In Central Asia, Chinese inroads in Russia’s back yard
By Simon Denyer December 27 at 9:41 PM
CHINA’S BACK YARD | This is part of an occasional series examining China’s efforts to win friends and clients in Asia and to assert a more dominant role across the continent.
Traffic is seen on a section of the road, which will link China and Europe, near Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 16. (Adam Dean/For The Washington-Post)
Slowly but surely, a four-lane highway is beginning to take shape on the sparsely populated Central Asian steppe. Soviet-era cars, trucks and aging long-distance buses weave past modern yellow bulldozers, cranes and towering construction drills, laboring under Chinese supervision to build a road that could one day stretch from eastern Asia to Western Europe.
This small stretch of blacktop, running past potato fields, bare dun-colored rolling hills and fields of grazing cattle, is a symbol of China’s march westward, an advance into Central Asia that is steadily wresting the region from Russia’s embrace.
Here the oil and gas pipelines, as well as the main roads and the railway lines, always pointed north to the heart of the old Soviet Union. Today, those links are beginning to point toward China.
“This used to be Russia’s back yard,” said Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London, “but it is increasingly coming into China’s thrall.”
It is a shift that has shaken up the Russian leadership, which is watching China’s advance across the steppe with apprehension. Moscow and Beijing may speak the language of partnership these days, but Central Asia has emerged as a source of wariness and mistrust.
For China, the region offers rich natural resources, but Beijing’s grander commercial plans — to export its industrial overcapacity and find new markets for its goods — will struggle to find wings in these poor and sparsely populated lands.
[Central Asia] [Belt and Road]
Forgotten voices from the Great War: the Chinese Labour Corps
The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue. 49, No. 1, December 21, 2015
Alex Calvo, Bao Qiaoni
Cap badge of the Chinese Labour Corps CLC personnel moving sacks of corn at Boulogne, on 12 August 1917
Abstract
The one hundredth anniversary of the Great War is prompting a renewed effort at both the popular and academic levels to ensure that the different units and countries involved are not forgotten. While not supplying combat troops, China entered the First World War on the side of the Allies, furnishing much-needed labourers, 140,000 by conservative estimates and possibly more, who played an essential role on the Western Front and other theatres, taking responsibility for a wide range of tasks. Among others, unloading military supplies and handling ammunitions, building barracks and other military facilities, digging trenches, and even agriculture and forest management. While their essential contribution was recognized in British documents, both Paris and London saw them as a temporary expedient, to be ended as soon as the war was over. Furthermore, their deployment gave rise to all sorts of culture and language clashes, in addition to the dangers of travelling to Europe and surviving in close proximity to the battle field. However, beyond these travails, the Chinese Labour Corps left a significant legacy, with members seeing the world, experiencing other nations, and often becoming literate. More widely, despite being on the winning side, China's failure to secure any gains at Versailles prompted the May 4th Movement and can be seen as a key juncture in the long and winding road from empire to nation-state. It is an important reminder of the global nature of the Great War, whose impact extended far from the battle field to all corners of the world.
Introduction: Asia and the Great War
The one hundredth anniversary of the Great War has prompted renewed interest in the conflict and a major drive by myriad institutions and individuals to inform the public and assure that the sacrifices made one century ago are never forgotten. While the main theatres of the war were in Europe, there are reasons why it is called the First World War, since its nature and scope were truly global. This includes Asia, which may have seen limited combat operations (other than in South-Western Asia, part of the Middle East) but where a number of countries made key contributions to the Allied cause. They include Japan, whose navy helped secure the Pacific, while her troops took over German territories, and took part in the conquest of Tsingtao; China, which contributed much-needed workers; and India, whose soldiers helped stabilize the Western Front in late 1914 and later played a key role in a wide range of theaters, including Gallipoli, East Africa, and Mesopotamia.
[WWI] [Imperialism]
China-led SCO troops may follow Russia to Syria
September 5, 2015, 8:51 am 1
Christina Lin
Christina Lin
Dr. Christina Lin is a Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at SAIS-Johns Hopkins University. She is the author … [More] Follow or contact:
Russia has begun military interventions in Syria, with the possibility of reinforcement by additional troops from SCO member states.
In the July summit of the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the two core missions were (1) admitting India and Pakistan as full members and (2) how best to counter ISIS and Islamic extremism within member territories.
[China] [Syria] [Jihadist]
Hersh, Gauthier and the Coming of Terror in Xinjiang
by Peter Lee
Seymour Hersh created a stir with his most recent piece in the London Review of Books, Military to Military.
Hersh reported that the Joint Chiefs of Staff under General Dempsey had actively sabotaged President Obama’s Syria policy in 2013, when they took issue with the White House’s apparent acquiescence to Turkey secretly funneling support to unvetted Islamist militants.
The anti-Hersh forces have been in full cry but his claims appears credible. Quite possibly, the Pentagon has fallen out of love with wonk-warrior COIN fetish for the umpteenth time, and has returned to the reassuring “massive use of conventional forces in pursuit of explicit US goals” Powell Doctrine. Anyway, plenty of grist for the mill.
[Turkey] [Xinjiang] [Outsourcing]
China, ROK hold successful talks on maritime demarcation
Xinhua, December 22, 2015
China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) held their first round of talks on maritime demarcation on Tuesday to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries on July 3, 2014 to start the talks in 2015.
Liu Zhenmin, China's vice foreign minister and head of the Chinese delegation, and Cho Tae-yul, ROK's 2nd vice minister of foreign affairs and head of the ROK delegation, co-chaired the talks.
[China SK] [Territorial disputes]
Zimbabwe’s curious plan to adopt China’s currency
By Adam Taylor December 23 at 12:00 AM ?
Chinese President Xi Jinping is greeted by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as he arrives on Dec. 1, 2015, in Harare. (Jekesai Njikizana/AFP)
Want evidence that China is still making inroads in sub-Saharan Africa? Look no further than Zimbabwe, where the finance minister just announced a plan to begin using the Chinese yuan as an official currency within the southern African nation — part of a deal that will also see Beijing cancel about $40 million in debt.
"There cannot be a better time to do this," Zimbabwean Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa explained in a statement.
The news is just the latest wild twist for the Zimbabwean currency. Six months ago, Zimbabwe's central bank announced that it was finally phasing out the local currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, after years of hyperinflation had left the currency virtually worthless. Zimbabweans were told that they would be able to exchange bank account balances of up to $175,000,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwean dollars for just 5 U.S. dollars – a heartbreaking sum, given that it was many people's life savings.
In practice, the Zimbabwean dollar (and the $100 trillion notes that it eventually required) had already become little more than a kitsch souvenir. By 2008, foreign currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the South African rand had become de facto currencies thanks to a booming black market trade. The following year, the government announced that it would officially allow businesses to use these currencies, effectively abandoning the Zimbabwean dollar.
The new agreement would see the yuan added to the list of currencies used for public transactions, and the Zimbabwean government says it will encourage its use. In the first stages of the plan, Reuters reports, Chinese tourists would be allowed to use the yuan to pay for services and Zimbabwe would begin paying back its loans to China in the currency. The new switch may have other side effects, too: In recent months, some Zimbabwean economists had argued that the country should increase its use of the Chinese currency in a bid to get around U.S. sanctions.
[Zimbabwe] [Sanctions] [Africa China] [Currency] [Media] [Heading]
China sets out its FOCAC focus in Africa
18 December 2015
Author: Daniel Poon, ILO
The sixth Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held on 4–5 December 2015, set in motion a deeper pattern of exchanges with its partners that could drive economic transformation across the continent. In ‘scaling-up’ measures to ease African bottlenecks in infrastructure, skills and finance, China’s efforts are also a litmus test of its legitimacy in global leadership.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addressing delegates at the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) Summit being held in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, 04 December 2015. (Photo: AAP)
FOCAC was founded in 2000 and is held every three years. It has been a multilateral platform shaping China–Africa relations in areas including politics, economics, social issues, culture and the environment. It was initially created in the context of rapidly growing economic ties, but today it is defined by China’s economic transition and its efforts to play a greater role in global governance.
China is already a leader in investing and financing infrastructure in developing countries. The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa estimated that China financed US$13.4 billion of African infrastructure in 2013. This sum surpassed the total financing provided by European and North American countries combined, as well as that of all multilateral and regional development banks.
[China Africa]
China's FTAs with S. Korea, Australia tremendous boon
Xinhua, China.org.cn, December 20, 2015
China's free trade agreements (FTAs) with South Korea and Australia officially came into force on Sunday, marking a tremendous boon for the three countries.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday that a first round of tariff cuts will take effect on Sunday, and a second on Jan. 1, 2016.
The hard-won trade arrangements will also provide an unrivalled opportunity for regional economic integration.
FTA BETWEEN REGIONAL HEAVYWEIGHTS
Seoul's free trade accord with Beijing has been widely anticipated by its major multinationals to expand presence in the world's largest consumer market and the general public to boost political, economic and people-to-people exchanges.
As China has become South Korea's largest trading partner, and the latter China's third-biggest single-country partner of trade, Beijing has seen its exports to South Korea account for over a quarter of the total from January to November this year.
[FTA]
FTAs with China, Vietnam, New Zealand go into effect
Free trade pacts between South Korea and three of its trading partners -- China, Vietnam and New Zealand -- went into effect Sunday, raising hopes they could boost trade and economic growth, the government said.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said all three free trade agreements (FTA) that were signed and ratified earlier in the year went into force. Under the terms of the agreements, the countries will all lower tariffs on goods traded as of Sunday and once again on Jan. 1.
[FTA]
DPRK band concert called over ‘Anti-American’ lyrics
By Reuters
Published: December 20, 2015
Beijing:
A North Korean all-female pop group cancelled their Beijing concert when Chinese authorities objected to anti-American lyrics in the show, a source with ties to North Korea and China said on Friday. The Moranbong Band was visiting China along with North Korea’s State Merited Chorus and was due to perform at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts on December 12.
[China NK] [Moranbong]
Troubled times ahead for Taiwan?
14 December 2015
Author: Sheryn Lee, Macquarie University
The political contest between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the January 2016 presidential and legislative elections dominated Taiwan’s 2015. Since 2008, President Ma Ying-jeou’s China-friendly policies have increasingly linked Taiwan’s economic wellbeing and socio-political concerns to the question of whether further economic integration is beneficial to Taiwan and, more broadly, the future of Taiwan as an independent sovereign state.
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou (C, back) speaks during a presidential news conference at the presidential office in Taipei, Taiwan, 05 November 2015. (Photo: AAP)Despite a major political realignment in 2014 — which saw the KMT suffer its worse electoral results in the ‘nine-in-one local elections’, and mass demonstrations rejecting closer ties to China — the KMT did little to adjust. In 2015, a majority of Taiwanese people continued to reject policies that were viewed as coercing Taiwan’s political and national identity to suit the Chinese Communist Party.
[Straits]
N.Korean Band Canceled Concert 'Over Snub from Xi'
Members of the North Korean girl band Moranbong canceled a series of concerts in Beijing just hours before they were due on stage because Chinese President Xi Jinping decided not to attend, a senior government official here claimed Thursday.
The official said Xi and other top Chinese government officials had been scheduled to attend the first overseas concert by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's favorite band.
The concert was to be part of efforts to mend frayed relations.
During a performance by North Korean band Moranbong in Pyongyang on Oct. 10, footage is projected on the background of a missile launch (left) and missiles being transported (right), in these screen grabs from North Korean Central TV During a performance by North Korean band Moranbong in Pyongyang on Oct. 10, footage is projected on the background of a missile launch (left) and missiles being transported (right), in these screen grabs from North Korean Central TV
Chinese officials watched a rehearsal before Xi attends the concert and asked the North Koreans to omit footage projected on the background of a North Korean missile being launched. But the North Koreans resisted.
The Chinese officials then warned that Xi would not attend unless the footage was scrapped, whereupon the North Koreans packed up and left.
North Korean state media have not mentioned the cancelation, though they widely publicized Moranbong's departure to Beijing on Dec. 9.
englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 18, 2015 11:29 KST
[China NK] [Moranbong] [Satellite] [Xi Jinping]
The IMF Changes its Rules to Isolate China and Russia
by Michael Hudson
December 18, 2015
The nightmare scenario of U.S. geopolitical strategists seems to be coming true: foreign economic independence from U.S. control. Instead of privatizing and neoliberalizing the world under U.S.-centered financial planning and ownership, the Russian and Chinese governments are investing in neighboring economies on terms that cement Eurasian economic integration on the basis of Russian oil and tax exports and Chinese financing. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) threatens to replace the IMF and World Bank programs that favor U.S. suppliers, banks and bondholders (with the United States holding unique veto power).
Russia’s 2013 loan to Ukraine, made at the request of Ukraine’s elected pro-Russian government, demonstrated the benefits of mutual trade and investment relations between the two countries. As Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov points out, Ukraine’s “international reserves were barely enough to cover three months’ imports, and no other creditor was prepared to lend on terms acceptable to Kiev. Yet Russia provided $3 billion of much-needed funding at a 5 per cent interest rate, when Ukraine’s bonds were yielding nearly 12 per cent.”[1]
What especially annoys U.S. financial strategists is that this loan by Russia’s sovereign debt fund was protected by IMF lending practice, which at that time ensured collectability by withholding new credit from countries in default of foreign official debts (or at least, not bargaining in good faith to pay). To cap matters, the bonds are registered under London’s creditor-oriented rules and courts.
On December 3 (one week before the IMF changed its rules so as to hurt Russia), Prime Minister Putin proposed that Russia “and other Eurasian Economic Union countries should kick-off consultations with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on a possible economic partnership.”[2] Russia also is seeking to build pipelines to Europe through friendly instead of U.S.-backed countries.
Moving to denominate their trade and investment in their own currencies instead of dollars, China and Russia are creating a geopolitical system free from U.S. control. After U.S. officials threatened to derange Russia’s banking linkages by cutting it off from the SWIFT interbank clearing system, China accelerated its creation of the alternative China International Payments System (CIPS), with its own credit card system to protect Eurasian economies from the shrill threats made by U.S. unilateralists.
Russia and China are simply doing what the United States has long done: using trade and credit linkages to cement their geopolitical diplomacy. This tectonic geopolitical shift is a Copernican threat to New Cold War ideology: Instead of the world economy revolving around the United States (the Ptolemaic idea of America as “the indispensible nation”), it may revolve around Eurasia. As long as the global financial papacy remains grounded in Washington at the offices of the IMF and World Bank, such a shift in the center of gravity will be fought with all the power of the American Century (indeed, American Millennium) inquisition.
[IMF] [UNUS]
Beijing’s Pivot towards Africa
05 December, 2015
Cary Huang – South China Morning Post
China’s approach to winning friends around the world has long been characterised as cheque-book diplomacy, with big events overseas invariably accompanied by top-dollar deals.
But President Xi Jinping’s ongoing visit to Africa seems to point to a shift, with China more concerned about politics than pure economics.
In opening remarks at the China-Africa Forum, both Xi and his African counterparts described each other as trusted friends. Xi characterised Beijing’s ties with South Africa as that of “comrade and brother”, prompting many to speculate about a new type of relations between Beijing and Pretoria.
However, most analysts agree that no matter what label is used, ties between China and the continent have reached their strongest point yet.
https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/2015/12/04/china-in-africa_0512.jpg
Chinese investment in Africa
[Africa China]
Beijing No-Show by N Korean Leader’s Hand-Picked Pop Band Points to Diplomatic Rift with China: Analysts
14 December, 2015
Zhuang Pinghui – South China Morning Post
The abrupt cancellation of several concerts in Beijing by North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un’s favourite pop band suggested big differences between the two countries over nuclear weapons and political protocol, analysts said yesterday.
Even though officials said the two nations would continue exchanges, the cancellation showed ties were deteriorating, the observers said.
[Moranbong]
How Beijing missed out on a K-Pop cultural event
By George Koo on December 16, 2015
Arguably nobody knows more about the unpredictability in dealing with North Korea than China. Even so, Beijing was caught by surprise by the latest flap.
Moranbong, the 21 all girl band organized and each member personally selected by dear leader Kim Jong-un and named after the peony peak in the Hermit Kingdom, was to perform in Beijing for three successive days as part of a high-profile culture exchange.
On Saturday, Dec. 12, early in the afternoon of the first day of the band’s scheduled engagement, the band members abruptly left their hotel and went to Beijing’s Capitol Airport where they boarded a North Korean passenger liner and went home. They left in such haste that not all their personal luggage went with them. Needless to say, the performances were cancelled.
There were no public announcements or explanations from the North Koreans or from the officials in Beijing. Instead, the public was left with an assortment of rumors and speculations.
One of the allegations was that Kim objected to the intense interest the local Chinese media paid to Hyon Song Wol, the leader of the band said to have had an extramarital affair with Kim. Such attention was regarded insulting to the dignity of Kim. An older rumor, clearly untrue, was that the dear leader had her executed after he came to power.
[China NK] [Moranbong]
Taiwan welcomes notification of US arms sales
Publication Date: December 17, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
Taiwan welcomes notification of US arms sales
Perry-class frigates included in a US$1.83 billion arms sale package announced Dec. 16 by the U.S. government are set to strengthen Taiwan’s defensive capabilities. (CNA)
Washington’s commitment to providing Taipei with defensive weapons in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and improving bilateral ties was welcomed Dec. 16 by the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The US$1.83 billion package, notified earlier the same day by the U.S. government to Congress, comprises two Perry-class frigates, AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles, stinger missiles, and anti-aircraft and anti-ship systems.
It is the fourth such deal between the two sides since President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May 2008, taking the total to more than US$20 billion—the highest following the signing into law of the TRA in 1979.
[Arms sales] [China confrontation][Taiwan] [Straits]
Understanding PLA reforms
by Loro Horta
Loro Horta (lorohorta@yahoo.com) is a senior diplomat based in Beijing. He is also a graduate of the Peoples Liberation Army National Defence University senior officers course, the US Naval Post Graduate School and the American National Defense University. The views expressed here are strictly his own. The online version is available here.
During the massive military parade held Sept. 3 to mark the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Japan in World War II, Xi announced that major military reforms would soon be carried out, including the reduction of 300,000 personnel. In the following months reforms were announced, including consolidation of the current seven military regions into four strategic zones, which suggests that the PLA will abandon its Soviet structure in favor of one similar to that of the US. Last year, major reforms were announced concerning military discipline and China’s military industries. Chinese state media has been replete with articles reporting resistance from the military to the reforms. The fact that state-controlled media has reported this dissatisfaction suggests significant resistance from the PLA. Why is Xi so determined to carry out these reforms?
Articles on the growing capabilities and expansion of the Peoples Liberation Army could fill a library. Balanced and objective analyses of the military, especially its human dimension, are far less common. Ideology, cultural bias, and institutional interests often preclude objective analysis of China’s capabilities. While the PLA has achieved significant technological advances in areas like missiles, space, cyberwarfare, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), its military industrial complex remains rather primitive when compared to that of the US or even Japan.
The failure of Chinese military industries to produce advanced weapons is demonstrated by its recent acquisitions of Russian weapons. This year China purchased 35 SU-35 fighter jets from Russia, a testimony to the limits of its own aviation sector. China’s much-publicized stealth aircraft, the J-31, is reported to have serious deficiencies. A video from a 2014 airshow showed thick black smoke coming from the plane’s exhaust nozzles. Many observers, including some Chinese, doubt the efficiency of the J-31’s anti-radar coating. China has also been lobbying hard to buy Lada-class submarines from a reluctant Russia. Not surprisingly, changes to military industries and a rationalization of investment in R&D are top priorities of the current round of reforms.
[Military balance] [PLA]
China falls off the map in GOP debate
By Emily Rauhala December 16 ?
Businesswoman Carly Fiorina speaks with the media following the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/AFP/Getty Images)
China may be a rising superpower, but in the fifth Republican presidential debate, it played a bit part.
The last time the candidates gathered, Chris Christie said he would fly Air Force One over the South China Sea and promised cyberwarfare "like they have never seen before."
This time around, the tone was less bombastic. The first two hours of the broadcast featured two utterances of the word "China" but only as asides. As the evening waned, the country came up in answers to questions about — what else? — North Korea.
Carly Fiorina, Christie and Jeb Bush all alluded, in different ways, to the threat they see in China's rise. The theme was "show 'em we mean business. " New policy prescriptions were few and far between, and the main focus was elsewhere.
[US_Election16] [US NK policy] [Threat] [NKforChina] [China hope]
Xi expects better China-Russia relations in 2016
Xinhua, December 16, 2015
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday said that he hoped China-Russia ties would make further progress in the coming year to bring more benefit to the two peoples.
.Xi made the remarks during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Wuzhen in east China's Zhejiang Province.
Hailing achievements of bilateral cooperation in 2015, Xi said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to adhere to the policies on deepening China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, no matter how global and regional situation change.
[China Russia]
Cheap Chinese Smartphones Invade Korea
Korea's established smartphone makers are bracing themselves for an invasion of cheaper Chinese products that have much the same specs.
Huawei is now selling the Y6 smartphone in Korea via LG Uplus for a mere W154,000, less even than LG's mid-priced Gentle, which costs W220,000 (US$1=W1,183). And next year, Xiaomi plans to start selling smartphones in Korea for between W100,000 and W200,000.
That is in some ways alarming news for Samsung and LG, which have so far dominated the market here with their premium products.
[China competition] [Mobiles]
N.Korean Girl Band Abruptly Cancels Beijing Concert
The all-girl North Korean pop band Moranbong abruptly canceled a concert series in Beijing just three hours in advance on Saturday.
The concert, which was to be the first overseas performance for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's favorite band, was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Members of North Korean pop band Moranbong leave their hotel in central Beijing, China on Saturday. /Reuters-Yonhap Members of North Korean pop band Moranbong leave their hotel in central Beijing, China on Saturday. /Reuters-Yonhap
But instead of delighting some 2,000 spectators at one of Asia's biggest theaters with their blend of sugary pop tunes of choreographed instrumentals, members of the band boarded an Air Koryo flight back to Pyongyang at around 4 p.m. that day.
North Korea's national choir, which had gone to Beijing to perform with them, hurriedly packed their bags mid-rehearsal and got on a train heading to Pyongyang at 8 p.m. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency only reported that their appearance was canceled due to "problems in communication."
North Koreans have a long history of storming out in a huff for any number of reasons, but nothing further is known.
The band was sent to China by North Korea's propaganda chief Kim Ki-nam, and Chinese state media gave it ample and respectful coverage
But diplomatic sources in Beijing point out that the Chinese government replaced the politburo member who was to have looked after the band with a lower-ranking official after Kim made global headlines by claiming his country has a hydrogen bomb. They say that may have triggered the North Korean regime's finely honed sense for any perceived slight.
China-Taiwan alliance threatens Korean chipmakers
By Choi Sung-jin
Tsinghua Unigroup, China's de facto state-run company leading the country's semiconductor rise, has signed large-scale merger and acquisition contracts with Taiwanese businesses, stepping up what analysts call "nationalist-communist" collaboration in the chip industry
[China competition]
What happened to NK-China ties?
