei. In response, Taiwan conducted small-scale exercises of its own Jan 26.

Taiwan’s stocks dropped to a five-month low following the elections, reflecting investors’ fears of regional instability and a slowing global economy.

Although Ban’s office declined to confirm the trip, they did not state that the trip itself was out of the question. Eri Kaneko, Ban's spokesperson, told CNN that they have seen the reports and are not going to comment at this moment but will let them know if that changes.

If true, Ban’s visit will mark the first time a U.N. secretary-general will have visited North Korea in over two decades.

This is a huge step in improving relations with North Korea, especially considering that Ban’s previously scheduled visit to North Korea in May was cancelled once Pyongyang suddenly withdrew its invitation.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in Seoul and discussed, among other things, a much-anticipated trilateral free trade agreement and North Korea.

Some background information: While ties between China and South Korea have been warming in recent years, the two nations’ relations with Japan have been frosty, at best, due to territorial and historical disputes. 

China’s President Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou met Saturday in Singapore, marking the first time in history that the two nations hold a president-level summit.

China Daily said the U.S. was “making trouble out of nothing” and accused Washington of double standards in accusing China of militarizing the South China Sea.

Who’s to blame for the rising tensions? An angry web user wrote on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, faults the U.S.: “You messed up in Iraq and Syria,” the post said, “Now what do you want to do in our waters? Do you want to be the one who stirs up the third world war?”

Some background information: Recently, China has been creating man-made islands in the South China Sea and with their completion, would expand China’s territory. Therefore, the U.S. decided to conduct a mission to try to force China to clarify their true intentions.