Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 27, 2018

Amanda Macias, CNBC: North Korea is quiet while the White House scrambles to coordinate talks between President Trump and Kim Jong Un

* President Donald Trump has agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but there are no confirmed details.
* Adding to the disarray, Kim has been suspiciously silent, at least in public – and it has cast a shadow of doubt over the potential meeting.
* Some foreign policy experts suspect that Kim was taken aback by Trump's acceptance.

It has been nearly three weeks since President Donald Trump surprised the world with his "on-the-spot" acceptance to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May, and the White House is scrambling to nail down the details.

Aside from a proposed agenda to discuss the North's nuclear program, the White House has yet to produce a date, time, location or a list of Trump administration participants.

Adding to the disarray, Kim has been suspiciously silent, at least in public — and it has cast a shadow of doubt over the potential meeting. There were reports that Kim had traveled on a secret train trip to Beijing, which concluded Tuesday, but even that was shrouded in mystery.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 27, 2018

Why would Kim Jong Un make a secret trip to China? -- CNN

Analysis: NKorean visit shows China still has role to play -- Kim Tong-Hyung, AP

Kim Jong-un Makes his First Pilgrimage to China—Maybe -- Doug Bandow, National Interest

The US-DPRK Summit: Assessing Chinese Anxieties -- Yun Sun, 38 North

Why Central Asian states want peace with the Taliban -- Masood Saifullah, DW

Six signs China wants to avoid a trade war -- Qing Shan Ding, ABC News Online

Is Bangladesh becoming an autocracy? -- Arafatul Islam, DW

Philippines moves to ‘terrorize’ its leftist rebels -- Bong S Sarmiento, Asia Times

How Japan got an Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade -- Grant Newsham, Asia Times

With Expulsions of Russians, the West—En Masse—Confronts Putin -- Robin Wright, New Yorker

Donald Trump turns on Putin -- Jacob Heilbrunn, The Spectator

Spy expulsions a setback for Trump-Putin courtship -- AFP

The Cold War is back -- Washington Times editorial

Following Carles Puigdemont's arrest on Sunday, Germany has landed smack in the middle of the Catalan independence battle. -- Severin Weiland, Spiegel Online

Is Zuckerberg willing to act boldly to fix Facebook crisis? -- Adam Geller and Barbara Ortutay, AP