* Concert by NK girl band in Beijng cancelled abruptly
By Rachel Lee
Speculation is mounting about possible tensions between North Korea and China after a North Korean band on Saturday abruptly cancelled three scheduled concerts in Beijing.
The all-girl Moranbong Band, formed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2012, planned to perform in the Chinese capital starting on Saturday, but returned to Pyongyang hours before the show was scheduled to begin. The tour would have been the group's first international concert.
The sudden departure of the band prompted speculation about relations between North Korea and China, which have been rocky at times since Kim took control in 2011.
It is not clear why the shows were cancelled.
[China NK]
Why N.Korean Girl Band Canceled Beijing Gig
The all-girl North Korean pop band Moranbong abruptly canceled a concert series in Beijing on Saturday because Beijing objected that their program was chock-full of paeans to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, intelligence officials here believe.
China was going to send a politburo member to the concert but decided on a lower-ranking official when it took a closer look at the repertoire, Saenuri lawmaker Joo Ho-young quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying.
"The NIS viewed this perceived slight as the primary reason for the abrupt cancelation," Joo added.
Hyon Song-wol, who leads the North Korean pop band Moranbong, enters a hotel in Beijing on Friday. /Yonhap Hyon Song-wol, who leads the North Korean pop band Moranbong, enters a hotel in Beijing on Friday. /Yonhap
Radio Free Asia quoted a source in Beijing as saying that Hyon Song-wol, who apparently leads the pop band and is said to have been Kim's ex-girlfriend, ordered the band to pack up and leave when Chinese officials requested a change to the repertoire.
The source said Chinese officials asked for a number of songs be taken out after they attended a rehearsal on Friday. They apparently explained that art and blatant propaganda do not mix.
Hyon demurred, claiming that Kim personally watched and selected the songs to be included and nothing could be omitted. North Korean Ambassador to China Ji Jae-ryong protested as well, which did not improve the atmosphere during rehearsal.
The source said Kim was briefed about the situation and seems to have told Hyon and other members "that he trusted them to make the right decision."
But Chinese officials insisted. Amid the deadlock Hyon suddenly took umbrage with remarks from a staffer at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and ordered the band to pack up and leave.
The staffer, one of the lighting crew, reportedly pointed out that Kim is being referred to the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses, and suggested North Korea should learn from China if it wants to prosper.
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the abrupt departure. The Xinhua news agency "already reported on the matter and I have no more information to offer," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.
Xinhua merely reported that the cancelation was due to "communication problems," and Chinese media did not report further.
Comments about Moranbong on Chinese websites were deleted, suggesting a deliberate blackout.
The Communist Party of China's International Liaison Department, which invited Moranbong, deleted photos on its website of its director, Song Tao, shaking hands with North Korean Workers Party secretary Choe Hui, who accompanied the performers and abridged related text.
Song had reportedly tried everything to convince Moranbong to stay, but to no avail.
[Moranbang] [China NK]
Chinese media leverages "false dilemma" fallacy against U.S. allies
Posted on Friday, December 11, 2015 by R & B
By: Alison Bartel
As the United States and Republic of Korea (ROK; or South Korea) deepened their alliances during President Park’s visit to Washington in late October, both through reaffirmation of strength of the alliance and through continued security cooperation, media sources in the People’s Republic of China (PRC; hereafter, China)were planting doubt about the longevity of the U.S.-ROK relationship. Similarly, during General Secretary Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the United Kingdom (UK), Chinese media portrayed the UK as caught between two allies, one on the rise and one in decline. One article at a time, through Party-run media outlets, the Chinese Communist Party is eliminating middle-ground solutions for complex diplomatic relations for U.S. allies.
Propagating a zero-sum fallacy, also referred to as a “false dilemma fallacy” is a choice Chinese media warfare tactic. Chinese media, referencing guidelines from the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CCPPD), regularly constructs current international events as scenarios with two choices, rather than a range of policy options. This institutionalized persuasion method is aimed at driving a wedge between the U.S. and its key allies by using zero-sum rhetoric, creating the illusion that allies must choose between the U.S. and China. Domestically and internationally, Chinese state-run media achieves this goal by using “foreign experts,” some of whom are influenced by or have significant interests in the Party, and some of whom are unaware they are being quoted or whose quotes are taken out of context. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese publicity apparatus also overemphasizes points of view that support the Party narrative.
[Dilemma] [Allegiance] [Propaganda] [Shill]
Concert cancellation triggers rumors about NK-China ties
By Rachel Lee
Speculation is mounting about possible tensions between North Korea and China after a North Korean band on Saturday abruptly cancelled three scheduled concerts in Beijing.
The all-girl Moranbong Band, formed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2012, planned to perform in the Chinese capital starting on Saturday, but returned to Pyongyang hours before the show was scheduled to begin. The tour would have been the group's first international concert.
The sudden departure of the band prompted speculation about relations between North Korea and China, which have been rocky at times since Kim took control in 2011.
It is not clear why the shows were cancelled.
China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the concert was cancelled due to "communication problems at the working level," but did not elaborate further on the details.
[China NK]
Efforts urged for peace, stability on Korean Peninsula
Xinhua, December 11, 2015
China on Thursday urged all sides concerned to make constructive efforts for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and for early resumption of the six-party talks.
China has always advocated sticking to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, sticking to maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and sticking to solve issues through dialogue and consultations, said Hua.
"We hope all sides concerned can make constructive efforts for maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the early resumption of the six-party talks," she said.
[Six Party Talks]
N.Korea Sends Performers to China
The all-girl North Korean pop group Moranbong arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a six-day tour.
Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun, who had disappeared from the radar for almost two months, reappeared to welcome the band, which lent the event some unexpected luster.
Members of the band were dressed in olive green military uniforms and wore full make up. When asked by reporters how much they rehearsed, they did not display the usual terror of interviews. "You'll see," they said. "Please come and watch our performances."
The band will perform at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, one of the biggest theaters in Asia, from Saturday to Monday in front of around 2,000 people. It will be the band's first overseas concert.
The band, known for wearing mini skirts, high heels and off-the-shoulder tops and playing various electrified instruments, was formed in 2012 and is apparently North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's favorite band. The band put on no fewer than 19 concerts for him over the last three years.
The band enjoyed a brief moment in the international limelight by dressing up as Disney characters in one performance.
Many members of the band were trained in singing at the Kumsong School in Pyongyang where Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju honed her skills. Their dresses and hairstyles are often copied by young North Korean women.
Another turn-up for the books is that Hyon Song-wol, a musician once rumored to have been brutally executed for being Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend, is leading the band in Beijing.
[Canard] [China NK] [Softpower]
North Korea sends female pop group to Beijing
North Korea's female Moranbong pop band arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a three-day tour, Yonhap reports.
The 10-member band, selected by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was reported the day before as leaving Pyongyang. Members will perform at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing from Dec. 12-14.
The visit reflects the latest in an apparent warming of ties between China and North Korea, which have been strained since North Korea's third nuclear test in early 2013.
The band, formed in 2012, is known for wearing short skirts and playing electronic violins.
China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday that the visit would help deepen the countries' friendship.
"North Korea is our close neighbor, and we will continue to develop our bilateral ties," Hua said. "We believe such friendly, cooperative relationships will contribute to our relationship and peace in the region.
[China NK] [Softpower]
Could American Spooks Provoke War with Beijing?
U.S. intelligence agencies are turning spy missions into provocations in the South China Sea.
• By James Bamford
• December 8, 2015
In May, the U.S. Defense Department invited a CNN team onto the Navy’s newest, most sophisticated spy plane, the P-8A Poseidon. After taking off from Clark Air Base in the Philippines, pilots flew the aircraft near three islands in the South China Sea, where Chinese reclamation and military building projects are taking place. The operation, however, wasn’t just intended to collect intelligence. It appears it was also meant to provoke a hostile reaction from China and, thanks to the news cameras on board, use that response for propaganda — to blatantly tell the world that America thinks China’s territorial claims are illegal and dangerous.
The Chinese sent eight strong warnings to the plane. “This is the Chinese navy,” said one radio operator. “Please go away … to avoid misunderstanding.” Later, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called the flight “very irresponsible and dangerous” and noted that Beijing would “take the necessary and appropriate measures to prevent harm to the safety of China’s islands and reefs as well as any sea and air accidents.”
[China confrontation] [Conflict] [MISCOM]
Mobs raid on security checkpoint in Inner Mongolia
CRI, December 7, 2015
Over 100 people with masks broke into the Malianjing security checkpoint in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 3:30 pm on Sunday, injuring 13 police staff and destroying 11 police wagons, as Chinanews.com reported on Sunday. The security checkpoint was completely demolished.
A local security checkpoint, in Ejina Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is completely destroyed during an attack by over 100 masked people on Dec. 6, 2015. [Photo: qq.com]
A local security checkpoint, in Ejina Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is completely destroyed during an attack by over 100 masked people on Dec. 6, 2015. [Photo: qq.com]
Chen Tiejun, Deputy Chief of Ejina Banner of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said that those masked people, with sticks and stones in their hands, cut off the power supply and destroyed the monitoring facilities after they broke into the checkpoint. The gang also sprayed peppered water on police staff in the checkpoint, in addition to intimidating and beating them.
Chen said the mobs abducted some staff and left them on the Gobi Desert with their hands tied up in below freezing temperatures. Following that, the gangsters returned to the security checkpoint, grabbing phones, cloths and money. As soon as they left the checkpoint, they cut off the communication network and drove two trucks to destroy all the facilities and law enforcement vehicles in the station and nearby police quarters, totaling 5,400 square meters in area.
Secretary of Ejin Banner Meng He, along with all the local leaders of related departments, arrived at the scene immediately and dealt with the emergency.
The police have started to investigate the case and to hunt down the criminals.
[Separatism]
What is Behind IMF’s Decision on Yuan?
Valentin Katasonov | 06.12.2015
In recent years, China’s legal tender, known as the yuan, has begun to compete on the global stage with the leading reserve currencies.
According to one definition, the currencies that make up what is called the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket have the status of official reserve assets. The SDR is a non-cash form of supranational currency that has been issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since early 1970.
To date, IMF member countries hold the equivalent of $280 billion of SDR reserves. But that is only a very small percentage of the member countries’ international reserves. The value of SDR assets is based on a basket of several currencies. There are currently four currencies in the SDR basket: the US dollar; euro; British pound sterling; and Japanese yen. These are reserve currencies in a narrow sense. Being granted this status boosts a currency’s prestige and generates additional demand for it in global financial markets.
China proposed that the yuan be included five years ago when the IMF was reviewing the composition of the SDR basket, but that request was firmly rejected. During the ensuing five years, China doggedly prepared a new bid to make the yuan an official reserve currency. Beijing’s efforts were two-pronged. On one hand, China continued its global expansion in trade and finance, increasing its economic potential and stepping up its number of yuan transactions on international markets. And on the other hand, Beijing also made some adjustments to its national monetary and financial policy. Those adjustments essentially made the yuan a more convertible currency, in accordance with the IMF’s requirements and minimized the influence of the state on the exchange rate of yuan (also an IMF requirement).
.
[RMB] [Reserve] [IMF] [UNUS]
Boosting China’s consumption
7 December 2015
Author: Peter Drysdale, East Asia Forum
China’s slowing growth trajectory is being accompanied by a huge change in the structure of the economy. It is a change that had been called for internationally since before the global financial crisis but one that the markets and the commentators still find difficult to read because they’re focused on a rear vision view of the investment and export-driven economy of the past.
A couple works in a small clothes factory in Tudi Village, which is known as 'Taobao Village' due to its fast developing rural electronic commerce, in Pixian County in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan province on 7 November 2015. (Photo: AAP)
There’s nothing very normal about the so called ‘new normal’ of Chinese growth. Growth has tanked from 10 to 7 per cent and is now heading towards 6 per cent. Because bureaucrats and business got the future wrong, the heavy industrial sector is plagued by over-capacity and demands wholesale renovation. Steelmaking is no longer the future of Chinese growth. The driver of economic growth is consumption. The fastest growth in household consumption is coming from the demand for services not for goods. This is what a top Chinese official described recently as the post-industrial society. Not the case quite yet perhaps, reading from the air quality in Beijing this week, but that’s the direction things are headed.
[Domestic Demand]
Xi raises 5-point proposal on boosting China-Africa cooperation
Xinhua, December 5, 2015
Chinese President Xi Jinping joined leaders from across Africa at a business conference on Friday and put forth a five-pronged proposal on further deepening win-win cooperation between the world's second-largest economy and the fast developing continent.
In the high-level dialogue with Chinese and African business dignitaries, which also concluded the fifth China-Africa enterprises conference, Xi told the hundreds of participants that China sincerely hopes to share its industrialization experiences with African countries and help the continent advance its own industrialization with financial, technological and talent support.
To that end, Xi suggested that China and African countries stick to equality-based and win-win cooperation, strike a right balance between principles and profits, and jointly build a community of shared future.
[Africa China] [ODI]
Letter from Mao Zedong to UK politician to go for auction
chinadaily.com.cn, December 2, 2015
The file photo shows a fragment of a letter from China's Mao Zedong to former Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee in 1937.
A letter written by China's Mao Zedong asking a leading British politician for help in fighting Japanese invaders in 1937 is to be auctioned later this month in London, where it is expected to fetch more than 100,000 pounds.
The letter, typed in English and signed by both Mao and Zhu De, one of the founding generals of the People's Liberation Army, was dated 1 November 1937 from Yan'an, a remote part of northwest China where Mao's forces had set up their headquarters in the fight against the Japanese invaders.
It is addressed to Major Clement Attlee, then leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, and appeals for help in fighting the Japanese.
"We would ask you especially to lend the support of your party to any measures of practical assistance to China that may be organized in Great Britain.
"We believe that the British people, when they know the truth about Japanese aggression in China, will rise in support of the Chinese people, will organize practical assistance on their behalf, and will compel their own government to adopt a policy of active resistance to a danger that ultimately threatens them no less than ourselves," the letter said.
[UK] [China]
National Assembly ratifies S. Korea-China free trade agreement
Posted on : Dec.1,2015 16:59 KST
In front of the National Assembly, members of the Korean Peasants League hold placards calling on parliament to reject the FTA, Nov. 30. (by Kim Kyung-ho, staff photographer)
With ratification, there are concerns for domestic manufacturers due to expected increase in cheap Chinese imports
On Nov. 30, the South Korea-China free trade agreement was ratified by South Korea’s National Assembly.
“Eliminating tariffs will help South Korean companies secure price competitiveness over companies from other countries in the Chinese market and will help South Korea maintain its number one rank in market share in imports to China. We are planning to take the necessary measures with all possible speed to enable the agreement to take effect within the year,” the South Korean government said.
But small-scale merchants and manufacturers, along with the farming, fishing, and forestry sectors, are voicing their concern about the harm that could be caused by more imports of low-priced Chinese products.
[FTA] [China competition]
The RMB Joins the SDR: Historic Inch-stone in Global Financial System
By Scott Kennedy
Nov 30, 2015
Earlier today the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board voted to approve the inclusion of the renminbi (RMB) in their Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of currencies. The decision will take effect on October 1, 2016. The RMB’s inclusion is part of the IMF’s standard review of the basket’s composition, which occurs every five years. The move was widely anticipated, particularly since IMF managing director Christine Lagarde on November 13 endorsed an IMF staff report that made this recommendation.
[RMB] [China rising] [Reserve]
The IMF's decision on the yuan is a victory for China -- and a challenge
IMF adds Chinese yuan to list of reserve currencies
The U.S. Treasury Department said it supported the recommendation by International Monetary Fund staff that China's currency be included in a basket of the world's leading currencies.
(Wu Hong / European Pressphoto Agency)
By Don Lee and Jonathan Kaiman
November 30, 2015, 7:50 PM |Reporting from Washington and Beijing
The International Monetary Fund’s decision to add the Chinese yuan to its basket of elite global currencies gives China a significant boost -- as well as increased pressures -- as it seeks to expand its international influence and rival the global economic order long dominated by the American dollar.
No one expects the Chinese currency to seriously challenge the dollar’s international preeminence for years to come; little will change in practical terms any time soon as a result of the IMF decision announced Monday. But by including the yuan in the basket of currencies that make up its so-called Special Drawing Rights – now composed of the dollar, euro, pound and yen – the IMF essentially endorsed the yuan as a currency that is stable enough and widely enough accepted to be a haven for assets. The IMF, the international lender of last resort, in fact gave the yuan greater weight than the yen or the pound.
That is powerful symbolism and represents a major victory for China, which has eagerly sought reserve currency status for the yuan. Five years ago, China lost a bid to be added to the IMF’s reserve currency basket. China is the world’s second-largest economy after the U.S. and in recent years has sought to spread the yuan’s use by capitalizing on its extensive trading relations around the world.
[RMB] [Reserve]
Take Notice, Asia: China's Military Is Getting Leaner and More Lethal
Reforms to the People’s Liberation Army will help the Chinese military emerge as a more potent war-fighting force.
By Dingding Chen
December 01, 2015
After a long delay, China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, is finally beginning to reform itself in a big way (see here, here, and here for details). These reform measures are the most significant changes to the PLA since the 1950s and will have huge implications for China’s future international behavior and global order.
The details of the sweeping reforms are hard to list here, but the major ones include strengthening the role of the Central Military Commission, restructuring the existing seven military regions, cutting off some non-military organizations, and increasing the power of the Military Party Discipline Commission. Combined with President Xi Jinping’s promise in September to cut 300,000 troops, these reforms are indeed unprecedented.
The obvious question here is why China is reforming its military in such a drastic way. Although there are many possible explanations, one explanation is particularly simple and powerful: China’s existing military organization is not effective enough to defend its national interests in a rapidly changing world.
Some analysts in China call such reforms a shift to a U.S.-style military from an outdated Soviet model. In a narrow sense, this is exactly China’s goal. The U.S. military, despite its problems, is far more advanced and effective than any other military in the world in terms of its ability to fight and win a modern war. Although, as I have argued elsewhere, China’s PLA can also fight a modern war, its expectation of winning against the U.S. military are not great. One of main reasons is China’s slow and ineffective regional structures. China badly needs a joint operational command in order to win a modern war. These reforms address these shortcomings.
[Military balance] [China confrontation]
Taiwan, mainland China release imprisoned spies
Publication Date: December 1, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
Taiwan, mainland China release imprisoned spies
The MND said it will spare no effort to secure the release of Taiwan intelligence agents still being held in custody in mainland China. (CNA)
The recent release of two Taiwanese and one mainland Chinese intelligence agents underscores the enhanced mutual trust between Taipei and Beijing, according to the Presidential Office.
[Straits] [Espionage]
China's first home-grown maglev goes on trial
Xinhua, November 29, 2015
The first Chinese middle-low speed magnetically levitated (maglev) rail is to go on trial before the end of the year, authorities said on Saturday.
The first Chinese middle-low speed magnetically levitated (maglev) rail is to go on trial before the end of the year, authorities said on Saturday. [www.voc.com.cn]
The first Chinese middle-low speed magnetically levitated (maglev) rail is to go on trial before the end of the year. [www.voc.com.cn]
The 18.5 km track, links the south railway station with Huanghua airport in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province. The track allows maglev trains to run at a maximum speed of 100 km per hour.
The construction of low-cost maglev trains, made by Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co. Ltd. in Hunan province, began in May 2014. A total of 3.5 billion yuan (565 million U.S. dollars), or 82 percent of total investment, have been used.
The company said its maglev trains are safer, quieter, and have a smaller turning radius, making them more environmental friendly.
The world's first commercial maglev system operates on a 30-km stretch between downtown Shanghai and the city's Pudong airport. The German-made maglev went into operation on Dec. 31, 2002.
[Railways] [Maglev]
China to build first overseas military base
Xi Jinping is leading the Chinese military beyond its historical focus on protecting the nation's borders. Getty Images
by Jane Perlez and Chris Buckley
China announced Thursday that it would establish its first overseas military outpost and unveiled a sweeping plan to reorganise its military into a more agile force capable of projecting power abroad.
The outpost, in the East African nation of Djibouti, breaks with Beijing's longstanding policy against emulating the United States in building military facilities abroad.
The Foreign Ministry refrained from describing the new installation as a military base, saying it would be used to resupply Chinese navy ships that have been participating in U.N. anti-piracy missions.
Yet by establishing an outpost in the Horn of Africa -- more than 7,700 kilometres away from Beijing and near some of the world's most volatile regions -- Xi is leading the military beyond its historical focus on protecting the nation's borders.
Together with the plan for new command systems to integrate and rebalance the armed forces, the two announcements highlight the breadth of change that President Xi Jinping is pushing on the People's Liberation Army, which for decades has served primarily as a lumbering guardian of Communist Party rule.
[China Military] [Media] [Bases]
China, Russia plan bullet train joint venture
China Daily, November 27, 2015
China's first low-and middle-speed maglev train gets debugged at Lanli Station in Changsha, Hunan province, on Nov 23, 2015. [Photo/China Daily]
China and Russia are setting up a joint venture in Russia for making electromagnetic unit vehicles for the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail project, railway equipment maker CRRC Corp Ltd said on Thursday.
The vehicles will be made by Changchun Railway Vehicles Co, a CRRC subsidiary based in the capital city of Jilin province, it said.
The high-speed rail linking Moscow and Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan Republic, is located in the high altitude area, while Changchun Railway Vehicles has rich experience and advantages in making electromagnetic unit vehicles for alpine high-speed rail lines, it said.
The Chinese subsidiary's experience in making equipment suitable for extreme cold weather conditions will come in handy for the Moscow-Kazan line, said Zhu Ying, general manager of China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co.
The world's first high-speed railway operating in extremely low temperatures is the 921 kilometer line linking Harbin, the capital of China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang, and the port city of Dalian, Liaoning province, which opened in 2012. It works in temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius.
[China Russia] [HSR]
Yuan to be a freely traded, convertible currency by 2020
Shanghai Daily, November 26, 2015
The yuan will be a convertible and freely traded currency by the end of 2020, according to the head of China's central bank.
Within the same timeframe, more than a third of China's total payments will be settled in yuan, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, was quoted as saying in an article in yesterday's People's Daily outlining the nation's financial reform targets for the next five-year plan period.
"We will drive the yuan to be a convertible and freely usable currency ... and facilitate its use within neighboring countries and emerging markets, before extending to international financial centers and developed countries," he said.
Zhou's comments were made as the yuan is set to be included among the International Monetary Fund's basket of currencies, which is a key step in its move to be accepted as a global reserve currency alongside the US dollar, yen, British pound and euro.
To help achieve its goals, China will drive its Belt and Road initiative, which aims to boost China's trade and investment links with countries across Asia, Europe and Africa, while also relaxing cross-border foreign exchange regulations, Zhou said.
Meanwhile, he stressed the importance of building an effective financial security system, describing it as "essential to national security."
The currency reforms are among 17 major targets set by the central bank.
