- In this Friday, Sept. 22, 2017, file photo, people watch a TV screen showing an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering a statement in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's speech to the United Nations, in Pyongyang, North Korea. AP / AHN YOUNG-JOON
China May Be Preparing Refugee Sites in Case of a Korean War
A leaked document from a Chinese telecommunications company hints that Beijing is anticipating an influx of war refugees.
The Chinese government may be preparing for an influx of refugees from North Korea — if, say, war breaks out on the Peninsula, according to a document obtained by Radio Free Asia.
The document, dated July 7, was produced by China Mobile, the giant state-owned telecommunications company — specifically, by the branch that serves Changbai County on the North Korean border. It says the company was conducting “pre-communications security work for North Korean refugee camps” in the region — specifically, testing signal strength at five potential “refugee settlements,” Radio Free Asia’s Huang Xiaoshan and Lin Guoli write in their Dec. 7 report.
When Huang and Lin asked officials with China Mobile and the local government about the document, they denied that the work was related to the construction of refugee camps. But the RFA reporters wrote in a subsequent Dec. 7 report that they had confirmed the plan’s existence.
Four days later, a China Mobile spokesman appeared to confirm the reports. Contacted by The Express, a UK-based newspaper, the spokesman said, “The government has ordered these settlement points. But don’t worry, no one is panicking here.”