Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
Donald Trump touts North Korea progress, seizes initiative at U.N. General Assembly
President Trump swept into this year's U.N. General Assembly on a positive note, claiming credit during initial meetings Monday that "tremendous progress" has been made in nuclear talks with North Korea and asserting that he intends to hold another face-to-face summit with Kim Jong-un "in the not-too-distant future." Published September 24, 2018
North Korean ‘embassies’ a worry if peace breaks out
North Korea maintains embassies in nearly 50 nations -- including Algeria and Zimbabwe -- and could emerge swiftly as a normalized global power if nuclear talks with South Korea and the United States play out the right way. And that's a problem. Published September 24, 2018
Donald Trump to get special message from Kim Jong-un at United Nations
President Trump is slated to hold a high-stakes meeting here Monday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who will deliver a private message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that officials hope may boost the recently stalled denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang. Published September 24, 2018
Donald Trump praises Kim Jong-un denuclearization pledge: ‘Tremendous progress’
A new pledge by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to allow international inspectors to observe the closing of a key missile test site and his vow to consider destroying a major nuclear complex drew swift praise from President Trump on Wednesday. Published September 19, 2018
Donald Trump wants global embargo on Iranian oil, but remains open to new deal with Tehran
The White House is knuckling down on efforts to convince the world to stop all purchases of Iranian oil by early November, according to the Trump administration's top Iran strategist, who says the hope is that a new era of U.S.-led economic isolation will force Tehran back to the negotiating table with Washington. Published September 19, 2018
Pyongyang summit puts pressure on South Korea’s Moon Jae-in to deliver
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will push North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to detail his nuclear programs when the two meet Wednesday for the second day of a high-stakes summit that could make or break President Trump's own pursuit of diplomacy with Pyongyang. Published September 18, 2018
China hosts Venezuelan leader, but denies playing in ‘U.S. backyard’
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in Beijing Friday, highlighting China's growing influence in Latin America by offering new support to the embattled socialist regime in Caracas. Published September 14, 2018
Democrats still want Trump-Putin Helsinki notes; Royce pushes back
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee sharply criticized an attempt by the committee's Democrats Thursday to push through a resolution that would have required the Trump administration to hand over "every record" it has on the July summit President Trump had with Russian President Vladimir Putin -- an event that rankled administration critics because the two men met in private with only translators present. Published September 13, 2018
New U.S. special envoy talks N. Korea strategy with S. Korean president
The Trump administration is pushing behind the scenes to regain momentum in nuclear talks with North Korea, dispatching a newly-appointed envoy to the region this week who says there's "hard work" ahead, but also a "tremendous opportunity" that must not be wasted. Published September 12, 2018
Turkey sides with U.S. in Syria, sends fresh weapons to rebels
Turkey is tacitly siding with the United States against Russia and Iran in Syria by sending fresh weapons supplies to Syrian rebels to help them stave off an impending offensive by the Moscow- and Tehran-backed Assad regime. Published September 12, 2018
China ‘One Belt, One Road’ used for military base expansion, critics say
China's "Belt and Road" global financing strategy is sporting its first serious potholes, as backlash from smaller nations across Asia mounts amid frustration over opaque and predatory lending practices. Published September 11, 2018
Major European, Asian firms flee Iranian market in wake of U.S. sanctions: Report
Nearly three dozen major European and Asian companies are pulling their investments from Iran to avoid getting tangled up in reimposed U.S. sanctions, despite Tehran's scramble to find loopholes for the companies and efforts by European governments to neutralize the impact of the new sanctions. Published September 11, 2018
U.S. needs new blueprint for post-9/11 extremism, study says
Federal agencies for nearly two decades have prevented another 9/11 terrorist attack, but the "time has come for a new U.S. strategy" in the war against extremism spreading in the Middle East and beyond, says a congressionally mandated new task force led by the former chairmen of the vaunted commission that investigated the 2001 strikes on Washington and New York. Published September 10, 2018
Kim Jong-un North Korea denuclearization an effort to secure legitimacy
Some key officials and analysts in South Korea and in Washington argue that they can see major policy shifts as evidence of how seriously the North Korean leader is committed to changing his nation's isolationist ways and cutting a deal on his nuclear and missile programs. Published September 6, 2018
Donald Trump warns Syria against ‘slaughter,’ denies he wanted to assassinate Assad
President Trump warned Syria on Wednesday not to launch a "slaughter" of millions of innocent civilians trapped by government forces in the country's last major rebel-held enclave, while denying an account in a new tell-all book that he wanted to assassinate Syrian President Bashar Assad last year in the wake a suspected chemical attack on rebel positions. Published September 5, 2018
China boosting trade with North Korea to undermine Donald Trump: Report
Nearly three dozen North Korean cargo ships were spotted pulling into coal docks at the Chinese port of Longkou during May and June, according to a report Wednesday that claimed Beijing has allowed increased trade with Pyongyang just as President Trump has tried to maintain economic pressure on Kim Jong-un's regime. Published September 5, 2018
Pompeo to toe hard line in Pakistan; no plan to resume halted U.S. aid
U.S. officials say Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will toe a hard line with Pakistan's new government when he visits Islamabad this week, roughly nine months after President Trump halted security aid to the South Asian nation on grounds it gives "safe haven to terrorists." Published September 4, 2018
Xi Jinping, China’s president, to skip North Korea celebrations
China is sending a high-level delegation to Pyongyang to partake in the 70th anniversary of North Korea's founding later this week, but Chinese President Xi Jinping won't be there, a decision that has experts wondering whether a rift may be emerging between the two allies. Published September 4, 2018
Russia military drills point to imminent Syria offensive
Russia's navy announced it will open "large-scale drills" in the Mediterranean on Saturday in the latest sign that a major Syrian government offensive against one of the last rebel strongholds in the country is imminent -- a development that the United Nations warns could trigger a fresh refugee crisis in the Middle East nation's 7-year-old civil war. Published August 30, 2018
China claims Donald Trump ‘distorting the facts’ on North Korea influence
China pushed back Thursday against President Trump's allegation that Beijing is playing the spoiler role in North Korea to gain more leverage in bare-knuckle trade talks with Washington. Published August 30, 2018