Others include boosting the role of bonds and equity markets in corporate fundraising, developing a "green" bond market for funding environment-friendly projects, creating data platforms to support Internet financing, and allowing the opening of more private banks.
[Reserve] [China rising]
Cross-strait trade in goods talks wrap up in Taipei
Publication Date: November 24, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
Cross-strait trade in goods talks wrap up in Taipei
Yang Jen-ni (third left), director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, is joined by other senior MOEA officials in recapping the results of the latest round of cross-strait trade in goods negotiations Nov. 23 in Taipei City. (CNA)
The 12th round of negotiations on the cross-strait trade in goods agreement concluded Nov. 23 in Taipei, with delegates from Taiwan and mainland China reaching consensus on several key issues.
Beginning Nov. 21, the talks were led by Yang Jen-ni, director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, with Wu Ming-ji, director-general of the MOEA Industrial Development Bureau, and their counterpart Sun Tong from mainland China’s Ministry of Commerce.
“Given the ongoing regional integration, the agreement is imperative for Taiwan’s economic growth,” Yang said at a press conference following the conclusion of the talks. “Other than leveling the playing field for all parties involved, it will promote sustainable growth for locally based businesses.”
[Straits] [Trade]
Report: technology gap narrowing between S. Korea and China
Posted on : Nov.24,2015 16:00 KST
S. Korean manufacturers’ technology level and R&D status
With fewer S. Korea companies engaging in research and development, technological edge could disappear
The technology gap between South Korean and Chinese manufacturers has been rapidly narrowing over the past few years, and Chinese companies are in hot pursuit in the field of information and communications technology (ICT), a recent survey shows.
At the same time, there has been a big drop in the percentage of South Korean manufacturers engaging in research and development, leading to concerns that the South Korea will lose its technological advantage before long.
“A survey of 708 companies between October and November of this year found that the technology gap with China has shrunk to an average of 3.3 years, down 0.4 years than 2011, when the average was 3.7 years,” said a recent report about development and technological levels in the South Korean manufacturing industry.
The report was published on Nov. 23 by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), a state-sponsored research institute affiliated with the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy.
[China competition] [Technology] [R&D]
China, Thailand joint air force exercise highlights warming ties
Bangkok | By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Jutarat Skulpichetrat
Thailand's military held an air show with China on Tuesday ahead of joint maneuvers in a sign of warming ties, but Thailand said it was not distancing itself from the United States which downgraded their military relationship following a 2014 coup.
Five Thai and Chinese military planes performed aerobatic demonstrations for assembled media, flying some 3,000 feet (900 meters) above ground at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, around 260 km (161 miles) northeast of Bangkok.
On Thursday and Friday, Chinese and Thai air forces will conduct their first joint exercises that China has said are aimed at increasing "mutual trust and friendship."
Since a May 2014 coup, Thailand's military generals have sought to counterbalance the country's ties with Washington and launched a charm offensive toward their neighbor to the north.
[China Thailand]
China’s alarming behavior
November 17
Missing from Lawrence Summers’s Nov. 9 op-ed column, “The reality of China’s rise,” was discussion of choices China must make beyond the economic realm. Its behavior has raised security alarms: its military buildup, threats of force against Taiwan, sweeping maritime claims and aggressive actions in the East and South China seas, and support for regimes hostile to the West. China’s economic growth has fueled its military objectives, and the military buildup has served its economic expansion. The “mount[ing] global threats” China now poses evoke Imperial Japan’s Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in the 1930s and 1940s.
The world has come to a darker view of China’s rise belatedly and reluctantly and only after China’s economic success revealed a latent and aggressive anti-Western animus. The Communist Party’s worldview sees the West as its natural ideological enemy, even when democracies swallow their moral antipathy to dictatorships for the sake of mutual economic gain and “strategic cooperation” on issues such as North Korea’s nuclear program.
Forty years of engagement were premised on helping China “succeed economically as a support for global prosperity and a driver of positive social and political change.” Those hopes have not been realized. Now the West must contain and confront China’s aggressive policies, which are backed by the military capabilities we unwisely helped it develop.
Joseph Bosco, Washington
The writer is a member of the U.S.-China task force at the Center for the National Interest.
[China confrontation] [Hawk]
The current state of China-North Korea relations
Konstantin Asmolov
Discussions on “How soon will China surrender North Korea” are the topic of the day of South Korean or American political analysts, expecting that sooner or later Beijing will get bored of the Pyongyang’s provocative behaviour (“pragmatism will take over ideology”) and China will give “the green light” to the a regime change in Pyongyang, with the South subsequently taking over the North.
In this context, every critical statement against North Korea, voiced by a Chinese scientist on any international conference or in the media, spreads online as a proof of this thesis. Besides, it is also mentioned that Kim Jong-un did not go to Beijing, in contrast with the South Korean president, who got a very warm welcome. There are rumours that personal relations between the leaders of North Korea and China are so bad, that Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un can’t even stomach each other. It is believed that from Beijing’s point of view, Park Geun-hye is viewed as a partner with whom it is possible to cooperate, and the leader of North Korea is more likely considered to be a problem. And even if Xi Jinping does not openly state this, he definitely thinks that unification through takeover will take place sooner or later, this is exactly the wording that I have heard in a statement from one of the South Korean analysts.
However, it can be noted that events of September-October 2015 strike a significant blow to this concept.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/11/23/the-current-state-of-china-north-korea-relations/
[China NK]
New rail route proposed from Urumqi to Iran
China Daily, November 21, 2015
A proposed Silk Road high-speed railway. [Li Yi/China Daily]
China's railway authority has proposed a Silk Road high-speed railway connecting the country's northwest region to West Asia via Central Asia, a plan it said would overcome the cross-border connectivity problem of different rail standards.
He Huawu, chief engineer of China Railway Corp, put forward the proposal at a Thursday forum on "the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road" hosted by China Civil Engineering Society.
His proposed route was from China's Urumqi and Yining to Almaty in Kazakhstan, then to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, Tashkent and Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Ashgabat in Turkmenistan and finally blending into West Asia's network through Teheran, Iran.
The northeast-southwest line would be complementary to the existing railway network in central Asian nations, which mostly run southeast to northwest toward Moscow, He said. What's more important, it could get rid of the incompatibility between this region's wide-gauge track systems and China's standard-gauge system.
For years, the 1.52-meter track standard adopted in Central Asia has been a headache for logistics managers because it is not based on the 1.435 meter standard track adopted in China and most other parts of the world. Changing gauges at the border takes days for cargo and significantly cuts railway transport's competitiveness against shipping by sea.
It is unlikely now to persuade those countries to change their existing railways, He said, but the high-speed rail he envisions along the new route would connect seamlessly to China's network and other regions. That's because the worldwide standard for fast rail is the 1.435 meter variety, so a new line could be built based on it.
"The Khorgos station bordering Kazakhstan last year handled less than 17 million metric tons of cargo running at full capacity, but beyond the station, the east-west annual cargo transportation capacity is 100 million tons," He said.
The bottleneck undermined the idea of a large-capacity corridor.
"Increased container traffic and sea container traffic moved by land instead could justify the cost of building the line," he said.
According to He, container trains and passenger trains could run on the same route. The only difference would be speed. A passenger train could run at 250 to 300 kilometers per hour, while a container train could run at 120 km/h.
Other experts cautioned that an Asian railway link has been under discussion for a long time and has not materialized mainly because of various geopolitical concerns of the countries alone the route.
[Railways] [HSR] [Eurasian Landbridge]
China and rebalancing the world order:
a view from Southeast Asia
by Yang Razali Kassim
Yang Razali Kassim (isyangrazali@ntu.edu.sg) is a Senior Fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Earlier versions of this article were published in the South China Morning Post and as RSIS Commentary 249/2015.
The Xi-Ma summit in Singapore was a well-kept secret. When the historic meeting finally took place for the first time on 7 November 2015, the effect was cataclysmic. While it was an unprecedented bilateral event between two political rivals, China and Taiwan, there was a broader message: As China’s new leader, President Xi Jinping has a vision of the emerging Asian giant taking its place in the modern world, even influencing the shape of the global order. This will begin with its own backyard – the Asia-Pacific, including Southeast Asia.
[Straits]
Bruno helps Chinese wine break into EU market
By Guo Xiaohong
China.org.cn, November 19, 2015
Though China has overtaken France and Italy to become world's largest consumer of red wine, wine from China is less known or even totally unknown in the world market, despite few famous brands like Great Wall.
"China is bottom of the list in terms of wine image in the world," said Bruno Paumard, a 51-year-old French winemaker, who has been working with Chateau Hansen in Wuhai in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for five years. With his help and knowledge, Hansen, a Chinese brand that was hardly known in China, has successfully entered restaurants and family homes of the EU.
Before joining Hansen, Bruno, as his Chinese colleagues like to call him, worked in the wine business for 12 years in France and the UK, first as a sommelier and then as a red-wine auction expert. He was named one of the top four auction experts in France in 2000.
In 2010, Bruno came to visit the vineyard of Hansen, nestled in the desert in Wuhai, for his wine book writing. The vineyard was once a desert later made into an oasis by Hansen's President Han Jianping.
[Wine]
Thailand, China agree on railways
The cabinet approved a draft cooperation framework Tuesday for the Thai-Chinese railway development project.
Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the draft framework covered the construction of 1.435-metre standard-gauge railways along two routes.
They are Nong Khai-Nakhon Ratchasima-Kaeng Khoi and Bangkok-Kaeng Khoi-Map Ta Phut.
The two routes together will cover 867 kilometres and cost 350 billion baht.
Construction will be divided into four sections — Bangkok-Kaeng Khoi; Kaeng Khoi-Map Ta Phut: Keang Khoi-Nakhon Ratchasima; and Nakhon Ratchasima-Nong Khai.
Mr Sansern said Thailand and China would establish special vehicle companies to run the train system, train operation, and maintenance and repair services.
[Railways] [Thailand]
Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam and Singapore
From 5 to 8 November President of PRC, Xi Jinping, made a visit to Vietnam and Singapore – two important countries in the Southeast Asia. His trip took place against the backdrop of a rather visible reinforcement of US military presence in the subregion – the main geopolitical opponent of China.
Let’s recall that on October 27, an American warship, Lassen, entered the 12-mile zone surrounding one of China’s artificially enlarged islands in the South China Sea (SCS), which caused outcry in Beijing.
Then, only a week later, the visit of US Defence Minister, E. Carter, (accompanied by his Malaysian counterpart, H. Hussein) to the deck of the aircraft carrier, Theodore Roosevelt, that had arrived in the SCS from of the Indian Ocean caused yet more uproar. The latter, incidentally, is remarkable in itself, for it shows who and where, in fact, Washington’s main source of foreign policy strife is.
U.S. and Chinese Air Superiority Capabilities:
An Assessment of Relative Advantage, 1996–2017
by Eric Heginbotham, Michael Nixon, Forrest E. Morgan, Jacob Heim, Jeff Hagen, Sheng Li, Jeffrey Engstrom, Martin C. Libicki, Paul DeLuca, David A. Shlapak, David R. Frelinger, Burgess Laird, Kyle Brady, Lyle J. Morris
Related Topics: Air Warfare, China, Fighter Aircraft, Spratly Islands, Taiwan, United States
Key Findings
Although the United States continues to maintain unparalleled air-to-air capabilities, the modernization of Chinese air forces, combined with the inherent difficulties of operating over long distances in the Asian theater, make it increasingly challenging for the United States to gain air superiority during the first days or weeks of a possible conflict with China.
Over the past two decades, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has transformed itself from a large but antiquated force into a capable, modern military. A RAND Project AIR FORCE report assesses trends in the relative capabilities of U.S. and Chinese forces in diverse operational areas, and at varying distances from the Chinese mainland, between 1996 and 2017. The overall conclusion is that although China continues to lag behind the United States in terms of aggregate military hardware and operational skills, it has improved its capabilities relative to those of the United States in many critical areas. Moreover, the report finds that China does not need to catch up fully to the United States to challenge the U.S. ability to conduct effective military operations near the Chinese mainland. To be clear, the goal is to avoid war, which the authors do not anticipate and which would be disastrous for both countries. Rather, this research provides an open-source assessment of trends that could affect U.S. defense and deterrence efforts and establishes a baseline for future analysis.
[China confrontation] [Military balance] [Airpower]
Opinion: China’s New South-South Funds – a Global Game Changer?
By Martin Khor
Martin Khor is the executive director of the South Center, based in Geneva.
GENEVA, Nov 16 2015 (IPS) - South-South cooperation is usually seen as a poor second fiddle to North-South aid in the world of development assistance. Indeed, developing countries’ policy makers themselves insist that South-South cooperation can only supplement but not replace North-South cooperation.
However, this widespread view received a jolt recently when China announced it was setting up two new funds totalling a massive 5.1 billion dollars to assist other developing countries.
The pledges, made by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to the United States in September , have given an immediate boost to the status of South-South cooperation in general, and to the rapidly growing global role of China.
President Xi first announced that China would set up a China South-South Climate Cooperation Fund to provide 3.1 billion dollars to help developing countries tackle climate change.
Secondly, speaking at the United Nations, Xi said that China would set up another fund with initial spending of 2 billion dollars for South-South Cooperation and to aid developing countries to implement the post-2015 Development Agenda.
The sheer size of the pledges gives a big political weight to the Chinese contribution. Xi’s initiatives have the feel of a “game changer” in international relations.
[China rising] [Finance]
Manhood-Measuring FONOP in South China Sea Comes Up Short
When the US destroyer USS Lassen finally executed its Freedom of Navigation sailthrough a.k.a. “The FONOP” within 12 miles of Subi Reef on October 27, the China hawks were ecstatic.
John Garnaut exulted that the United States had bested the PRC in a “seminal test of wills”. On his Twitter feed plugging his piece he speculated that revealing the PLA Navy as a paper porpoise might encourage a rethink on Taiwan:
I wonder about the big prize, Taiwan, now the U.S. has finally called China's bluff over its fake islands
John Garnaut added, China's great wall of sand is theatrical bluster http://www.theage.com.au/comment/chinas-great-wall-of-sand-is-theatrical-bluster-20151028-gkksbt.html … by @jgarnaut
The thinking here, presumably, is that the FONOP revealed the PRC would back down in any confrontation with resolutely brandished US military force, so the DPP could and should explore those Taiwan-independence scenarios without excessive concern that the PRC is really going to try to fight its way past the US 7th Fleet.
Unfortunately, the assumption that the United States had successfully defied the PRC’s red line in the SCS is a misconception born of some magical combination of goalpost shifting, misunderstanding, and wishful thinking.
[China confrontation] [South China Sea]
China’s yuan takes leap towards joining IMF currency basket
By Asia Unhedged on November 13, 2015 in Asia Unhedged, China
(From Reuters)
China’s yuan moved closer to joining other top global currencies in the International Monetary Fund’s benchmark foreign exchange basket on Friday after Fund staff and IMF chief Christine Lagarde gave the move the thumbs up.
The recommendation paves the way for the Fund’s executive board, which has the final say, to place the yuan CNY=CFXS CNY= on a par with the U.S. dollar .DXY, Japanese yen JPY=, British pound GBP= and euro EUR= at a meeting scheduled for Nov. 30.
Joining the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket would be a victory for Beijing, which has campaigned hard for the move, and could increase demand for the yuan among reserve managers as well as marking a symbolic coming of age for the world’s second-largest economy.
[Reserve] [China rising]
What comes after the Ma–Xi meeting?
15 November 2015
Author: Peter Yuan Cai, Melbourne
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the first ever meeting between the leaders of the two countries on 7 November 2015 in Singapore.
The timing of the meeting is interesting and controversial. President Ma is an unpopular president whose term is about to end. His party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is widely predicted to lose both the next presidential and parliamentary elections. Many see Ma’s decision to meet Xi as an attempt to secure his historical legacy and provide a boost to his struggling party.
[Straits]
The Xi–Ma meeting signals a new era in China–Taiwan relations
13 November 2015
Authors: Sheryn Lee and Benjamin Schreer
The historic meeting in Singapore between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart, Ma Ying-jeou, on 7 November was the first ever between the leaders of the two countries. With the next Taiwanese presidential elections only two months away, the meeting was seen by many observers as a last-minute attempt by the Chinese government to persuade the Taiwanese electorate that the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) remains the best choice for dealing with Beijing.
But it could also be interpreted as a recognition on behalf of China’s leaders that domestic trends in Taiwan require the development of a new approach towards dealing with Taipei.
Beijing is aware that the KMT is poised to lose the presidency and control of the Legislative Yuan to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the upcoming January 2016 election, in part because of Ma’s too China-friendly policies. At the end of October, the KMT dumped its candidate, Hung Hsiu-chu, due to her unpopular election campaign for even closer ties with China.
[Straits]
Kim Jong-un Unlikely to Visit China This Year
A recent thaw in relations between North Korea and its most important patron and sole ally China has again raised the prospect of young leader Kim Jong-un visiting Beijing for the first time.
China sent Vice President Li Yuanchao to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing to on Oct. 9 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the North Korean Workers Party. The same day, Liu Yunshan of the Politburo Standing Committee and fifth-ranking apparatchik went to Pyongyang for the celebrations and met with Kim.
[China NK] [Media] [Heading]
KMT presidential candidate Chu starts US visit
Publication Date: November 10, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
KMT presidential candidate Chu starts US visit
Kuomintang Chairman Eric Chu outlines his campaign platform for next year’s ROC presidential election at an international media event Nov. 5 in Taipei City. (CNA)
The ROC’s ruling Kuomintang Chairman Eric Chu embarked Nov. 10 on a seven-day visit to the U.S., with stops planned in Los Angeles, Washington, New York and San Francisco.
During his stay, Chu is expected to exchange views with U.S. officials on such issues as bilateral ties, cross-strait policy, East Asian peace and regional economics, according to Lin Yi-hua, head of the KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee.
“The chairman will take this opportunity to strengthen the KMT’s relationship with its staunch U.S. allies, building on robust two-way interactions over the years,” Lin said. “He will also extend gratitude to local expatriate groups for their support of his presidential bid.”
[KMT] [Taiwan US]
ROC reaffirms sovereignty in South China Sea
Publication Date: November 3, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
Located 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung City, Taiping Island is the ROC’s southernmost territory and the largest of the South China Sea’s Nansha Islands. (CNA)
The South China Sea islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an inherent part of ROC territory, and the government will safeguard the nation’s sovereignty and maritime rights in the region, the Cabinet said Nov. 2.
Exercising full rights over the Dongsha (Pratas), Nansha (Spratly), Shisha (Paracel) and Zhongsha (Macclesfield Bank) islands, the government does not recognize any claim to sovereignty over or occupation of these areas by other countries or territories, irrespective of the reasons put forward or methods used for such claim or occupation, according to the Cabinet.
“Any arrangement or agreement regarding Taiping Island [Itu Aba] or other islands in the South China Sea and their surrounding waters that is reached without ROC involvement or consent shall have no legal effect on the nation, and shall not be acknowledged by the government.”
The Cabinet’s statement was made in response to a ruling concerning a Philippines-mainland China arbitration case issued Oct. 29 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Netherlands. The Philippines argues in a 2013 petition to the PCA that mainland China’s territorial claim over the South China Sea is unfounded under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Commenting on this case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines has not invited the ROC to participate in its arbitration with mainland China, and the PCA has not solicited the nation’s views on this matter. “Therefore, the arbitration does not affect the ROC in any way, and the ROC neither recognizes nor accepts related awards.”
[South China Sea] [Taiwan] [Territorial Disputes] [Philippines]
It’s the Geopolitics, Stupid: US-Led TPP Trade Pact Less about Boosting Economies than about Containing China’s Rise
06 November, 2015
Cary Huang – South China Morning Post
Trade pacts, as their name suggests, should be all about economics. So it would be easy to believe that by lowering trade barriers among the 12 nations scattered around the Pacific Rim, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was aimed at increasing trade and investment among its partners and stimulating growth.
Yet from the start, this particular trade pact has been as much about geopolitics as economics. President Barack Obama, who has pushed for the trade pact as a centrepiece of his “Pivot to Asia” policy, did not hide US motives – saying the pact was important because “we can’t let countries like China write the rules of the global economy”.
Some Chinese officials view the pact as a US conspiracy aimed at the economic containment of the mainland.
The US-led free-trade agreement, joined by Japan, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia, represents 40 per cent of global gross domestic product, 30 per cent of global exports, 25 per cent of imports and 793 million consumers.
The exclusion of China, the world’s largest merchandise trader with combined exports and imports worth US$4.3 trillion last year, speaks volumes.
“It is more than just a trade agreement and it represents a large market led by the US,” said Jianguang Shen, chief economist with Mizuho Securities Asia.
Matt Ferchen, a resident scholar at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy, in Beijing, said: “Geopolitically, and especially in terms of US versus Chinese influence in the Asia Pacific, the TPP deal is important because it is the most tangible economic element of America’s ‘pivot’ towards Asia.”
[TPP] [China confrontation]
‘Game changer for future battlefields’: Chinese military praises stealth drones that use parachutes after tests in Tibet
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 10 November, 2015, 3:05pm
Stephen Chen
Chinese researchers have completed the final field tests of a “paragliding drone” in the western province of Tibet, a milestone seen as a prelude to China soon embarking on its first robotic air cargo fleet for military operations or disaster relief.
Instead of using fixed wings or rotors like conventional drones, the newly tested drones rely on a powered parachute for lift.
China is a world leader in producing civilian drones, with Shenzhen-based start-up DJI now controlling over 70 per cent of the global market from its base in southern China.
However it’s military is still playing catch-up with other world powers in the development of cutting-edge drone technology, experts say.
[UAV] [Military balance] [Dual use]
China to take on Boeing, Airbus with homegrown C919 passenger jet
By Steven Jiang, CNN
?Updated 0800 GMT (1600 HKT) November 2, 2015 | Video Source: CNN
Story highlights
China wants to challenge Boeing and Airbus duopoly
C919 has received 517 orders, mostly from Chinese carriers, leasing firms
FAA, U.S. aviation body, hasn't certified the plane, limiting global sales
Beijing (CNN)—Amid much fanfare on live national television, China on Monday rolled its first homegrown large passenger jet off the production line in Shanghai, vowing to challenge the dominance of Airbus and Boeing in the global commercial aviation market.
At the ceremony, a shiny C919 -- sporting a largely white fuselage with a blue wavy stripe and a green tail -- was towed beneath a banner with the phrase "a dream takes off" and past a huge Chinese national flag.
The C919 -- a twin-engine, narrow-body aircraft seating up to 174 people -- is similar in size to the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 series of jets, long the workhorses for airlines around the world.
With a flying range of up to 5,555 kilometers (3,451 miles), it is designed to compete head-to-head with its Airbus and Boeing rivals, and said to easily cover popular business and leisure routes from China such as Shanghai to Singapore and Beijing to Bangkok.
Launched in 2008, the C919 project marks China's return to the business of making large passenger jetliners, after a failed attempt in the 1980s.
[Aerospace] [China confrontation]
Australian senate passes China-Australia FTA legislations
Xinhua, November 9, 2015
The Australian Senate on Monday passes legislations surrounding the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), clearing the final hurdle to enact the agreement.
The Customs Amendment (China-Australia Free Trade Agreement) Bill 2015 and the complementary Customs Tariff Amendment (China-Australia Free Trade Agreement) Bill 2015 passed the Senate after being approved by the House of Representatives on October 22, 2015.
Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb said Australian businesses are another step closer to realizing the enormous opportunities created by ChAFTA.
"The Government has worked hard to ensure this high-quality agreement with our biggest trading partner enters into force before the end of the year, and today's vote marks a significant milestone in that process," Robb said.
[Australia China FTA]
China becomes top US trade partner
Xinhua, November 9, 2015
China has replaced Canada for the first time as the United States' top trade partner in the first three quarters of this fiscal year.
The trade volume between China and the US hit 551 billion U.S. dollars, surpassing the 483 billion U.S. dollars between Canada and US.
The change is mainly attributed to the declining price of crude oil. Canada is America's largest exporter of crude.
[Trade]
China’s great railway dream: Traversing South America
Highlights
China says it will pony up $10 billion for a project
Brazil, China see benefits, but what does Peru get?
Costs may be high for Amazon, indigenous tribes
By Tim Johnson and Vinod Sreeharsha
PUCALLPA, Peru —
A century and a half ago, thousands of impoverished Chinese migrants arrived in the United States to toil in perilous conditions on America’s first transcontinental railroad.
Today, China is once again playing a critical role in the proposed creation of a transcontinental railway, this time across South America, the continent’s first. But rather than provide menial labor, China is proposing to design and finance much of a state-of-the-art rail corridor.
In visits to Brazil and Peru earlier this year, Premier Li Keqiang said China would allot $10 billion for feasibility studies and eventual construction of the railway, which would run from Brazil’s Açú Port northeast of Rio de Janeiro on the Atlantic Ocean to an undecided port on Peru’s Pacific coast. It would penetrate part of the Amazon jungle and push over the Andes Mountains.
If built, the railway would reshape the movement of people and goods in South America in a way reminiscent of history in North America, speeding Brazilian exports to China, avoiding transport through the Panama Canal and running a shorter route than crossing the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
[Railways] [China bashing]
US and China jockeying for allies in South China Sea
Posted on : Nov.6,2015 16:46 KST
Both sides making shows of strength and diplomacy to bolster image of control over the region
The US and China’s military strategies in Northeast Asia
The struggle between the US and China over the South China Sea is gradually becoming nastier and more complicated. The two sides continue to make shows of force as they compete to find allies to expand their power bases.
On Nov. 5, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that is sailing through the South China Sea, in a show of force that emphasizes the US‘s naval supremacy in the region.
This came one day after the 3rd ASEAN Defense Ministers Plus (ADMM-Plus) meeting, held in Malaysia, failed to reach a joint agreement because of the dispute between the US and China over the South China Sea.
[China confrontation] [Falso balance]
China, Taiwan leaders pledge peaceful ties at historic encounter
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, left, shake hands at the start of their historic meeting in Singapore. (Wong Maye-E/AP)
By Simon Denyer November 7 at 10:14 AM ?
BEIJING — The leaders of China and Taiwan held their first meeting since the end of a civil war that split the Chinese nation more than 60 years ago, pledging to build closer ties and work to resolve their differences peacefully.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart, Ma Ying-jeou, came together on neutral ground in Singapore, walking toward each other in a packed hotel ballroom in front of a plain yellow backdrop flanked by palm trees.
The two men smiled as they shook hands firmly for more than a minute, twisting to each side to pose for photographs, before waving to the cameras. Each wore ties to represent his party’s respective colors: Xi’s red for the Communist Party, Ma’s blue for his Nationalists.
[Straits]
US Ramps Up Pressure on Beijing over South China Sea
By Peter Symonds
Global Research, November 04, 2015
World Socialist Web Site
Image: On October 27, the USS Lassen (above) navigated within 12 nautical miles of territory claimed by China.
Following its provocative naval intervention last week against Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, the Obama administration is engaged in an aggressive diplomatic offensive throughout Asia, seeking to ramp up the pressure on China over the explosive issue.
Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, deliberately inflamed tensions yesterday during his trip to Beijing. He emphatically declared that the US military would “continue to fly, sail and operate whenever and wherever international law allows. The South China Sea is not—and will not—be an exception.”
For months Harris pressed for President Obama to give the green light for “freedom of navigation” operations within the 12-nautical mile territorial limit surrounding Chinese-controlled reefs. In March, the admiral implied that China’s land reclamation activities in the region posed a threat, describing it as creating “a great wall of sand.”
Washington’s deliberate inflaming of flashpoints in the South China Sea is not only aimed at China but cuts across the efforts of its European rivals to establish closer relations with Beijing. The visits by Carter and Admiral Harris to Asia followed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Britain where he was royally feted and sealed major economic agreements between the two countries. The Dutch king Willem-Alexander, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande each visited Beijing over the past two weeks accompanied by corporate entourages.
None of this will have gone unnoticed in the US, which reacted bitterly earlier this year when Britain signed up to China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, despite US objections. Unable to secure its world domination by economic means, the US is increasingly resorting to risky military measures to undermine its rivals or potential rivals and disrupt their relations, heightening the dangers of war.
[China confrontation] [South China Sea]
President Xi to meet Taiwan leader in Singapore
Xinhua, November 4, 2015
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou are scheduled to meet in Singapore on Saturday, a mainland Taiwan affairs official said Wednesday in Beijing.
They will exchange views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, said Zhang Zhijun, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.
[Straits]
Exports Have Grown Too Dependent on China
Korea's exports have grown overly dependent on the Chinese market. China's proportion of Korea's exports rose from 25 percent from January until September last year to 25.7 percent this year. Including Hong Kong, the figure rises to 31.3 percent.
That is more than the combined proportions of the U.S. (13.2 percent), Vietnam (5.3 percent), Japan (4.9 percent), Singapore (2.9 percent), Taiwan (2.3 percent), and India (2.2 percent).
The last time Korea was so dependent on a single country for its exports was in 1975, when Japan accounted for 25.4 percent of outbound shipments.
China's booming economy created an insatiable appetite for Korean goods amid a global economic slump, but that has created a dangerous dependency.
[Trade]
Trade Surplus with China Shrinking
Korea's trade surplus with China has been shrinking by 10 percent annually over the last two years, triggering concerns that the books will not balance much longer.
The accumulated trade surplus with China amounts to US$479.9 billion since the two countries formed formal diplomatic relations in 1992. Over the same period, the accumulated trade deficit with Japan amounts to $457.9 billion.
That suggests the times when Korea could set off one against the other are nearly at an end if the trend continues.
[Trade]
China, Taiwan presidents to hold first meeting since civil war
By Simon Denyer November 4 at 2:27 AM ?
BEIJING — The presidents of China and Taiwan will meet for the first time on Saturday since civil war split their nation in 1949, a historic and unexpected move that also comes at a sensitive time — just over two months before elections in Taiwan.
Both governments said the two leaders, Xi Jinping of China and Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan, would meet in Singapore to discuss cross-straits ties, which have improved significantly since Ma took office in 2008.
But the meeting was immediately denounced by Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as an attempt by Beijing to influence January’s presidential and parliamentary elections in favor of Ma’s Nationalist Party, known as the Kuomintang (KMT).
[Straits]
China proposes four-step initiative to help solve Syrian crisis
Xinhua, October 31, 2015
China on Friday urged the international community to take actions, set aside interest conflict and seek a common ground to create conditions for the political settlement of the Syrian crisis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L to R) attend a press conference after the meetings of Vienna talks in Vienna, Austria, Oct. 30, 2015. There is still no agreement reached over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yet, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday told reporters after the meetings in Vienna. [Photo / Xinhua]
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong proposed at the Vienna talks on Syria a four-step initiative to help politically solve the Syrian crisis.
Li said China urged all sides in Syria for an immediate cease-fire with commitment to fighting terrorism.
He suggested that Syria's warring sides, under the auspices of the United Nations, should have comprehensive, inclusive and equal dialogues to make arrangements for political transitions.
Li said that the United Nations should play the role of the main channel of mediation in the Syrian crisis.
He also proposed the start of the reconstruction process in Syria to let the warring sides see the peace dividends once the war ends.
The talks would be resumed in two weeks to push the diplomatic process forward, seeking a solution for ending years of conflict in Syria which has led to humanitarian crisis in the country and migration crisis in EU.
[Syria]
How the Rest of Asia Reacted to US Navy Patrol Near China's Man-Made Island
We know China wasn’t happy. What about everyone else?
By Jake Douglas
October 28, 2015
After months of hand-wringing, on October 27 the U.S. Navy finally began to assert its right to patrol within 12 nautical miles of at least some of China’s reclaimed features in the Spratly Islands. Observers are rightly zeroing in on Beijing’s response. Every detail of the at-sea intercept and Chinese official statements will scrutinized for clues as to how it may react to what will likely be a continuous campaign of freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) in the coming weeks or months.
But it is important to not lose sight of the rest of the region. A secondary objective of the mission is to prove Washington’s credibility as an effective (as well as responsible) security provider. American diplomats and military officials worked hard behind closed doors to garner support before playing a card many consider risky and provocative. On the other hand, the United States is also reportedly taking this opportunity to challenge what it views as excessive maritime claims by some of its own allies and partners.
The following is a breakdown of initial reactions by American treaty allies in the Asia-Pacific by order of public endorsement.
[South China Sea] [Alliance]
China abandons one-child policy, allows two kids for all couples
Xinhua, October 29, 2015
China will allow all couples to have two children, abandoning its decades-long one-child policy, the Communist Party of China (CPC) announced after a key meeting on Thursday.
The change of policy is intended to balance population development and address the challenge of an ageing population, according to a communique issued after the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held from Monday to Thursday.
The proposal must be approved by the top legislature before it is enacted.
China's family planning policy was first introduced in the late 1970s to rein in the surging population by limiting most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two children, if the first child born was a girl. The policy was later relaxed to say that any parents could have a second child if they were both only children.
The one-child policy was further loosened in November 2013 after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, with its current form stipulating that couples are allowed to have two children if one of them is an only child.
[One Child policy] [Demographics]
China enters key phase to avoid middle income trap
Xinhua, October 29, 2015
China is set to avoid the middle income trap in the next five to ten years as innovation and structural adjustment will create new fundamentals to support medium-to-high speed growth.
The middle income trap occurs when a country's growth plateaus and eventually stagnates after reaching middle income levels. China became a middle income country in 2012 after its per capita GDP exceeded 5,000 U.S. dollars, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
China's per capita GDP was 7,575 dollars last year, and is estimated to hit 10,000 dollars in 2020. World Bank statistics show that only 13 of 101 countries and regions that have entered the middle income stage in the 1960s escaped the middle income trap.
[Middle income trap]
Liu’s Significant Trip to Pyongyang
by UK Ambassador John Everard
Korea JoongAng Daily
October 21, 2015
When Liu Yunshan, the fifth-most senior member of the Communist Party of China, appeared next to Kim Jong-un on the rostrum in Pyongyang on Oct. 10, he provided us with answers to several of the uncertainties that have clouded analysis of North Korea. It was a big moment.
I have written before in this column that North Korea needed to find an international sponsor. For a while this summer it looked as if it might therefore seek a closer relationship with South Korea. But Liu’s appearance showed us that instead North Korea has, behind the scenes, been mending its fences with China. The appearance of such a senior member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese politburo, bearing a friendly letter from President Xi Jinping himself, standing – alone – next to Kim Jong-un, must have been the result of much patient and doubtless difficult negotiation between North Korea and China, that both sides managed to keep secret.
[China NK]
Water and the Chess Piece: Chinese-North Korean Relations in the Huanqiu Shibao
By Adam Cathcart | October 29, 2015
Is North Korea just a chess piece for the Chinese Communist Party? Recent editorials in the Beijing foreign affairs tabloid Huanqiu Shibao would appear to support such a point of view. In yesterday’s lead editorial denouncing the United States as a “paper tiger” in the South China Sea, North Korea was deployed by the paper as just one of a series of American foreign policy failures. When Chinese naval prestige is at stake, North Korea becomes not a problem for global stakeholders requiring Sino-US coordination, but an implement for taunting US impotence. Naturally, the English version of the same editorial excised the North Korea mention altogether, along with the “paper tiger” headline, meaning that even the Wall Street Journal managed to miss the insult, which is too bad; after all, it is not every day that Mao’s 1946 interview with Anna Louise Strong is resuscitated by the Ministry of Propaganda in Beijing.
When China’s North Korea policy writ large is the subject of editorials in Beijing, questions of translation, perception, and function still matter. One Global Times editorial from October 9 noted that CCP Politburo heavyweight Liu Yunshan’s meeting with Kim Jong-un would “draw a lot of discussions about the bilateral relationship”; English-speaking readers were thus meant to imagine that North Korea policy is hotly debated within China itself. But the original Chinese version of the same editorial told its readers that the Liu Yunshan visit reflected no internal debate whatsoever, and that the visit would be primarily important for the message it sent to the West. North Korea is simply one component (or chemical element) in the mix of China’s great-power focused foreign policy.
[China NK]
Britain’s new ‘special relationship’?
By John Hemmings
Oct 27, 2015
Chinese President Xi Jinping received the reddest of red-carpet treatments in London last week, with Xi being treated to a 21-gun salute, a royal carriage ride down the Mall, an address to both Houses of Parliament, followed by a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace and a visit to the Prime Minister’s official residence Chequers. The fact that British Prime Minister David Cameron used the full powers of the British state to welcome the Chinese leader has many wondering about the future of UK-China ties as the two proclaim a new “golden era” of bilateral relations, and agree to create a “global comprehensive strategic partnership.”
While many in London question the timing – this year Beijing mismanaged a stock market slump while simultaneously tightening control over dissidents – the Treasury attitude is simply to bulldoze the new China approach through other departments of government, including a skeptical Foreign Office. The visit and the assumptions it’s based on raise questions about Britain’s tactical understanding of China. After all, as Evan Medeiros, former senior staffer on Asia on President Obama’s National Security Staff, told the Financial Times, “if you give in to Chinese pressure, it will inevitably lead to more Chinese pressure.”
[F&E] [China confrontation]
China mulls routine navigation through Arctic to Europe
Xinhua, October 26, 2015
Shipping experts are considering routine navigation through Arctic waters to link China and Europe, a shortcut to bypass the route that passes through the Malacca Strait and Suez Canal.
In October 2015, Chinese vessel Yong Sheng finished a record-setting round trip from Europe to north China by sailing through the Arctic waters of the Northeast Passage and docking at Tianjin Port.
The cargo ship operated by China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), the country's top shipping line, is the first Chinese merchant ship to sail from Europe to China via the Northeast Passage, an icy path north of Russia and Scandinavia.
Yong Sheng sailed nearly 20,000 nautical miles (37,040 kilometers) during the 55-day voyage, according to COSCO.
Many experts expect the Arctic passage to become the next "golden waterway" for trade between China and Europe, according to a seminar held last week in the northeast China port city of Dalian.
[Logistics] [Artic]
11th Beijing-Tokyo Forum opens amid difficulties
By Chen Boyuan
China.org.cn, October 25, 2015
Zhou Mingwei, president of the China International Publishing Group, delivers a speech at the opening ceremongy of the Beijing-Tokyo Forum in Beijing on Nov. 24, 2015. [Photo by Chen Boyuan/China.org.cn]
More than 500 senior government officials, diplomats and delegates from politics, economics, academics and media are gathered Beijing at the 11th Beijing-Tokyo Forum, opening Oct. 24.
Jointly organized by China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and Japan's Genron NPO, the forum seeks to invite opinions from both countries on the topic of "Difficulties and Measures: How to develop long-term, healthy China-Japan Relations – East Asia's Future and Roles to be Played by both Countries. "
[China Japan]
From the mountains to the sea: A Chinese vision, a Pakistani corridor
China to spend billions in Pakistan to re-create ‘Silk Road’ trade route
By Tim Craig and Simon Denyer October 23 ?
CHINA’S BACK YARD | Part of an occasional series.
KHUNJERAB PASS, Pakistan — Up here on what is often referred to as the world’s highest paved border crossing, there still are not many signs that billions of dollars in investment — and goodwill — could soon flow across these peaks in the Karakorum Mountains.
At an elevation of more than 15,000 feet, yaks far outnumber cargo trucks crossing over Pakistan’s border with China. And just one border agent stands guard on the Pakistan side, when he hasn’t ducked into a steel shelter to avoid wind-whipped snow.
[China Pakistan] [Gwadar Corridor]
Britain in call for China-EU FTA study
Xinhua, October 23, 2015
China and Britain yesterday called for the swift launch of joint feasibility study on a China-EU Free Trade Agreement.
In a joint declaration issued yesterday during President Xi Jinping's state visit, Britain also said it supported the inclusion of China's currency, the yuan, into the International Monetary Fund's SDR basket subject to meeting existing criteria in the IMF's upcoming review.
The joint declaration covered a wide range of priorities in building a "global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st Century."
The new partnership was announced by Xi at a news conference on Wednesday after talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Yesterday's declaration specified the bilateral relations with pledges of joint efforts in fields ranging from yuan internationalization and China-EU free trade to cyber security and climate change.
Xi's visit to Britain, the first by a Chinese president in a decade, has been hailed as opening a "golden era" in China-UK relations. "The two sides recognize the global significance and strategic importance of stronger China-UK relations in promoting global peace, stability and prosperity," the declaration said.
[China UK] [EU] [FTA]
China, UK sign landmark deals
China Daily, October 22, 2015
Beijing and London secured deals worth about 40 billion pounds (US$62 billion) on Wednesday during President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the UK.
According to the British government, the cash generated by the new deals will help to create 3,900 jobs across the UK.
The most eye-catching is an agreement for China to partly finance a UK nuclear power plant, which British Prime Minister David Cameron hailed as "historic". It is also the first major Chinese investment in a Western nuclear facility.
Cameron said Britain had also sealed oil and gas deals with China worth more than 12 billion pounds, including with BP PLC. It also landed a 2.6 billion pound deal to make new cruise ships, according to a Reuters report.
[China UK] [ODI] [Nuclear energy]
Is This China’s Newest Tool To Thwart US Military Power?
Beijing has recently successfully completed a test flight of its largest high-altitude airship.
By Franz-Stefan Gady
October 21, 2015
China has reportedly conducted a 48 hour test flight of its largest high-altitude airship, the Yuanmeng (Dream) in near space–the atmosphere between 20 kilometers to 100 kilometers altitude–IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly reports.
The Yuanmeng, according to a Chinese media outlet, ascended to an altitude of 20 kilometers at a test area near Xilinhot in Inner Mongolia using solar power to power its three propeller engines.
Beijing’s new high-altitude aircraft is one of the largest solar-powered airships in existence to date. According to Popular Science, the Yuanmeng has a volume of 18,000 cubic meters, a length of 75 meters and a height of 22 meters. It can carry a payload of 5 to 7 tons including “broadband communications, data relay, high-definition observation, space situational awareness, and airborne imaging systems” all powered by the sun
[Airship] [China confrontation]
New cargo train service between China, Europe opens
CRI, October 21, 2015
A new international freight train from China's Linyi City to Germany's Hamburg opens on October 20, 2015. [Photo: iqilu.com]
The first intercontinental freight train in east China's Shandong Province has departed directly for Europe.
The train starts from Linyi City, and is set to make stops at the stations in China’s largest land port Manzhouli and the Russian capital of Moscow before arriving in Hamburg, Germany.
Trains are scheduled to depart from both directions every two days, and each trip will take 18 days.
Departure and destination stations would be adjusted according to changes in freight transport demand.
The trains are estimated to transport cargo of around 400-thousand tons with a trade volume of 2 billion yuan or 320 million U.S. dollars each year.
[Railways] [Eurasian landbridge]
Taiwan Airstrip in Spratly Islands Ready for Planes
15 October, 2015
Kyodo – South China Moring Post
Taiwan has renovated an airstrip and constructed a lighthouse on an island it administers in a disputed area of the South China Sea, government officials said.
A Taiwanese coastguard official said the runway overhaul on Taiping Island, which forms part of the Spratly Archipelago, was completed in September.
“Planes can now land and take off,” the official said.
Observers have speculated that the airstrip has been improved to accommodate F-16 fighter aircraft and P-3C anti-submarine surveillance planes, but Taiwan’s defence ministry spokesman Major General David Lo has said it was planned for flight safety and humanitarian tasks carried out by C-130 transport planes.
An official at the Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau, which was awarded the runway reconstruction contract, said refurbishment of the 1,195-metre-long landing strip included expanding the hangar area to accommodate two C-130 planes.
Other improvements include a new runway surface, lighting, a storm sewer line, oil tanks and oil transmission pipelines.
The runway on Taiping is the third longest on islands in the South China Sea, according to an analysis released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
[South China Sea] [Taiwan]
Britain holds royal welcome for Xi
Xinhua, October 20, 2015
A traditional ceremonial welcome held by British Queen Elizabeth II for visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping kicked off at noon Tuesday on Horse Guards Parade in central London with the presence of senior royal family members and political leaders.
The Chinese president and his wife Peng Liyuan had been greeted by Prince Charles on behalf of the Queen at their hotel and traveled with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to Horse Guards Parade for the ceremony.
Thousands of people have lined around the Buckingham Palace and surrounding routes since early morning to welcome and greet the president, who is the first Chinese head of state to visit Britain in 10 years, initiating a "golden time" for bilateral ties.
[China UK]
What if the Chinese were to ‘raise human rights’ with us?
Simon Jenkins
The British could pretend to care about China’s human rights, but it would be impolite, pointless, hypocritical and probably counter-productive
‘The itch to pass judgment on other people’s affairs is the occupational disease of British rulers.’
Tuesday 20 October 2015 10.22 BST Last modified on Tuesday 20 October 2015 15.10 BST
British ministers are to “raise human right concerns” with their Chinese guests this week. What on earth for? It is impolite, pointless, hypocritical and probably counter-productive. We are cringing supplicants for Chinese capital – as we claim to be for Saudi “intelligence”. What has this to do with human rights?
The itch to pass judgment on other people’s affairs is the occupational disease of British rulers. Sometime it drives us wretchedly to war, as in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya.
Otherwise it is merely rude, a diplomatic tic, a state of mind. If I were a Chinese guest at dinner tonight and a British minister dared to mention human rights, I would reply in kind.
[Hypocrisy]
KMT names Chu 2016 ROC presidential candidate
Publication Date: October 19, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
The ruling Kuomintang confirmed party Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu as its new 2016 ROC presidential candidate Oct. 17 in Taipei City.
At a special congress, the majority of delegates voted for Chu to replace Legislative Yuan Vice President Hung Hsiu-chu as the KMT candidate. The move was made after Hung’s slumping poll numbers and doubts over the suitability of her cross-strait policy.
In his acceptance speech, Chu promised to unify the KMT and lead it to victory in next January’s presidential and legislative elections.
“The party is on the verge of becoming or rewriting history,” Chu said. “Our goals are clear: We will defend the ROC and rebuild Taiwan by promoting cross-strait peace and prosperity for future generations.”
[Taiwan] [KMT] [Election] [Straits]
Xi Jinping conducts written interview with Reuters
Xinhua, October 19, 2015
Chinese President Xi Jinping conducted a written interview with Reuters on Sunday, in advance of his state visit to Britain. Following is the full text:
1. You will soon pay a state visit to the UK. It is learned that both the royal family and the government of the UK attach great importance to your visit and are making meticulous preparations for it. You visited the UK in the 1990s and what was your impression then? What do you expect from your coming visit to the UK after more than 20 years? What will be its impact on China-UK relations and China-EU relations? Some Britons fear China's intentions and believe that the British government is too eager to please China. How do you ensure that China-UK relationship is mutually beneficial?
A: I visited London, Oxford, Glasgow and Edinburgh in 1994. I was deeply impressed by the visit, particularly Britain's long history, unique culture, friendly people and its beautiful environment.
[Xi Jinping] [China UK]
Tony Blair: Britain to be 'best western partner' of China
Xinhua, October 18, 2015
Britain intends to become the best western partner of China and is helping build the relationship between China and the West as a whole, Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.
Speaking of Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming state visit to Britain, Blair told Xinhua in a recent interview: "I expect President Xi's visit will strengthen the relationships still further between Britain and China at the political level, at the economic level and at the people-to-people level."
"I think this is really building on what has happened over these past ten years, looking forward to the next ten, and seeing that this relationship between Britain and China is vitally important for both countries," he said.
[Blair] [China media] [China UK]
On China’s “Neighbouring Diplomacy”
Yana Leksyutina
Due to the significant strengthening of China’s all-round national strength and also in light of changes in China’s immediate surroundings, over the past few years, Beijing’s foreign policy and approaches towards its closest neighbours are subject to revision. On the one hand, Beijing, with access to a vaster array of resources to project its power and fulfil its national interests, is increasing pressure on its neighbouring countries over territorial issues in the South China and East China seas, and, on the other hand, is increasingly employing economic and public diplomacy. However, the rise of Chinese assertiveness in territorial disputes with its neighbours, which has become quite tangible since 2007-2008 has led to the aggravation of relations between Beijing and a number of its neighbouring countries in East Asia and has started to have a very negative impact on the regional situation in the largest East Asian state. The development of these unfavourable trends has resulted in Beijing being forced to make an adjustment foreign policy towards its neighbours in 2013, which resulted in China’s foreign policy doctrine gaining the concept of “neighbouring diplomacy” (a notional translation of the Chinese term “(zhoubian waijiao”) as a complex multi-level set of measures aimed at harmonising China’s relations with neighbouring countries in the new order.
The growing concern about the deterioration of the situation in China’s immediate surroundings manifested itself in October 2013 when Beijing held a central meeting on work in the field of its foreign policy activity, especially dedicated to the issues related to cooperation with its neighbouring countries. What was extraordinary about this event was that the previous central meeting on work in the field of foreign policy activity was held solely in 2006 and it concerned foreign policy activity in general and there were no specialized meetings on the policy of Beijing’s neighbourly relations. It is also significant that of the 22 countries that Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang paid an official visit to in their first year in top government posts, 12 were China’s neighbours.
The appearance of an alarmist article by the authoritative Chinese-foreign researcher Yan Xuetong in China Daily in January 2015 is telling. It raises the question of what is more important for China: developing relations with the US or with its neighbours. Citing a number of weighty arguments, Yan Xuetong clearly asserts the priority of relations with neighbours.
[China foreign policy] [China US]
US South China Sea patrols are ill-advised and dangerous
14 October 2015
Author: Mark J. Valencia, NISCSS
A bipartisan letter from the US House of Representatives has urged the US government to verbally and physically challenge China’s purported claims to 12 nautical mile territorial seas around its artificial formations in the South China Sea. The letter also implies that China’s actions are threatening ‘freedom of navigation’.
US Navy personnel raise their national flag during a training exercise aboard the USS John S. McCain in the South China Sea near waters claimed by Beijing. (Photo: AAP).
Meanwhile, senators from both parties say the United States needs to send military vessels and aircraft within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea limit to make it clear that it does not recognise China’s claim to the islands. Senator McCain said: ‘[not doing so] is a dangerous mistake that grants de facto recognition of China’s man-made sovereignty claims’.
But these calls for the US military to try to test China’s claims are ill-advised, and even dangerous.
[South China Sea] [China confrontation]
The New Normal: Liu Yunshan in Pyongyang
By Adam Cathcart | October 18, 2015
Kim Jong-un is joined by senior Chinese official Liu Yunshan (Kim's right) and Choe Ryong-hae, who has emerged as North Korea's key PRC-DPRK relations point man. | Image: CCTV/YouTube
>Kim Jong-un acknowledges the crowd from the podium in Kim Il-sung Square on the evening of October 10. Kim was joined onstage by senior Chinese official Liu Yunshan (on Kim’s right) and Choe Ryong-hae, who has emerged since the spring of 2013 as the North Korean leadership’s point man on relations with China and appeared to cement his authority in the role during Liu’s visit. | Image: CCTV/YouTube
October 10, the 70th anniversary of the Chosun Workers’ Party, was by far the most important event on the 2015 North Korean political calendar. The arrival of Liu Yunshan in Pyongyang for that event has generally been interpreted as a manifestation of China’s desire to mend some fences with its old ally, and North Korea’s reciprocity of that urge. Carrying a hand-written and comparatively effusive letter from Xi Jinping in his briefcase, Liu did everything his North Korean colleagues could have asked of him, up to and including bilateral hi-fives with Kim Jong-un above Kim Il-sung Square at the end of the Korean Peoples Army parade on October 10.
With relations around the Northeast Asian region in flux and trouble in the South China Sea, North Korea again seems to be a useful diplomatic lever, one that Xi Jinping and his foreign affairs apparatus may have decided once again to covet.
Naturally, there is just cause for circumspection; a look back at news and analysis of Choe Ryong-hae’s trip to Beijing as Kim’s personal envoy in May 2013 points to a familiar dynamic in play. Back then, Choe had been charged with running defense following North Korea’s nuclear test in February that year, such that he was never likely to accomplish much. But irrespective of the thanklessness of his task, it remains the case that relations persisted in broadly the same manner — muddling through — thereafter. Who is to say things will be different this time around? — Christopher Green, Co-editor.
The New Normal: Liu Yunshan in Pyongyang
by Adam Cathcart
If international media reporting is to be believed, there is no such thing as an inconsequential trip to Pyongyang. No matter how staged the revolutionary capital or its events may be, no matter how many hours or minutes the reporter or tourist may spend on a bus or train, cocooned out from ostensible “reality” outside, such a trip can both stir and temporarily satiate the hunger for perspectives from North Korea. Perhaps the reality for China scholars in the 1970s has become that of the North Korea specialist in the 2010s, with the minor addition of the Internet, that perpetual machine of beckoning novelty.
Recall Jon Sweeney’s portentous spring 2013 documentary voice-over about construction going on at night next door to his Pyongyang hotel, an occurrence which the then-BBC reporter seemed to think augured some combination of mystery, mass psychosis, and possible upheaval. This was his data point, and it had to be brandished: In Pyongyang, buildings are being constructed — at night! While theatrical in the extreme, Sweeney’s mode of observation as a political tourist-journalist has its reasons: Perhaps every small detail does indeed merit going over, rather like a sheet of braille writing. After all, one just might encounter irregular configuration or rip in the proverbial paper such that a “truth” might be finally revealed.
Taking such an approach toward Pyongyang could be useful when a Chinese guest is in town, seemingly pretending that nothing has changed since the 1950s. Rather than fixating on the October 10 military parade as some kind of “message” about missile development or the allegedly fanatical hold of North Korean Songun ideology, we might turn a more detailed eye on the actual documents and images concerning diplomacy.
[KWP] [China NK]
China pips Japan for Indonesian rail project
China Daily, October 17, 2015
Indonesian and Chinese officials pose for photographs at the joint venture agreement-signing ceremony for the high-speed railway line between Jakarta and Bandung in Jakarta on Friday. [Photo/Xinhua]
China has staved off stiff competition from Japan to win rights for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project in Indonesia, the National Development and Reform Commission said on Friday.
China Railway International Co Ltd and a consortium of Indonesian state-owned companies will build the $5.5-billion railway line from Jakarta to Bandung, and plan to compete for other projects in the region.
The consortium of Indonesian companies includes construction company PT Wijaya Karya, railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia, toll-road builder PT Jasa Marga, and plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII.
The 150-kilometer rail line will use world-class standards and technology and is expected to start operations in early 2019. It will cut the journey time between the two cities to less than 40 minutes, and travel at speeds ranging from 250 kilometers per hour to 300 km per hour.
[Railways] [ODI] [China rising]
US, S. Korea to coordinate with China over nuclear talks
Xinhua, October 17, 2015
U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and South Korean President Park Geun-hye attend a joint press conference after their meeting at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, Oct. 16, 2015. The United States and South Korea will strengthen coordination with China to bring the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the six-party talks at an early date, a joint statement said on Friday. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
The United States and South Korea will strengthen coordination with China to bring the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the six-party talks at an early date, a joint statement said on Friday.
"We will continue to strengthen our coordination with China and the other parties in order to bring North Korea (DPRK) ... back to credible and meaningful talks as soon as possible," said the S. Korea-U.S. joint statement released after a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
[Chinese media] [US SK alliance]
A remote corner of China wants access to the sea. The obstacle is North Korea.
By Anna Fifield October 15 at 8:39 PM ?
CHINA’S BACK YARD | This is part of an occasional series examining China’s efforts to win friends and clients in Asia and to assert a more dominant role across the continent.
Parts of Russia, China and North Korea are seen from a tower in Fangchuan, Hunchun, China, on Aug. 7, 2015. The lake area on the left is in Russia, the land in the middle is in China and the right side of Tumen River is in North Korea. (Shin Woong-jae/For The Washington Post)
FANGCHUAN, CHINA — You can almost smell the sea air from here, at the point where China, Russia and North Korea meet, where slogans pronounce “One eye, three countries” and tourists pose for photos against a green landscape in which the borders are imperceptible.
But for the Chinese, smelling the sea air is all they can do. Their border lies 10 miles inland, because of the Russian annexation of the area in 1860. That means China’s landlocked northern provinces are dependent for sea access on Russia, whose efforts to develop eastern ports haven’t amounted to much, and North Korea — which has some reliability issues, to say the least.
Now, China is hoping to triumph over decades of false starts and finally secure access to the sea, enabling it to ship goods produced here to destinations elsewhere in Asia — and farther afield — instead of sending them by train to ports to the south.
Authorities are pumping money into infrastructure projects as part of President Xi Jinping’s plan to build a new Silk Road trading route and to make this area, which incorporates the Yanbian autonomous prefecture with its large ethnic Korean population, relevant again.
South Korea wants a part of the action, too. It is eyeing the area as a kind of off-site Korean unification project, with businesses preparing for when North Korea opens up — or for when it fails, although they are careful not to talk in such a pointed way.
“There are lots of companies just perched here, just waiting for North Korea to collapse,” said one foreign resident in the area, speaking on the condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize his work.
[Tumen]
Ghostly N.Korea-China Border Trade Zone Opens
North Korea and China on Thursday opened a duty-free trade zone near their border in the Chinese city of Dandong but hardly anyone turned up.
North Koreans and Chinese living within 20 km of the city can in theory now benefit from tariff cuts of up to 8,000 yuan or W1.48 million a day.
"Dandong will emerge as a logistics hub in Northeast Asia based on North Korea-China trade," said Dandong Mayor Shi Jian in a message. "I hope Dandong will serve as a departure point for a new Silk Road."
But almost no North Koreans were seen in the trade zone, which measures some 24,000 sq.m and contains hundreds of shops that cost the Liaoning provincial government 1 billion yuan. North Korean and Chinese flags fluttered over an empty mall.
A new North Korea-China duty-free trade zone in the border city of Dandong, China is nearly empty on Thursday. A new North Korea-China duty-free trade zone in the border city of Dandong, China is nearly empty on Thursday.
Administrative official Duanmu Haijian said North Korean businesses will move into the zone around April next year, and only a first batch of 40 to 50 businesses have been allowed by the North Korean and Chinese authorities to open shops already
[SEZ]
A Frightening Thought: China Erodes America's Submarine Advantage
"The PLA Navy is poised to make a major push to improve its heretofore weak ASW capabilities."
Lyle J. Goldstein
August 17, 2015
In January 2011, the cover of the Chinese naval magazine ???? [Modern Ships], which is published by giant state-owned shipbuilding conglomerate CSIC, carried a simple and elegant headline: “056??” [The 056 has arrived]. In an impressive display of shipbuilding muscle, Beijing has proceeded in the 4.5 years that followed in building nearly 20 of this new type of light frigate or corvette.
For an interesting comparison, the U.S. Navy has launched less than half that number of its own small surface combatant, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) over a longer span of time. Never mind that LCS still lacks for an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM), so it is quite clearly “out-sticked” by the Chinese variant. But what is really impressive about the Type 056 is its ability to fill in a much needed niche-capability in China’s naval arsenal: the requirement for a small, cheap, versatile, rugged and well-armed patrol ship to show the flag in proximate maritime disputes. One obvious lesson from the conspicuous buildup described above is to watch the cover of???? [Modern Ships] carefully.
Last year, two covers of that magazine were dedicated to “coming attractions” in naval aviation: new anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters are in the pipeline and may well even enjoy prioritized development. One cover (4A) showed a modernized, ASW-optimized version, likely called “Z-18F,” of a large workhorse of Chinese naval aviation, the Z-8. Another somewhat more shocking design gracing the cover of Modern Ships last year (2A) was designated as “Z-20,” and seemed to be a near carbon copy of the SH-60 Sea Hawk, the frontline naval helicopter operated by the U.S. Navy in a variety of roles, including ASW.
This edition of Dragon Eye will survey some recent developments in Chinese ASW development, emphasizing the surprisingly noteworthy future roles of the two new helicopter variants mentioned above.
But returning momentarily to our theme of Modern Ships magazine covers, yet another issue (3B) from early 2014 shows an illustration of a Type 056 from the stern quarter deploying a prominent variable depth sonar (VDS) as it hunts a nearby adversary submarine. A variety of sources took note of this major design adjustment for the Type 056 with the first of these ASW-optimized light frigates, featuring the much larger aperture in its stern for the VDS, appearing in late 2013.
[China confrontation] [Military balance] [Submarines]
MAC, TAO heads wrap up meeting in Guangzhou
Publication Date: October 15, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
MAC, TAO heads wrap up meeting in Guangzhou
MAC Minister Andrew Hsia (left) and his TAO counterpart Zhang Zhijun shake hands before the commencement of their meeting Oct. 14 in Guangzhou, mainland China. (CNA)
The latest official meeting between the heads of Taipei City-based Mainland Affairs Council and Beijing-headquartered Taiwan Affairs Office concluded Oct. 14 in Guangzhou, mainland China.
MAC Minister Andrew Hsia and his TAO counterpart Zhang Zhijun reached agreement on a number of key issues, including institutionalizing cross-strait negotiations and reinforcing official exchanges between the two sides.
Taiwan’s participation in regional integration initiatives such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership was also discussed, along with ongoing negotiations on finalizing a cross-strait trade in goods agreement.
[Straits] [RCEP]
The Truth Behind Hillary's "China Hunt" at Copenhagen
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
When we met in Copenhagen in 2009 and, literally, President Obama and I were hunting for the Chinese, going throughout this huge convention center, because we knew we had to get them to agree to something. Because there will be no effective efforts against climate change unless China and India join with the rest of the world.
Hillary Clinton at the Democratic debate 10/13/15
Clinton's debate assertion matches her version of events in Hard Choices, confirming, I suppose, that she provided the talking points to her ghostwriter and then took the trouble to memorize them.
They are, unfortunately, pretty far shy of the truth.
[Hillary Clinton]
[Column] The Korean peninsula amid US-China confrontation
Posted on : Oct.15,2015 16:29 KST
Rather than working to resolve problems, the US and China are more interested in maintaining the status quo
Kim Ji-suk, editorial writer
Last week, US President Barack Obama made an unusually harsh remark, saying “We can’t let countries like China write the rules of the global economy.” His words reflect the sense of crisis about the US’s crumbling hegemony. But it is unclear whether the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will open the new markets for American products as Obama hopes will happen if the US writes the rules itself.
What seems closer to the truth is the Chinese argument that no international trade regulations can be complete without the participation of China, which is the world’s second largest economy.
2015 will go down as the year in which the US forged a new international system targeting China, which is coming into its own as a great power.
[China confrontation] [Liberal] [False balance] [Dilemma]
Old-School Killers: Fear China's Sea Mines
Chinese naval strategists have gone to school on naval history and concluded that sea mines will be vitally significant in any future naval contest for the Asia-Pacific.
Lyle J. Goldstein
October 14, 2015
In the closing phases of the Pacific War, American military strategists ingeniously combined two weapons systems, the revolutionary long-range B-29 bomber and the comparatively simple parachute-retarded influence sea mine with magnetic or acoustic exploders, to wreak havoc on the Japanese economy and Japanese morale. The effort to sow Japan’s waterways thoroughly with thousands of mines was named, aptly enough, Operation Starvation and this effort proved highly effective in helping to reduce Japan to its knees. Nevertheless, the U.S. Navy has also been on the “receiving end” of skillfully employed mine warfare and these cases are more recent. The classic case is from the Korean War when mines laid off North Korea prevented U.S. forces from making an efficient invasion at Wonsan. A number of allied mine warfare ships were sunk in that operational fiasco. During the Persian Gulf War, two U.S. Navy ships, the Tripoli and also the Princeton, were both seriously damaged by Iraqi mines.
[China confrontation] [Military balance] [Seapower]
China's 'comfort women' offer gets cold shoulder
Updated : 2015-10-14 19:28
By Yi Whan-woo
The Korean government is dragging its feet on whether to work with Beijing to win UNESCO recognition for documents belonging to China that hold details of Japan's sexual enslavement of Asian women during World War II.
According to the Chinese government, UNESCO recommended Beijing to make a joint bid with other nations after its independent bid was rejected last week to register its documents on the list of the Memory of the World.
China's foreign ministry hinted at joint efforts being made with Korea and other nations whose women were victimized by Japan during the war.
However, the Korean government has been reluctant on whether to accept the proposal.
[Comfort women] [China SK]
'NK leader may visit China for summit talks'
By Yi Whan-woo
Kim Jong-un
Speculation is growing that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may visit China and meet President Xi Jinping amid thawing bilateral ties.
Some experts said the two leaders may meet in Beijing in November at the earliest, although Pyongyang's long-range rocket program and nuclear ambitions will remain obstacles.
If realized, it will be Kim Jong-un's first official visit to another country as North Korean leader.
"It's possible Kim Jong-un will go to Beijing in November or in spring next year at the latest, given that Xi hinted at inviting the North Korean leader in his message last week," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University.
[China NK]
China's Xiangshan Forum: A balancing act for the PLA
by Kim Fassler
Kim Fassler (dana.fassler@dodiis.mil) is an analyst with the U.S. Department of Defense. The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Department of Defense or any other entity within the U.S. Government. The online version is available here.
Later this week, on Oct. 16-18, China will host the Xiangshan Forum, a recently upgraded track 1.5 dialogue organized by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and military-associated think tanks. Scheduled to coincide with a special meeting between Beijing and ASEAN defense ministers is almost certainly intended to improve attendance from last year and underscores a larger effort by Beijing to better shape Asia’s security agenda.
The Xiangshan Forum’s evolution is part of Beijing’s increasingly active regional diplomacy, in which military diplomats and academics play a larger role. Last year, Beijing upgraded the biannual forum – which started nearly a decade ago with only about 40 attendees – to an annual event and invited high-level defense officials for the first time. More than 300 individuals from 47 countries attended the 2014 forum, including former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and defense ministers from Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, and Singapore. Defense ministers of Japan, South Korea, and North Korea were also invited. Participants discussed deeper cooperation on counterterrorism and maritime security issues, and Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan – the most senior Chinese officer to attend the Forum since its inception – gave the keynote speech.
The PLA is looking to grow the Xiangshan Forum’s attendance this year and expand senior participation, including from the United States
[PLA}
[Analysis] N. Korea military review a turning point for relations with China?
Posted on : Oct.12,2015 16:55 KST
Liu Yunshan, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the fifth most powerful figure in China’s Communist Party, cheers with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during the military review for the seventieth anniversary of the Korean Workers’ Party, in Pyongyang, Oct. 10. (AFP/Yonhap News)
Bilateral relations have been stalled for past few years, but recent exchange indicates possible revival
North Korea’s military review marking the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean Workers Party on Oct. 10 is expected to be a turning point in repairing relations between North Korea and China, which have been estranged since Kim Jong-un came to power in North Korea.
China made a conciliatory gesture by dispatching Liu Yunshan, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the fifth most powerful figure in China’s Communist Party, and North Korea made an enthusiastic response.
Kim Jong-un demonstrated the friendly relations between China and North Korea by chatting and occasionally laughing with Liu, who was standing right next to him on the dais during the military review on Oct. 10.
The previous evening, Kim and Liu met at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse in Pyongyang and agreed to expand high-level talks between the two sides and to promote various kinds of cooperation and exchange.
[KWP] [China NK]
Bill Text
114th Congress
H.CON.RES.78.IH
H.CON.RES.78 -- Expressing the sense of Congress that the President in consultation with the Department of the Treasury should apply economic sanctions against Chinese businesses and state-owned enterprises... (Introduced in House - IH)
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President in consultation with the Department of the Treasury should apply economic sanctions against Chinese businesses and state-owned enterprises that can be linked to cyberattacks against United States entities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 18, 2015
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. FORBES) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the President in consultation with the Department of the Treasury should apply economic sanctions against Chinese businesses and state-owned enterprises that can be linked to cyberattacks against United States entities.
[China confrontation] [Hacking] [Hawks] [Sanctions]
TPP adds urgency for China, India at RCEP negotiations
Left out of the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact struck last week, China and India approach this week’s talks for a huge Asia-wide equivalent with fresh urgency, lest competitor nations steal a march on export access.
Beijing is a key driver of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a proposed 16-nation free-trade area that would be the world’s biggest such bloc, encompassing 3.4 billion people.
“Member countries will be under pressure to fast-track negotiations for RCEP,” said a senior official in India, which is keen to avoid being excluded from major trade accords.
While China’s rivalries with India and Japan are likely to complicate progress, it has incentive to get things moving.
China’s central bank estimates the world’s second-largest economy could forfeit a 2.2 percent boost to GDP if Beijing does not join the TPP, according to a commentary by People’s Bank of China chief economist Ma Jun (??) published in the official Shanghai Securities News on Friday.
China stands to lose ground to manufacturing competitors such as Vietnam, which as a TPP member is to have greater duty-free access to the US and other member nations, Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics professor Tu Xinquan (???).
[TPP] [RCEP] [India]
The Sino–American co-dependency trap
7 October 2015
Author: Stephen S. Roach, Yale University
Increasingly reliant on each other for sustainable economic growth, the United States and China have fallen into a classic co-dependency trap, bristling at changes in the rules of engagement. The symptoms of this insidious pathology were on clear display during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to America. Little was accomplished, and the path ahead remains treacherous.
US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchange toasts during a state dinner at the White House, 25 September 2015, during Xi's weeklong official visit. (Photo: AAP).
Co-dependency between the two was born in the late 1970s, when America was gripped by wrenching stagflation and the Chinese economy was in shambles following the Cultural Revolution. Both needed new recipes for revival and growth. They turned to each other in a marriage of convenience. China provided cheap goods, and America provided the external demand that underpinned Deng Xiaoping’s export-led growth strategy.
Over the years, this morphed into a deeper relationship. Lacking in saving and wanting to grow, America relied increasingly on China’s vast reservoir of surplus saving to make ends meet. Anchoring its currency to the dollar, the Chinese built up a huge stake in US Treasury bonds, helping America fund record budget deficits.
But economic co-dependency is as unstable as human co-dependency. One partner eventually changes, while the other is left hanging, feeling scorned.
China is now changing, and America doesn’t like it.
[F&E]
The questions about China’s steady climb towards high income
11 October 2015
Author: Yiping Huang, Peking University
When its GDP per capita hit almost US$7500 in 2014, China entered the middle income stage of economic development. Relatively few countries that have made middle income status in the past three or four decades have graduated to high-income status, or achieved per capita incomes over US$16,000.
Now the Chinese economic slowdown has raised questions about whether China will be able to continue its steady economic growth to avoid this middle income trap in the coming decade.
[Middle income trap]
It’s Not Checkmate Yet: Beijing to Counter US-Led Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Pact
07 October, 2015
Andrea Chen – South China Morning Post
China will seek to quicken the pace of its free-trade negotiations with other Asia-Pacific economies to counter a mammoth Washington-led trade pact in the region, observers say.
The United States and 11 other countries that in total make up 40 per cent of the world’s economy scored a landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal in Atlanta on Monday.
In response, China – presently excluded from the TPP – was expected to push for the conclusion of its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations by the end of the year, said Peking University professor Wang Yong.
Chinese delegates had, during a ministerial meeting in August, called on the negotiating countries – 10 Asean members plus Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand – to “show enough political resolution … to conclude the substantive negotiations” by the end of 2015 to “produce deliverables for the East Asia Summit” in November, according to Xinhua.
[TPP]
[China confrontation] [Response] [RCEP]
England’s Health Secretary wants to make us all work as hard as the Chinese – and our doctors and nurses already know it
Caroline Molloy 6 October 2015
The Tories have been talking about the ‘global race’ for a few years now – but Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s unguarded comments have revealed that it’s a global race to the bottom.
This week, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told a Conservative Conference fringe meeting how inspired he was by the Chinese working culture. The richest multi-millionaire in the cabinet said that Tory plans to cut tax credits to millions of the lowest paid workers were essential to preserve those workers' “independence, self-respect and dignity”. He added that the cuts “sent an important cultural signal”:
“My wife is Chinese. We want this to be one of the most successful countries in the world in 20, 30, 40 years’ time. There’s a pretty difficult question that we have to answer, which is essentially: are we going to be a country which is prepared to work hard in the way that Asian economies are prepared to work hard, in the way that Americans are prepared to work hard? And that is about creating a culture where work is at the heart of our success.”
David Cameron has now waded in to the ensuing outcry, helpfully clarifying that in no way did Jeremy Hunt mean to suggest that the Tories’ ‘global race’ was in fact a ‘global race to the bottom’, where the UK competes with China to offer quick returns to investors on the back of a Chinese-style system of long hours, low pay, and oppressive labour relations.
England’s Health Secretary wants to make us all work as hard as the Chinese – and our doctors and nurses already know it
Caroline Molloy 6 October 2015
The Tories have been talking about the ‘global race’ for a few years now – but Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s unguarded comments have revealed that it’s a global race to the bottom.
This week, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told a Conservative Conference fringe meeting how inspired he was by the Chinese working culture. The richest multi-millionaire in the cabinet said that Tory plans to cut tax credits to millions of the lowest paid workers were essential to preserve those workers' “independence, self-respect and dignity”. He added that the cuts “sent an important cultural signal”:
“My wife is Chinese. We want this to be one of the most successful countries in the world in 20, 30, 40 years’ time. There’s a pretty difficult question that we have to answer, which is essentially: are we going to be a country which is prepared to work hard in the way that Asian economies are prepared to work hard, in the way that Americans are prepared to work hard? And that is about creating a culture where work is at the heart of our success.”
David Cameron has now waded in to the ensuing outcry, helpfully clarifying that in no way did Jeremy Hunt mean to suggest that the Tories’ ‘global race’ was in fact a ‘global race to the bottom’, where the UK competes with China to offer quick returns to investors on the back of a Chinese-style system of long hours, low pay, and oppressive labour relations.
[China bashing]
China dialogue: perils of parallel
Kerry Brown 6 October 2015
There is more talk than ever about China and the world - but also less listening. A serious upgrade of language and ideas is needed.
Liu Yunshan, the current ideological and propaganda chief of the Communist Party of China, gave a speech at the party school in Beijing in 2008 in which he complained about the international press that China was receiving as it built up to hosting the Olympic games. Far from being a global celebration of the good and fine things that had been achieved in his country since 1978 when reforms started, the outside world had chosen to carp: over the role of Chinese investment in Africa, the situation in Tibet, even the fractious journey of the "flame" as it made its way across the world.
Liu drew a stark conclusion. For years, leaders and officials in the outside world had complained that their Chinese counterparts were unwilling to spell out a vision for the country and its global role. They had urged further reforms and changes upon China. They had wanted to see a country more like their own, with capitalism, openness and variety. Well, Liu said, isn’t this what they have now? Today's China has sent over a million of its young to study abroad, accepted vast amounts of foreign investment, and opened up almost the whole of its country to visitors and business. In fact, the country is so plugged into the outside world that it was now hosting an event like the Olympics. What, therefore, was the problem now: why the chorus of criticisms and moans?
Liu then delivered the punchline of his diagnosis. The problem was not in China. Nor was it about China’s message. The simple fact was that a sizeable part of the outside world, particularly in the United States, would reject China no matter what it did. There was no point carrying on pretending these people’s minds could be changed. The key thing was to remorselessly promote China’s self-image, whether the world beyond its borders cared to listen or not. The message needed no change. The problem was the minds of the people outside.
[Resurgence] [Acceptance]
China-Russia relations: alignment without alliance
By Yun Sun
Oct 7, 2015
Western assessments of the China-Russia relationship generally reach one of two conclusions: hyperventilation about a Beijing-Moscow alliance that aims to upend the existing international order or a blithe dismissal of a temporary meeting of minds and interests. Neither position accurately characterizes the current relationship, which is best understood as a genuine convergence of national interests despite powerful centrifugal forces. From a Chinese perspective, at least, a third option – alignment without alliance – can endure, especially if both sides agree to align themselves while maintaining a safe distance from each other, so that the competitive elements of their relationship can play themselves out without derailing their partnership.
China-Russia relations have been on a very positive trajectory since Xi Jinping assumed the supreme leadership in Beijing in 2013. He and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet frequently – 12 times in two and half years – in bilateral settings and in the expanding number of multilateral venues in which the two countries have membership, such as the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
[China Russia]
In North America's Costliest City, Rich Chinese Take the Blame
Jeremy Van Loon
October 7, 2015 — 12:00 AM CEST
James Hankle, a 50-something software engineer sporting blue jeans and a Green Party T-shirt, is explaining his fix for Vancouver’s runaway property prices when he’s interrupted by an eavesdropping passerby: “Stop allowing people from China to buy our houses and leave them vacant,” she says and walks away.
Despite British Columbia’s aversion to pipelines and affection for pot, housing affordability has pushed both aside as the number one issue raised by area residents in the run-up to Canada’s election this month. It’s not completely surprising given that Vancouver has become North America’s most expensive city.
Surging purchase prices have triggered protest movements like #donthave1million, started by a group of young professionals frustrated at being shut out of home ownership. They complain of having to delay starting families as they remain bunked in with roommates, often into their 30s and beyond.
[China bashing] [Migration]
A Man, A Plan, A Fraud…Panama!
If history has taught us anything…it’s that it's hard to build an isthmian canal across Central America.
That’s a lesson Chinese telecom entrepreneur Wang Jing is probably taking to heart now that 80% of his paper wealth evaporated in the PRC stock market unpleasantness, and he has to take a long hard look at how to come up with the $50 billion needed to build his canal through Nicaragua.
Reuters recently tossed Wang another anvil, running a dire report that the social and ecological impact statement commissioned by HKND, the Chinese developers for the current project, concluded that the project was "fraught with risks."
[Infrastructure] [ODI]
China isn’t about to abandon North Korea
29 September 2015
Author: Kevin Gray, University of Sussex
Much has been made of the recent cooling of diplomatic relations between China and North Korea and Beijing’s increased emphasis on Seoul. Deteriorating relations since 2012 were confirmed most recently by South Korean President Park Geun-Hye’s prominent position at China’s 70th anniversary celebrations of the end of World War II. For those looking forward to North Korea’s rapid demise and to the reunification of the peninsula on Seoul’s terms, this growing distance between Beijing and Pyongyang has been greeted with cautious optimism.
[China NK]
Chinese Apparatchik to Visit N.Korea
China is sending a delegation led by a senior apparatchik to North Korea for the 70th anniversary of the Workers Party.
Liu Yunshan, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, will visit North Korea on Friday, according to a Chinese Communist Party statement Sunday.
Liu is seen as the fifth-ranking of the committee's seven members, and though he is not widely known he is the first member of the top decision-making body to visit Pyongyang since leader Kim Jong-un took power.
[KWP]
[Column] China’s October 10 dilemma
Posted on : Oct.2,2015 13:24 KST
Wavering over how to handle North Korea’s rocket launch plans reflects Beijing’s range of concerns
There are several predictions that North Korea is going to launch either a long-range rocket or satellite sometime around Oct. 10. Approaching the seventieth anniversary of the foundation of the (North) Korean Workers’ Party, North Korea has recently escalated its rhetoric, stating that launching a rocket and strengthening its nuclear deterrent are an “exercise of the autonomy of a sovereign state that no one may challenge or violate.” China’s attitude toward this brazenness seems complicated.
[Satellite] [China NK]
Chinese Communist Party’s fifth-ranked official to visit North Korea
Posted on : Oct.5,2015 16:09 KST
Pyongyang and Beijing apparently working to restore relationship that has suffered in recent years
Amid hints from North Korea about the launch of a long-range rocket to mark the seventieth anniversary of the foundation of the Workers’ Party, and a possible fourth nuclear test, the fifth-ranked official from the Communist Party of China will visit North Korea. The rocket launch, originally scheduled for the Workers’ Party Foundation Day on Oct. 10, could at least be deferred.
On Oct. 4, the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state news agency, reported that Liu Yunshan, member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, would visit North Korea to attend the celebration of the Worker Party‘s 70th Anniversary. Liu is currently the fifth-ranked member of the party’s Politburo Standing Committee. On July 27, 2013, China sent Vice President Li Yuanchao, a committee member of lower rank than Liu, to attend North Korea‘s celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement. This makes the upcoming visit a substantial upgrade.
It is significant that China is sending a senior official from the inner-Communist Party instead of a general representative of the Chinese state. Since the inauguration of President Xi Jinping, China has appeared to be revising its diplomatic stance toward North Korea from an intimate party-to-party partnership to a more formal diplomatic relationship. However, some view Liu’s upcoming visit as a gesture to resume the two countries’ former alliance. Lee Nam-ju, Professor of Chinese Studies at Sungkonghoe University, said that Liu is the “highest-level official China could possibly send right now,” adding that China-North Korea relations is “surely pivoting from hostility to friendlier circumstances.”
[China NK]
Chilly congratulatory cable a sign of poor relations between N. Korea and China
Posted on : Oct.2,2015 11:47 KST
Modified on : Oct.2,2015 11:47 KST
North Korean message to Chinese president for National Day lacked a message celebrating bilateral alliance
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a congratulatory cable to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sept. 30 for China’s National Day on Oct. 1.
But the cable’s terse and formulaic content - amounting to just over 100 characters - appears to reflect the current chilly mood between Pyongyang and Beijing.
The Xinhua News Agency and other Chinese media reported the cable’s delivery on Oct. 1, citing reports in North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency. The reports noted that a number of top North Korean officials, including Kim Jong-un, Supreme People’s Assembly presidium president Kim Yong-nam, and Premier Pak Pong-ju, had sent cables to Xi, Premier Li Keqiang, and National People’s Congress Standing Committee Chairman Zhang Dejiang for the sixty-sixth anniversary of the People’s Republic of China‘s establishment.
[China NK]
China’s Stock Market Crash Is the Latest Crisis of Global Capitalism
Alongside rising protests from farmers and workers, China now confronts a middle class anxious about a slowdown in growth and burned by the stock market bust. It’s a volatile brew.
by
Walden Bello
(Photo: Ars Electronica / Flickr)
It’s always amazing how the stock market pulls big surprises on those who should know better.
The momentous rise in share prices in the Shanghai stock exchange from mid-2014 to the middle of this year, when the composite index shot up by 150 percent, should have been a strong indication of what Alan Greenspan labeled “irrational exuberance” — the sign of an impending collapse of stock prices far above the real value of assets being traded.
But like Greenspan during the 2008 Wall Street crisis, neither Chinese investors, foreign investors, nor the Chinese government seemed prepared when the market cratered earlier this summer. The Shanghai composite index plunged by 40 percent in a few weeks’ time, triggering a global collapse of stock prices and forcing Beijing to intervene and buy up market shares — and, when that failed, prompting it to devalue the yuan.
Buoyed by a $585 billion stimulus following the U.S. crash of 2008 and the European sovereign debt crises the following year, China had appeared to ride out the storm its Western trading partners unleashed upon themselves several years ago. It was only a matter of time, many analysts thought, before Beijing and the BRICS would replace the traditional economic hegemons as drivers of the world economy. This optimism proved short-lived.
Now, in fact, the Beijing stock market collapse marks the deepening of a new stage in the contemporary crisis of global capitalism.
[Capitalism] [China]
Xinjiang pivotal in Silk Road revival
Xinhua, October 1, 2015
Tented camel caravans winding their way across trackless deserts and steep mountains of Central Asia might still be a picture in many people's minds when the Silk Road is mentioned.
Residents eat local snack at a night fair iin the old town of Kashgar, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Sept 23, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]
In reality, the ancient trade route between East Asia and Europe is reviving along with roaring freight trains and trucks, more than a millennium after it faded into obscurity due to frequent wars and the rise of sea transportation.
Located in China's far west but in the middle of the Silk Road, Xinjiang is ready to embrace the revival as China launched the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative two years ago with aims to boost infrastructure and trade between China, Central Asia and Europe.
Yawuz Selim, a 38-year-old Turkish businessman, is one of many who are finding their fortune in Xinjiang.
Selim realized that Turkey's products were very popular in Xinjiang during his first visit to the regional capital of Urumqi in 2012. He set up a children's clothing store in the city the next year after he quit the job as an accountant in Istanbul.
"I hope to bring top quality Turkish dresses to Xinjiang and expand my business eastward, where there is more purchasing power," he said.
[Xinjiang] [Belt and Road]
[Reportage] A China-US game of chess shaping up in Cuba
Posted on : Oct.1,2015 11:22 KST
Chinatown in Havana, Cuba on Sep. 18. The Cuban government has given preferential treatment to this restaurant, which has a capacity of more than 50. (by Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent)
With Cuba opening up economically, China is positioning itself as a key trading partner
Pretty much every major Chinese company seems to have an office in the Miramar Trade Center on the coast near Havana, Cuba. ZTE Corporation, a Chinese telecom solutions provider on the 8th floor, has a de facto monopoly on Cuba’s telephone and internet networks through ETESCA, a joint venture with the Cuban government. When Cubans access wireless internet, they are using an internet network set up by ETESCA.
Another company with an office on the 8th floor is Sinopec (China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation), which has been developing petroleum in Cuba’s western province of Matanzas since 2006.
In Feb. 2014, the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) reached an agreement with Cuba to build a multipurpose terminal in Santiago Harbor.
Even China’s state-run China Central Television (CCTV) has a permanent office in the trade center.
Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, relations between Cuba and China weren’t very close. When China went to war with Vietnam in 1979, Cuba sided with Vietnam. When the split between the Soviet Union and China occurred in the 1960s, Cuba supported the Soviet Union. But now Chinese companies have stepped in to fill a large part of the economic vacuum created by the departure of the Soviet Union.
Since 2013 China has been Cuba’s second biggest trading partner, after Venezuela, and China is the biggest importer of Cuban nickel. This is a prime example of Chinese diplomacy at work, with China building basic infrastructure in another country in exchange for gaining access to that country’s resources.
[Cuba] [China rising]
America’s biggest competitor really isn’t China
By Ana Swanson September 30 ?
A two-minute explanation of the U.S.-China relationship
?Play Video1:57
If American political candidates have a favorite punching bag, it's China. Wonkblog's Ana Swanson explains why so many candidates change their tune once elected, and just how important the U.S.-China relationship really is. (Jorge Ribas/The Washington Post)
If you ask Americans who their country's biggest competitor is, many people will tell you China. In a 2012 poll, two-thirds of Americans said they saw China as a competitor of the U.S., rather than a partner or an enemy.
It's clear why Americans think this. Turn on the TV, and it's not hard to find a politician or pundit talking about America's failure to deal with the China challenge -- Donald Trump in particular, as the video below shows.
But is China really the competitive threat that Trump and others claim? A new comprehensive report from the World Economic Forum that looks at the competitiveness of 140 countries shows this is actually far from the truth. What's more, America's biggest competitors are countries that most Americans are not really worrying about.
The report defines competitiveness as a set of institutions, policies and factors that determine how productive an economy is – basically, the raw materials necessary to ensure a country can grow and improve the lives of its people, from good schools and hospitals to stable banks and support for innovation.
By these measures, the U.S. economy looks very good. The report ranks the U.S. third in global competitiveness, behind Switzerland and Singapore. Next is Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Finland, Sweden, the UK and then Canada.
China is way down the list at 28th, behind Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and others. The interactive map below shows those rankings:
So who is America's biggest competitor, really? Judging from the report, the best candidate might be Germany, which climbed one position last year to rank 4th. Germany has sophisticated and innovative businesses and a highly trained and skilled labor force that can really compete with American companies and workers.
The other thing that people might find surprising is just how well the U.S. ranks in this report. Despite Trump's exhortations to "Make America great again," the country still looks pretty good, at least compared to other places in the world.
[China completion] [Germany] [Logic]
Is Hillary copying Trump to chase votes?
Source: Global Times Published: 2015-9-28 0:38:01
Hillary Clinton's strong accusation against the Chinese leader Xi Jinping via Twitter at this critical moment is more than reminiscent of the demagogue Donald Trump.
Few people would have believed Trump could be a serious player in the presidential election until recently. His initial popularity was based on his big mouth. However, he has managed to top almost all the polls for much longer than expected, and shocked the entire US political arena.
It seems that Hillary, eager to keep a competitive edge in the game, has also resorted to these ignominious shenanigans. Despite her political acumen as former secretary of state and senator, she is using the language of Trump to cast herself in the role of a rabble-rouser.
The Internet should partly be blamed where cyber rhetoric is notoriously blunt. In China, netizens are often proud to talk dirty, and the US has the same tendency. This way of speaking has spread to the real world, forcing many people to abandon the bottom line.
The US presidential election has resulted in an increasing number of ill consequences when democracy spins out of control. Policies, guidelines and public interests will have to make room for political chicanery that can incite the voters, by whose support the candidates can succeed to the throne. China bashing has become an effective way for them to win more votes.
Hillary was a lawyer, the former hostess of the White House, and also a senior leader in the government. It is a pity that even the former first lady has also thrown away her decency and reputation only to gain a leg up in the election.
Perhaps, Hillary's e-mail scandal has dealt a heavy blow to her, and she is trying to get back in the game by directing people's attention to China.
Nonetheless, Hillary is still a major frontrunner to be the next US president. However, her recent actions are worrying: If she can return to the White House as the first female president in US history, see how hard she would try to rectify her China-bashing words and activities. Her husband Bill Clinton did it more than 20 years ago, when China was not in the spotlight of global attention, and few people would remember how he criticized China. However, 20 years have passed, and China has become a universal topic. Any aggressive remarks against China will likely draw long-term attention from the public.
If Hillary is doing what Trump does, she is degrading herself. The Chinese will probably not be vexed by her angry words, but considering her status as the most likely hopeful among all the candidates, what she said is frustrating.
[Hillary Clinton] [China Bashing] [Gender]
G-Zero: US-China Relations in the Age of Xi
by Peter Lee
A few years back, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State declared that G-2—a US-PRC great power condominium much dreaded by advocates of a muscular attitude toward the Chinese menace—was dead.
Don’t worry, China hawks. G-2 is still dead.
What’s left is G-Zero: a world in which the PRC and US governments go their separate ways and have less and less to do with each other.
As a result, the PRC’s bar for “success” in official and state visits to the United States is extremely low. Decent venues, nice photos, no embarrassing incidents…
The baseline for humiliation is Hu Jintao’s 2006 official visit to the United States. The atrocities were documented at the time by the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank:
The visit began with a slight when the official announcer said the band would play the “national anthem of the Republic of China” — the official name of Taiwan. It continued when Vice President Cheney donned sunglasses for the ceremony, and again when Hu, attempting to leave the stage via the wrong staircase, was yanked back by his jacket. Hu looked down at his sleeve to see the president of the United States tugging at it as if redirecting an errant child.
…
China wanted a formal state visit such as Jiang got, but the administration refused, calling it instead an “official” visit. Bush acquiesced to the 21-gun salute but insisted on a luncheon instead of a formal dinner, in the East Room instead of the State Dining Room. Even the visiting country’s flags were missing from the lampposts near the White House.
…
If only the White House hadn’t given press credentials to a Falun Gong activist who five years ago heckled Hu’s predecessor, Jiang Zemin, in Malta. Sure enough, 90 seconds into Hu’s speech on the South Lawn, the woman started shrieking, “President Hu, your days are numbered!” and “President Bush, stop him from killing!”
Bush and Hu looked up, stunned. It took so long to silence her — a full three minutes — that Bush aides began to wonder if the Secret Service’s strategy was to let her scream herself hoarse. The rattled Chinese president haltingly attempted to continue his speech and television coverage went to split screen.
Much, much better this time. Top drawer reception, lots of nice pictures, demonstrators kept at a remote and silent distance, PRC media flooded the zone with favorable coverage at home, Xi Jinping looked in control and at ease in the aerie of the cranky and contentious US bald eagle and got his “world leader” ticket punched.
[Obama_Xi15} [China confrontation]
China Joins the Fight Against ISIS?
By Stephen Lendman
Global Research, September 29, 2015
A Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian alliance against ISIS perhaps may encourage other countries to join it – a possibility likely terrifying Obama officials and their war-mongering partners.
On September 26, IDF-connected DEBKAfile (DF) said “the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning-CV-16 docked at the Syrian port of Tartus, accompanied by a guided missile cruiser.”
“Its arrival has upended the entire strategic situation surrounding the Syrian conflict, adding a new global dimension to Moscow and Tehran’s military support for Assad.”
The extent of China’s involvement remains unknown. DF calls it “highly detrimental (to) Israel’s strategic and military position” – code language for wanting nothing deterring its alliance with Washington from removing Assad, replacing him with a pro-Western puppet, in sinc with Washington’s regional objectives.
DF said its “military sources have evidence that (Beijing is) digging in for a prolonged stay in Syria.” Whether true remains to be seen. It claims China intends sending warplanes, anti-submarine helicopters, early warning helicopters and “at least 1,000 marines.”
The Lebanese-based Al-Masdar Al-‘Arabi (The Arab Source) news site reported “Chinese military advisors” heading for Syria. An unnamed Syrian army source was quoted saying “the Chinese will be arriving in the coming weeks.” They’ll join with their Russian counterparts, involved in training Syrian military personnel in weapons supplied.
RT International said initial Chinese military personnel “will reportedly be followed by troops.” It comes after Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria established a Baghdad-based a joint information center to battle ISIS.
[Syria] [ISIS]
Taiwan’s Collective Memory of Japan: Around the Horn
By Steven Denney | August 31, 2015
Abe Shinzo’s August 14 statement brings a few things to mind. First, it reminds us of a thing that Niall Ferguson once described as post-colonial “self flagellation” in the British context. Abe’s intriguing assertion that remorse cannot really last forever on the part of Tokyo and one day the page would and should be turned is not, however, a sense that seems to be shared by other countries in East Asia, where Japan’s colonial adventure tends to be regarded as a monolith and megalith of misfortune. While the Koreas, China, and others may ascribe to anti-Japanese paradigms, emphasizing savagery and exploitation of the period, Japanese occupation is not remembered in these pained and angry tones everywhere in Tokyo’s former zone of sovereignty and control.
[Taiwan] [Japanese colonialism]
Ms Park goes to Beijing, but will Xi cooperate on North Korea?
29 August 2015
Author: Zhiqun Zhu, Bucknell University
South Korean President Park Geun-hye will visit China from September 2–4 to attend Beijing’s official activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, including a military parade on 3 September. Her visit comes fresh off the heels of inter-Korean tensions triggered by a North Korean landmine which maimed two South Korean soldiers. Though the situation is calming, North Korea remains a security challenge for both China and South Korea and is likely to dominate talks between Park and Chinese President Xi Jinping. But achieving a long-lasting peace on the Korean peninsula will require nothing short of joint efforts by all major players in Northeast Asia, especially China and the United States.
[China Koreas]
Hillary Clinton called Xi’s speech ‘shameless,’ and the Web went wild
By Emily Rauhala September 28 at 6:36 AM ?
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at the U.N. headquarters on Sunday. (Bryan R. Smith/AP)
On Sunday morning, as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared to share his thoughts on women's equality at a U.N. meeting on gender, Hillary Rodham Clinton offered her own take on the day's events.
Retweeting a New York Times story about China's record on women's issues and citing China's arrest of five feminists in March, the Democratic presidential candidate called Xi's presence at the summit "shameless."
Unsurprisingly, the Internet went bananas, highlighting the gap between how the United States and China see rights issues and, ironically, its own remarkable capacity for sexist mudslinging.
First, some context: Clinton's comment cut to the heart of a lively debate about what role, if any, China's top leader should have at the U.N. summit.
The event was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which brought activists from all over to Beijing in September 1995 and featured a keynote speech by then-first lady Hillary Clinton.
[Hillary Clinton] [Xi Jinping] [Gender] [China bashing]
China, Russia vow to safeguard post-war world order
Xinhua, September 27, 2015
Liu Qibao (L), head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attends the international seminar titled "70-Year Common Victory" together with Ivan Melnikov, vice chairman of the Communist Party of Russia in Khabarovsk, Russia, on Sept. 26, 2015. The seminar was co-organized by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Communist Party of Russia. (Xinhua/Dai Tianfang)
An international seminar titled "70-Year Common Victory" was co-organized by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Communist Party of Russia in Khabarovsk, Russia Saturday to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War.
Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the seminar together with Ivan Melnikov, vice chairman of the Communist Party of Russia.
In his opening speech, Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said both China and Russia, as main battlefields during World War II (WWII) in Asia and Europe respectively, made great sacrifices and contributions to the victory in the war.
[WWII] [CCP]
Xi raises 6-point proposal for developing China-US ties
Xinhua, September 26, 2015
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) holds a small-range talks with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, Sept. 25, 2015. Xi arrived in Washington, the second stop of his state visit to the United States, on Thursday after a busy two-and-a-half-day stay in Seattle. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)
Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday put forward a six-pronged proposal for next-stage development of China-U.S. relations.
Xi made the suggestions in his talks with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, which culminated his four-day first state visit to the United States.
-- The two sides should maintain close exchanges and communication at all levels. Major bilateral mechanisms like the Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange should be brought into full play.
-- The two countries should expand and deepen practical cooperation in various fields, including economy, trade, military, anti-terrorism, law enforcement, energy, environment and infrastructure.
-- China and the United States should promote people-to-people exchange and consolidate the social basis for bilateral relations.
-- The two countries should respect their differences in history, culture, tradition and social system, as well as development path and development stage, and learn from each other.
-- The two sides should deepen dialogue and cooperation in Asia-Pacific affairs.
-- They should jointly deal with regional and global challenges, enrich the strategic connotations of their relations, and provide the international community with more public goods.
[Xi_Obama15]
Taiwan poll finds most identify with Chinese ethnicity
Publication Date: September 25, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
Taiwan poll finds most identify with Chinese ethnicity
Over 83 percent of people in Taiwan strongly identify with Chinese ethnicity as confirmed by the results of a recent TCF survey. (CNA)
The majority of people in Taiwan consider themselves ethnically Chinese, according to a survey released Sept. 23 by nongovernmental organization Taiwan Competitiveness Forum.
Conducted quarterly, the poll found 83.6 percent of respondents see themselves part of the ethnic Chinese community on the basis of shared cultural heritage, ethnicity, history and language.
Hsieh Ming-hui, CEO of Taipei City-based TCF, said the number has topped 80 percent in recent surveys. “This cultural identification remains highly stable in the run up to the ROC presidential election in January next year.”
Of the three leading candidates for the ROC's top job, the survey found Hung Hsiu-chu of the ruling Kuomintang won 19.1 percent support for her cross-strait policy. James Soong of the People First Party and Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party garnered 10.8 percent and 25.3 percent, respectively.
Hsieh said Taiwan-mainland China relations are not expected to play a major role in the election, as 53 percent of respondents said this does not factor into their votes and 68.8 percent believe the importance of cross-strait ties is recognized across party lines.
The survey also revealed that 82.3 percent are in favor of the cross-strait status quo of no unification, no independence and no use of force.
[Straits] [Ethnicity]
The U.S.-China Summit: 10 Questions for President Xi Jinping
From security to the economy to human rights, China is increasingly acting as a destabilizing force in global affairs. Here are some questions President Obama needs to ask.
J. Randy Forbes
September 25, 2015
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Thursday for two days of 21 gun salutes, state dinners, and fervent assertions of Sino-American cooperation and goodwill. But beyond the rhetoric, China's recent behavior across an array of policy areas has been the most openly antagonistic to American interests and values than at any time in at least a generation.
China has unilaterally sought to change the status quo in the South China Sea by creating nearly 3,000 acres of artificial formations and making baseless assertions of sovereignty in the surrounding waters and airspace. Just this week, the Pentagon reported that another U.S. plane was nearly hit during an overly aggressive encounter with Chinese interceptors in international airspace, directly contravening the intent of a 2014 memorandum of understanding on unplanned encounters at sea and in the air. By the year's end, China is expected to deploy a ballistic missile submarine carrying nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States. Meanwhile, the hacking of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the personal information of millions of U.S. government employees has focused renewed attention on the threat of Chinese cyber espionage.
[China confrontation] [Hawk]
On the Significance of China’s “Characteristics”
By Ron Huisken
24 September 2015
I. Introduction
China is an ancient and accomplished nation with an essentially unbroken tradition of authoritarian governance. China’s contemporary governance arrangements, which include a fondness for qualifying an objective or commitment with the words ‘with Chinese characteristics’, have both deliberate and inadvertent consequences that should be an important consideration in the policy settings other states adopt toward this huge country.
Ron Huisken is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre, ANU. He has a background in research and government and secured his qualification from the University of Western Australia, the Royal Stockholm University and the Australian National University. His publications include Introducing China: The world’s oldest major power charts its next comeback (ANU E-Press, 2010).
[Governance]
7 simple questions and answers to understand China and the U.S.
By Ana Swanson September 22 ?
A two-minute explanation of the U.S.-China relationship
If American political candidates have a favorite punching bag, it's China. Wonkblog's Ana Swanson explains why so many candidates change their tune once elected, and just how important the U.S.-China relationship really is. (Jorge Ribas/The Washington Post)
The United States is rolling out the red carpet this week for the leader of the world’s most populous country. Chinese President Xi Jinping will first visit with tech executives and other industry leaders in Seattle, then head to Washington to meet with President Obama.
The meeting is a touchstone moment in an increasingly tumultuous relationship. The Obama administration has been preparing sanctions against China following a wave of cyber-espionage from Chinese hackers. And China has sparked the ire of U.S. businesses and politicians by devaluing its currency and favoring Chinese businesses over foreign ones.
Despite the tension, China remains one of the most important countries in the world for Americans. China is so big and fast-changing that its actions ripple around the world and influence life for average Americans — determining the price of things we buy, influencing what we make at our jobs, even changing the quality of the air we breathe.
But maybe because of its size, or its distance, or its complexity, it can be hard to grasp exactly why China matters. Here are seven questions — and answers — that will bring you up to speed on the state of China, and America's relationship with it.
1. Why does China matter? | 2. Is China still a poor country, or is it rich and powerful? | 3. What do the Chinese really want? | 4. Is China still communist? | 5. Is China's economy in trouble? | 6. Will China surpass the U.S. as the world's superpower? | 7. Should the U.S. view China as a threat or an opportunity?
[F&E]
China and the US need to see eye to eye again. It’s in both their interests
Kevin Rudd
The doom-mongers are out in force as the Chinese president Xi Jinping begins his American visit, but the deep disagreements that exist are solvable
Wednesday 23 September 2015 19.00 BST Last modified on Thursday 24 September 2015 00.01 BST
As President Xi Jinping begins his first state visit to the United States, something of a potentially dangerous trend is beginning to emerge in the US-China relationship. There are now a number of influential voices on both sides who believe that the problems in the relationship are so numerous, so profound and so unmanageable that they are starting to overwhelm the post-1972 strategic consensus and are threatening to end a quarter-century of Sino-American goodwill.
[F&E]
China Opens Bullet Trains to N.Korean Border
China has built two high-speed railways along the border with North Korea.
Fast trains can now reach Dandong on the Apnok River near North Korea and Hunchun on the Duman River, the entrance to the North's Rajin-Sonbong Special Economic Zone.
The high-speed rail linking Shenyang with Dandong in Liaoning Province was finished late last month and the line between Changchun and Hunchun in Jilin Province was opened on Sunday.
The 207-km line between Shenyang and Dandong has shortened the travel time from three hours and 30 minutes to just an hour and 10 minutes. And the 360-km Changchun-Hunchun line passes through major cities in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. It is expected to appeal particularly to tourists because it passes by Mt. Baekdu.
It could also boost economic cooperation between China, North Korea and Russia. Hunchun lies at the vertex of the three countries, linking the North's Rajin-Songbong economic zone with Russia's Khasan.
[Railways] [China NK]
When China Rules the Sea: The United States is no longer the world’s only global naval power.
By James Holmes
September 23, 2015
A flotilla from China’s navy appeared in American waters in early September, a few weeks before President Xi Jinping’s Sept. 24 visit to Washington. Indeed, Chinese Communist Party chieftains evidently instructed warships to take shortcuts — lawful ones, I hasten to add — through U.S. territorial waters in the Aleutians, off the coast of Alaska. Five vessels cruised the Bering Sea in early September — and elicited a fittingly low-key response from Washington: “China is a global navy,” declared one U.S. Navy spokesman, “and we encourage them and other international navies to operate in international waters as long as they adhere to safe and professional standards and maritime laws of the sea.”
Why would China go to the trouble and expense of mounting an expedition to the northern climes in the Western Hemisphere? Because it sees value in staging a presence in distant waters. And because it can: Beijing no longer depends completely on its oceangoing battle fleet to ward off threats in China’s seas. It can now rain long-range precision firepower on enemy fleets from land. Ergo, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet can cruise the far reaches of the Pacific and Indian oceans or even beyond, without forfeiting China’s interests in waters close to home.
For China, the upsides of far-ranging maritime strategy are many and compelling, the downsides fewer and fewer.
[Seapower] [China confrontation]
China: The Superpower of Mr. Xi
Roderick MacFarquhar
August 13, 2015 Issue
The Governance of China
by Xi Jinping
Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 515 pp., $16.95 (paper)
Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping: Renaissance, Reform, or Retrogression?
by Willy Wo-Lap Lam
Routledge, 323 pp., $145.00; $50.95 (paper)
In the almost one-hundred-year existence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its current general secretary, Xi Jinping, is only the second leader clearly chosen by his peers. The first was Mao Zedong. Both men beat out the competition, and thus secured a legitimacy their predecessors lacked.1 Why was Xi chosen?
The Beijing rumor mill had long indicated that the outgoing elders were looking for a “princeling” successor, that is the son of a senior first- generation revolutionary. Princelings, it was apparently felt, had a bigger stake in the revolution than most people, and thus would be the most determined to preserve the rule of the CCP.
Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, was a respected vice-premier and member of the CCP Central Committee known for his moderate views, but he fell afoul of Mao in 1962 and was purged, then was rehabilitated and returned to high office after the Chairman’s death. Xi Jinping thus has the additional legitimation of being “born red,” as Evan Osnos put it recently in The New Yorker.
[Xi Jinping]
China's railway projects in Thailand, Laos to start
By Guo Yiming
China.org.cn, September 22, 2015
China's high-speed railway projects are finally gaining ground in Southeast Asia, as top government officials in Thailand and Laos attending the 12th China-ASEAN Expo indicated the construction in both countries might start before the end of this year.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Tanasak Patimapragorn said his country's 840-kilometer project may start this December, linking the northern city of Nong Khai with Bangkok.
Laos is also determined to have a high-speed railway project with cooperation from China in order to transform the landlocked country, according to its Deputy Prime Minister Somsava Lengsavad who gave a speech in fluent Mandarin during the opening ceremony of the 12th China-ASEAN Expo and Business and Investment Summit on Sept. 18, 2015.
As Laos' largest investor, China is also going to help launch a man-made satellite for the southeast country, according to Somasava, who saw both projects as being of historical and strategic significance to the country whose lack of infrastructure remains a massive headache.
[Railways] [Satellite]
China welcomes court ruling against scholar's expulsion
Xinhua, September 22, 2015
China said on Monday it was glad to see that the Oslo District Court ruled against the Norwegian government's decision of expelling a Chinese scholar from the country early this year on the grounds that his research could be used for military purposes.
"The allegation against the Chinese scholar is totally baseless and is an infringement on the scholar's academic freedom. We are glad to see that the Oslo District Court's ruling restores the scholar's innocence," the Chinese embassy in Norway said in a statement.
The Oslo District Court ruled on Sept 14 that the decision by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to expel the Chinese scholar was recognized invalid and "this means that the expulsion order is not valid and my client basically can get back to Norway," Nils Anders Gronas, the Chinese scholar's lawyer, told Xinhua.
Norwegian police ordered the Chinese doctorate student, who had been working on a wind power project at the University of Agder for more than two years, and his professor, a German national of Iranian origin, to leave Norway before Jan 23. Both of them have left the Nordic country
[China confrontation] [Hysteria] [Dual use]
Chinese Student to Contest Expulsion From Norway, Lawyer Says
By Bree Feng
February 6, 2015 6:51 am February 6, 2015
A lawyer for a Chinese doctoral student who was expelled from Norway last month on the grounds that his research could be used for military purposes said that the student would contest the Norwegian government’s decision and that the case “will be sent to the court” on Monday.
The Norwegian authorities had ordered the student to leave the country by Jan. 23, because they believed he was “part of a research exchange who is using the information to benefit military authorities in China,” said Nils Anders Gronas, the lawyer.
“The decision is based on the fact that the Norwegian authorities assume that he takes part in a research area that is strongly associated with the military authorities in China and which allegedly exchange information about mass destruction weapons,” Mr. Gronas said by email on Thursday.
The student finds these charges “incomprehensible,” Mr. Gronas said, but he has already returned to China. Mr. Gronas declined to give the student’s name.
The student had been working on a project on wind power at the University of Agder, and had been there for nearly three years, according to a Norwegian colleague who asked not to be named.
[China confrontation] [Hysteria]
Norway's decision to expel Chinese student part of a trend
Xinhua and Staff Reporter 2015-02-06 12:09 (GMT+8)
The expulsion of a Chinese PhD student working at Norway's University of Agder has drawn worldwide attention as the authorities claimed his expertise could be used "for military purposes in other countries."
What is funny is that the Chinese student was working on a wind power project instead of military technology. It is also frustrating that his academic research was suspended because of Norway's unilateral decision.
The University of Agder's management saw no grounds for the expulsion, however, Norwegian authorities continued politicizing the academic research, even attempting to link the case to terrorism.
This is not the first time China has been subject of unverified assumptions.
In 2007, after a shooting on an American college campus that left 33 dead took place, the Chicago Sun Times immediately reported that one suspect was Chinese, afterwhich the US's Federal Bureau of Investigation then conducted an investigation against the Chinese student.
When the student was later found to be innocent, the newspaper refused to apologize.
Last year, when North Korea was facing explosive hacking accusations, Western analysts claimed that China played a supporting role in terms of both hardware and software.
[China confrontation] [Hysteria] [Dual Use]
Chinese PHD expelled for 'illegal missile research'
Published: 12 Mar 2015 13:39 GMT+01:00
Two academics expelled from a Norwegian University were suspected of carrying out secret research to help China build advanced high-speed missiles, Norway’s Police Security Service (PST) has claimed.
•China upset at Norway for expelling academic (04 Feb 15)
This is the first time a reason has been given for the expulsion in January of the two men, an applied Mathematics professor of Iranian origin and a Chinese PHD student ostensibly researching wind power.
“In short, this matter is all about about a research project that we believed would aid the further development of the most advanced high-speed missiles, in this context, for the benefit of China,” Arne Christian Haugstøyl from PST told TV2.
The two researchers have gone to court seeking to reverse the expulsion.
“It is incomprehensible to him,” said Arild Humlen, the lawyer representing the Iranian, who is a European citizen with longstanding ties to the university. “He strongly disagrees with this expulsion and the way the process leading to the expulsion was handled.”
Nils Anders Grønås, who represents the Chinese student, said his client had followed all the normal rules and guidelines and could not see how his research was illegal. He had been just weeks from completed his PHD when PST intervened, he added.
Haugstøyl denied Humlen's accusation that PST had misunderstood the research.
“We are absolutely clear that we have not have misunderstood the issue here, and we have also used external expertise from the Armed Forces Research institute,” he said.
“The reason that PST has got involved in this matter is that the technology being researched here is strictly regulated by export control regulations."
[China confrontation] [Hysteria] [Dual Use]
Wind Power Research Was Front for Chinese Ballistic Missile Development
AFP
by Oliver Lane 13 Mar 201522
A Chinese PhD candidate and a member of faculty staff at the Norwegian University of Agder have been expelled, after it transpired their research was being used as a cover for work on advanced ballistic missiles.
The two men were kicked out of the university in January, but it is only now the reason behind the move has been revealed, with a spokesman for the university remarking: “In short, this matter is all about about a research project that we believed would aid the further development of the most advanced high-speed missiles, in this context, for the benefit of China”.
Before their expulsion, the student was ostensibly working on research into wind power, and the staff member was an Iranian-born mathematics lecturer. No criminal charges have been pressed, and TheLocal.no reports lawyers representing the men are appealing the decision.
[China confrontation] [Hysteria] [Dual Use]
Students spies or Iranian weapons of mass destruction?
Last year, the Norwegian authorities refused a residence permit to 52 Iranian PhD students who were considering the acquisition of scientific knowledge that would enable them to develop weapons of mass destruction in Iran. Two of them, Hamideh Kaffash and Shahin Akbarnejad, filed a complaint against such a decision, that trial begins Wednesday in the District Court of Oslo .
“We saw large number of candidates from Iran for a special study area in a Norwegian institution, it seems like an organized deception “, said the head of the security service Police (PST) Arne Christian Haugstøyl the newspaper “Aftenposten”, last April. “All applicants will apparently top students, so we can question the authenticity of the documents to provide,” he added.
According Haugstøyl Tehran would have sent these young men at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, based in Trondheim, to acquire the necessary knowledge with which to develop weapons of mass destruction bypass international sanctions, as Haugstøyl- added the previous Iranian government have openly declared.
However, the affected students and especially young Hamideh Kaffash, who heads the campaign to eliminate discrimination against the Iranian Education (Sedai its acronym in English) and Shahin Akbarnejad and continues its studies at the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, strongly deny.
“I can not understand”
“I simply can not understand,” he said at the time as recorded by the Norwegian web Akbarnejad ‘The Local’. “I myself, as my supervisors and NTNU (University of Trondheim) have delivered documents showing that my research is completely public and has nothing to do with the development of weapons. I have nothing to hide “, he added.
Sedai And while the campaign has collected more than 12,000 signatures in an international campaign that Noam Chomsky has come for the government to revoke the decision to Immigration academic at the University of Trondheim also came in defense of their alumni. “It is a personal tragedy for the students” told public television the head of the Department of Materials Science at NTNU, Jostein Mårdalen. “They are eight to nine months of studies are interrupted,” he said. To clarify: “The projects have an environmental profile, are far from being the technology that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction”
[China confrontation] [Hysteria] [Dual Use]
MAC responds to mainland Chinese e-travel passes
Publication Date: September 22, 2015
Source: Taiwan Today
MAC responds to mainland Chinese e-travel passes
Premier Mao Chi-kuo (right) listens as MAC Minister Andrew Hsia explains the government’s position on e-travel passes issued by Beijing for ROC nationals Sept. 21 in Taipei City. (CNA)
All measures concerning cross-strait people-to-people exchanges should be communicated through institutionalized mechanisms so as to minimize unnecessary concern, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia said Sept. 21.
Beijing’s implementation of e-travel passes for ROC nationals in place of paper-based ones “reflects a lack of comprehensive thinking and complementary measures, showing no respect for Taiwan while hurting the feelings of the people,” Hsia said.
“We have repeatedly voiced our discontent to our mainland Chinese counterparts on this issue and will keep a close eye on related developments.”
According to the MAC, Beijing advised of the measure before making an official announcement in June. Although the two sides subsequently engaged in several rounds of communications, the implementation date was left unconfirmed.
Earlier this month, mainland China said the change would take effect Sept. 21. While the move was initially intended to provide more convenience for ROC nationals on the other side of the strait for business or education purposes, it now applies to all of the country’s citizens. This has triggered concerns over the risk of large-scale privacy breaches.
[Straits]
China's Billion-Dollar Gateway To The Subcontinent: Pakistan May Be Opening A Door It Cannot Close
Guest post written by
Mahwish Chowdhary
Ms. Chowdhary is an economist in London. You can email her at mahwishchowdhary@gmail.com.
Despite decades of mismanagement and a feeble socioeconomic infrastructure, one thing Pakistan benefits from is a strategic location—and China is taking notice.
More than 70% of China’s trade and energy imports travel through the Indian Ocean and the pirate-swarmed Strait of Malacca, both patrolled by the United States and Indian navies. But this possible chokepoint is a security issue for China, particularly in terms of oil (40% of its general consumption passes through the strait). Any sort of conflict could cut off the country’s energy supply, and ships would need to travel an extra 500 miles to avoid the strait, currently the fastest route from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. China, aware of this vulnerability, is looking to Pakistan to provide a shorter and safer alternative.
[China Pakistan] [Gwadar]
China, Russia to co-develop widebody jetliner
China Daily, September 21, 2015
Russia and China are expected to sign an intergovernmental agreement on the joint development of a widebody jetliner before the end of the year, according to the president of Russia's United Aircraft Corp.
The agreement would specify each country's responsibilities and profits from the project, Yury Slyusar said.
"So far, the project has proceeded well, and we plan to determine the technical requirements, specifications and outsourcing methods in March."
Slyusar dismissed speculation that the new jetliner will be a rival to China's domestically developed C919, whose maiden flight is scheduled for next year.
"The new jetliner is totally different from the C919 in terms of passenger volume and flight range. The two aircraft are aimed at different markets, so they will not compete with each other," he said, adding that the new plane will be able to carry 210 to 350 passengers, depending on the seating arrangements.
[China Russia] [Aerospace]
The New “Two Chinas” Question
Richard N. Haass
Richard N. Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, previously served as Director of Policy Planning for the US State Department (2001-2003), and was President George W. Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland and Coordinator for the Future of Afghanistan. His most recent book is Forei… read more
AUG 21, 2015 14
NEW YORK – To anyone over the age of 60 who follows world affairs, the term “two Chinas” recalls the post-1949 competition for diplomatic recognition waged by mainland (“Red”) China and Taiwan, or, more formally, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China. By the early 1970s, just about every country fell in line with the People’s Republic’s demand that it alone be recognized as the legitimate sovereign government of China. The mainland was simply too large and too important economically and strategically to alienate.
Today, a new, but very different, “two Chinas” question is emerging. It centers on whether China is best understood as a strong country, with a promising future despite some short-term difficulties, or as a country facing serious structural problems and uncertain long-term prospects. In short, two very different Chinas can now be glimpsed. But which one will prevail?
[China confrontation] [Collapse]
Chinese-invested U.S. rail project to start in 2016
Xinhua, September 17, 2015
The first high-speed railway project in the United States with Chinese investment involved is expected to kick off as early as September 2016, according to a senior Chinese official on Thursday.
The 370-km Xpress West high-speed railway project, also named the Southwest Rail Network, will connect Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California.
Last week, Xpress West agreed to form a joint venture with China Railway International USA CO., to build and operate the rail, according to Shu Guozeng, deputy head of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs.
China Railway International USA CO. is registered by a Chinese consortium led by national railway operator China Railway.
With 100 million U.S.dollars in initial capital, the new high-speed rail line will create abundant jobs throughout the interstate corridor. Implementation of necessary regulatory and commercial activities will begin within the next 100 days.
"As China's first high-speed railway project in the United States, the project will be a landmark in overseas investment for the Chinese railway sector and serve as a model of international cooperation," said Yang Zhongmin, chairman of China Railway International Co., Ltd.
[Railways] [ODI]
Updated China ODI data shows more impressive growth
Xinhua, September 17, 2015
China has recalculated its outbound direct investment (ODI) to 123.12 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, up 14.2 percent year on year in a leap even more impressive than previously estimated, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Thursday.
It was the third consecutive year for China to register the most ODI across the world, said Zhang Xiangchen, vice negotiation representative for international trade of the MOC at a press conference.
The latest data were jointly collected and processed by the MOC, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
China only started such calculation in 2002 and publicized the data in 2004.
From 2002 to this year, the three departments have changed their calculation methods for six times to introduce more international standards, said Jia Nan, deputy head of the NBS.
The latest data was different from the release earlier this year. In January, the MOC announced that China's ODI rose 14.1 percent year on year to 102.89 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.
Since China began to issue ODI figures, data has been expanding and the annual growth rate averaged 37.5 percent, Zhang said.
China has been facilitating outbound investment by cutting red tape to encourage enterprises to go overseas, he said.
The country will also provide more credit support for those engaged in the Belt and Road Initiative.
China's investment to countries along the Belt and Road top 13.66 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, about 11.1 percent of its total ODI, Zhang said.
[ODI]
Hyperloop line linking Beijing and Shanghai proposed
China Daily, September 17, 2015
An image released by Tesla Motors, is a sketch of the Hyperloop capsule with passengers onboard. [File photo]
Transportation time between Beijing and Shanghai could shorten significantly, if tech magnate Elon Musk's wild idea about next-generation travel, or transporting passengers in capsules, becomes a reality.
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Inc, a United States-based company that specializes in supersonic transportation systems, is considering a hyperloop project between Beijing and Shanghai.
"We are speaking with certain parties in China," said Bibop G. Gresta, deputy chairman of HTT, on Tuesday. "In terms of the distance and the density of travelers, the trip from Beijing to Shanghai is one of the most ideal routes to build a hyperloop project."
The concept of the hyperloop project is to let passengers travel in a low-pressure tube at the speed of sound. Once applied, the project in theory can reduce the 1,500-km, two-hour Beijing-Shanghai flight trip time by half.
"Each tube can transport 24 million people a year and we plan to have seven tubes. Basically, we can transport seven times more people from Beijing to Shanghai than flights," said Gresta on the sidelines of the 2015 Global Innovator Conference in Beijing.
He declined to offer more details, but said he will visit Shanghai later this week to meet potential partners. "We have started discussions, but we can't disclose with whom," said Gresta.
But it remains unclear if the government would support the project. China has been enthusiastic in building self-developed high-speed railways and exporting the technology to other markets.
[Transportation]
Beijing opens further 6 service industries to foreign capital
By Zhang Lulu
China.org.cn, September 16, 2015
Beijing will open a further six service industries and deepen reform in the overseas investment management system, according to Liu Haiquan, assistant minister of Commerce in Beijing on Tuesday, September 15th.
Beijing will open a further six service industries and deepen reform in the overseas investment management system, according to Liu Haiquan(L), assistant minister of Commerce in Beijing on Tuesday, September 15th.
Beijing will open a further six service industries and deepen reform in the overseas investment management system, according to Liu Haiquan(L), assistant minister of Commerce in Beijing on Tuesday, September 15th.
The six industries are science and technology, information and the Internet, culture and education, finance, trade and tourism, health and medical care.
The Chinese State Council agreed in May of 2015 that a trial project consisting of "opening up" the service industries will be carried out in Beijing, making Beijing the first pilot city in China to do so.
The "opening up" of the six industries coupled with the reform of the overseas investment management system constitute what is called the "6+1" pattern. The six service industries will be gradually opened to all types of investment, and the restrictions on the equity ratio of foreign capital will be loosened or abolished, while the restrictions on the necessary qualifications and scope of running a business will be partially or entirely loosened.
The reform on the foreign investment management system will focus on the implementation of the "filing system," meaning that many qualified companies do not have to go through the previous lengthy examination and approval procedures. The reform will help Chinese companies better tap the global market.
Compared to the "opening up" of service industries in China's four free trade zones (in Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, and Fujian), the pilot project in Beijing is the first time this kind of project has been carried out on a city-wide scale.
"The pilot program will be able to cover more areas with a higher concentration of industries and will be better equipped with support systems," said Liu Haiquan.
[FDI] [Opening] [Services]
The US and China’s Military Budget
On September 3, celebrations took place in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of Victory of Chinese People’s Resistance againstJapanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War. The significance of the event for the Chinese should not be underestimated, owing to which Beijing attached special importance to its preparation for the events and made sure that major global leaders would be present. Among the 23 heads of state who took part in the celebrations on September 3, which included a military parade, US president B. Obama was absent.
The US leader’s reluctance to pay tribute to China and the Chinese people should not be seen as accidental or unexpected and is consistent with Washington’s ambivalent and ambiguous policy towards Beijing. Despite the long-standing calls from the highest representatives of the USA for Beijing to develop trustworthy relations and a partnership, and continued US assurances of their desire to build “a new type of relationship between great powers” with China, Washington continues to demonstrate an unwillingness to respect “fundamental” Chinese interests, and build relations on an equal basis without constantly regulating various aspects of the Chinese leadership’s international and domestic activities.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/09/16/the-us-and-china-s-military-budget/
[Military expenditure] [China confrontation]
U.S. Drops Charges That Professor Shared Technology With China
By Matt Apuzzo
Sept. 11, 2015
WASHINGTON — When the Justice Department arrested the chairman of Temple University’s physics department this spring and accused him of sharing sensitive American-made technology with China, prosecutors had what seemed like a damning piece of evidence: schematics of sophisticated laboratory equipment sent by the professor, Xi Xiaoxing, to scientists in China.
The schematics, prosecutors said, revealed the design of a device known as a pocket heater. The equipment is used in superconductor research, and Dr. Xi had signed an agreement promising to keep its design a secret.
But months later, long after federal agents had led Dr. Xi away in handcuffs, independent experts discovered something wrong with the evidence at the heart of the Justice Department’s case: The blueprints were not for a pocket heater.
Faced with sworn statements from leading scientists, including an inventor of the pocket heater, the Justice Department on Friday afternoon dropped all charges against Dr. Xi, an American citizen.
It was an embarrassing acknowledgment that prosecutors and F.B.I. agents did not understand — and did not do enough to learn — the science at the heart of the case before bringing charges that jeopardized Dr. Xi’s career and left the impression that he was spying for China.
“I don’t expect them to understand everything I do,” Dr. Xi, 57, said in a telephone interview. “But the fact that they don’t consult with experts and then charge me? Put my family through all this? Damage my reputation? They shouldn’t do this. This is not a joke. This is not a game.”
The United States faces an onslaught from outside hackers and inside employees trying to steal government and corporate secrets. President Obama’s strategy to combat it involves aggressive espionage investigations and prosecutions, as well as increased cyberdefenses.
But Dr. Xi’s case, coming on the heels of a similar case that was dismissed a few months ago in Ohio, raises questions about whether the Justice Department, in its rush to find Chinese spies, is ensnaring innocent American citizens of Chinese ancestry.
[China confrontation] [Espionage] [Hysteria]
[Correspondent’s column] How might China use its “omnipotence”?
Posted on : Sep.11,2015 16:32 KST
At Sep. 3 military parade, Beijing appeared to have the elements bend to its will, but regional politics are another matter entirely
It was Aug. 30 in Beijing, and preparations were in full swing for the upcoming military parade when I called the local roadside waste collector.
“I want to get rid of my old desk. Could you come pick it up this afternoon?”
“I can’t right now. I’m not allowed to go out until September 3 because of the parade,” the collector explained. “I have to take off work until then.”
It was only on Sept. 4, after the parade had finished, that the collector was able to resume work.
China truly did invest all its energies into the parade, which was intended to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the country’s victory in its battle against the Japanese and the forces of fascism
Troop cuts signal path of peaceful development
Xinhua, September 5, 2015
The announcement by President Xi Jinping to cut China's troops by 300,000 ahead of an epic V-Day parade on Thursday proves the nation's resolve to sticking to the path of peaceful development.
The timing of the announcement, which surprised many, demonstrates China's sincerity as the much-anticipated parade was the nation's first one to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory of Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
The reduction is a consistent move for China, which has been an active force in arms control and disarmament in the global arena.
The cuts, which are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, will be China's 11th military reduction since the founding of New China on October 1, 1949, and the fourth one since the 1980s.
In 1985, China downsized its army by more than 1 million, the largest cuts ever. After the recent move, China's troop levels will stand at 2 million, compared with 6.27 million in October 1949.
Very few countries have made so many reductions on such large scales.
The scheduled cuts have proven arguments that China meant to showcase its military muscle with the massive parade groundless. Such voices are out of ill intent because they underline a so-called "China Threat" theory which is being hyped up by some western media outlets.
The reductions also show the Chinese government is not chanting empty slogans while saying Thursday's commemoration activities are aimed partly at cherishing peace and opening up the future.
True, even after the reduction, China's military forces will still be the world's largest, but the size, which is kept for defensive purposes, meets the practical needs of the nation, which has a population of 1.3 billion.
Aside from safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity, China needs a military to undertake non-military tasks such as disaster relief, peacekeeping and international rescue.
Official statistics reveal that since a devastating earthquake in 2008, China's armed forces have deployed more than 2.5 million military staff in non-military missions.
On a global stage, about 30,000 Chinese soldiers have so far served in UN's peacekeeping missions, the most among all five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Additionally, China also needs its military to cope with the threat of terrorism, separatism and extremism.
Therefore, keeping an appropriate level of armed forces is necessary for China.
Compared to Japan, which has 250,000 troops for a population of less than 130 million, the 2 million troops remaining is not that large for China, whose population is ten times that of Japan.
Although China will maintain a moderate budget for national defense, the money will be mostly used to meet various needs including expenditure on new armaments, information technology and salaries.
An official budget report revealed in March that China's military expenditure in 2014 accounted for less than 1.5 percent of GDP, well below the world's average of 2.6 percent.
In a nutshell, actions speak louder than words when it comes to which nation is really moving on a peaceful track.
[Military balance]
N.Korea Mum Over China Parade
North Korea has remained tight-lipped about China's massive military parade on Thursday celebrating the end of World War II in a sign of rocky relations with its long-time ally.
Choe Ryong-hae, a secretary in North Koreas Workers Party, sits at the end of a row as he wipes sweat from his face in this video grab from CCTV while watching Chinas military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on Thursday. Choe Ryong-hae, a secretary in North Korea's Workers Party, sits at the end of a row as he wipes sweat from his face in this video grab from CCTV while watching China's military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on Thursday.
The North may be particularly perturbed by the warm welcome given to South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who stood alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping at the event while Choe Ryong-hae, a powerful secretary in North Korea's Workers Party, was relegated to the far side.
The state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency merely reported that Choe departed to China without any coverage of the military parade.
Choe spent just a day in Beijing before returning home after a luncheon, apparently without meeting Xi.
"Pyongyang would feel uncomfortable while watching how close South Korea and China have grown," one diplomatic source said.
Another source however said Choe's visit to Beijing would present an opening for a thaw in the chilly relations.
[China NK]
Park Attends China Parade
President Park Geun-hye joined Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for a massive military parade commemorating the end of World War II. She stood alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and other dignitaries in Tiananmen Square as thousands of troops and millions of dollars worth of equipment passed by in the carefully choreographed event.
Notably absent were Western leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama, who believe the event is yet another sign of China's growing aggressiveness in the region.
President Park Geun-hye (third from right) watches a military parade along with other dignitaries in Beijing, China on Thursday. /Newsis President Park Geun-hye (third from right) watches a military parade along with other dignitaries in Beijing, China on Thursday. /Newsis
In a speech on Thursday, Xi announced plans to cut troop levels by 300,000, a move aimed at allaying such concerns, but there was no lack of military might at the parade as 12,000 troops, 200 aircraft and around 500 weapons systems, including mid-range ballistic missiles, were displayed before the world.
Park decided to attend despite the West's anxiety as she walks a fine line between her government's close political ties with the United States and a booming economic relationship with China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan pose for a group photo with dignitaries of foreign countries and international organizations and their spouses during the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing, China on Thursday. /Xinhua-Newsis Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan pose for a group photo with dignitaries of foreign countries and international organizations and their spouses during the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing, China on Thursday. /Xinhua-Newsis
China now accounts for a full quarter of Korea's overseas trade and has become the nation's top trading partner. The South Korean government also often looks to the Chinese for their influence over the increasingly unpredictable North Korea.
"The main reason for the decision to attend the military parade was the belief that China's cooperation is essential, not only for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, but reunification as well," a government official said.
It was impossible not to notice historical irony at the event. The Gate of Heavenly Peace, where Park stood on Thursday, was the same location where the late North Korean founder Kim Il-sung stood alongside Mao Zedong to observe the Red Army in 1954 and 1959.
But times have certainly changed, and this time, Choe Ryong-hae, a powerful secretary in North Korea's Workers Party, stood to the far right,
The parade comes at a crucial time for diplomacy in Northeast Asia, and observers hope that Park will be able to maintain close relationships with both Beijing and Washington.
"Korea and China agreed to work to resume the trilateral summit that involves Japan as well, and the Seoul-Washington and Beijing-Washington summits are set to take place soon," said Park Byung-kwang, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy. "It's important that Park's attendance at the Chinese celebration leads to some beneficial results for the political situation in Northeast Asia."
attesting to China's increasingly rocky relationship with the North.
[China SK]
Chinese Military Parade Freak-Out
by JP Sottile
September 4, 2015
The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming!
chinesemilitaryparade
Well, actually, they were just parading around their capital, celebrating the defeat of the Japanese and end of their bloody part in World War II. But (cue some strangely ominous music plucked on a Chinese guitar) this was no Chinese New Year parade featuring dancing acrobats, red firecrackers and a dragon puppet.
No, this was China showing that it’d come a long way from a century of foreign domination at the hands of the British, through America’s “Open Door” policy and then by the brute force of Imperial Japan. Perhaps predictably, this show of national pride and strength caused a funny little freak-out among media establishment-types sitting at their desks halfway around the world.
Although President Xi announced a cut of 300,000 troops and assured the world of China’s peaceful intentions, the news media framed the accompanying military parade as a display of “power, not peace” (The Guardian), as a show of military “might” (NY Times), as the kick-off to a dangerous “modernization” of China’s military (WaPo) … and it was juxtaposed against a new report detailing the Chinese Navy’s unprecedented encroachment into the Bering Sea (WSJ).
First, it’s not like the US doesn’t sail around the world like it owns the seven seas. Uncle Sam has, depending upon your definition of an “aircraft carrier,” somewhere between ten and nineteen carriers. China has one, but last year TIME ran story declaring that the Chinese were “doubling” their fleet! That would make for a “fleet” of … two. On the other hand, Uncle Sam’s actual fleet dwarfs the rest of the world combined and the US is currently dropping $580 million to expand its naval base in the Persian Gulf. And it’s deploying drones to its long-standing base in Guam … with the intent of monitoring, perhaps, Fiji? Uh, nope.
[China confrontation] [Military expenditure]
Park Needs to Balance Closer Ties with China
China staged a massive military parade in Tiananmen Square on Thursday featuring 12,000 troops, around 500 weapons and 200 fighter jets. All the weapons on display were made in China and 84 percent were shown for the first time.
The parade was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. China held 14 military parades from 1949 to 2009, but all of them on National Day on Oct. 1. This is the first time China held one on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
In fact it was mostly the Kuomintang forces led by generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, who were defeated in a civil war with the Communists and fled to Taiwan, who fought against colonial Japanese forces.
China probably held the military parade on the anniversary to flex its military muscle before the world. Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech, "China will always uphold the path of peaceful development." Xi also announced a reduction of 300,000 troops out of China's 2.3-million-strong military.
As China modernizes its military, there is little reason to maintain such huge numbers. The parade was China's way of telling the world that it has now become an undisputed superpower.
President Park Geun-hye stood second to the right of Xi after Russian President Vladimir Putin and watched the parade. Secretary of the North's Workers Party Choe Ryong-hae, who headed the North Korean delegation, stood at the very end of the line of dignitaries to Xi's right.
North Korea founder Kim Il-sung stood on the same podium twice -- in 1954 next to Chinese leader Mao Zedong for the fifth National Day and in 1959 for the 10th anniversary. Beijing and Pyongyang formed diplomatic ties more than 60 years ago, while Seoul-Beijing relations date back just 23 years. But Park was prominently featured among the guests, while Choe was almost invisible.
[Dilemma][China SK] [China NK]
Awe and Peace: As World Witnesses Massive Display of Military Power in Beijing, Xi Jinping Vows to Cut 300,000 Troops and Peaceful Intent
South China Morning Post
September 4, 2015
President Xi Jinping said on Thursday he would cut military personnel by 300,000 – twice the size of the British armed forces – by 2017, shortly before presiding over an unprecedented parade laden with symbolism and messages.
The parade to commemorate China’s victory against Japanese aggression in the second world war was groundbreaking in many ways.
It was the first parade China had held for a war anniversary and the first with foreign participation. It was also the first time Xi had reviewed troops as head of state and delivered a speech atop the Tiananmen Rostrum.
The scale of the event dwarfed all those before it. Some 12,000 soldiers, 50 generals, 500 pieces of military hardware and nearly 200 aircraft went before the Tiananmen Square audience, which included a comprehensive list of current and retired top leaders.
China Ponders: Does the Iran Nuclear Deal Mean North Korea is Next?
By Carla Freeman
10 September 2015
As newThe Iran Project - Rouhani and Xis spread in July of the freshly brokered multilateral plan on Iran’s nuclear program, some observers began to speculate that a North Korean nuclear deal might come next.[1] Analysts pinned their hopes on China, as in past moments of optimism, when they suggested that the North Korean ally might be able to help reanimate the Six Party process.
As China joined with Iran and five other powers in Vienna to unveil the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the culmination of years of painstaking diplomacy, Beijing appeared to encourage these expectations. In comments following the announcement, Chinese officials not only highlighted Beijing’s crucial role in bringing the talks to their successful conclusion, but they also suggested that the success of the negotiations held lessons for a new round of nuclear talks with Pyongyang. In an exchange with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the Iran deal’s announcement, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly described the Iran talks as “a positive reference for coping with other international and regional hot spot issues, including the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.”[2] Wang’s comments were echoed in a People’s Daily commentary—published under the name “Zhong Sheng” (“Voice of China”), a pseudonym often used to convey official Chinese positions on foreign policy—which described the deal with Iran as a “message of hope” to the world.[3]
Should official Chinese statements be understood as a signal that new nuclear talks with its neighbor and ally are on the horizon? The South Korean and US envoys to the Six Party process both visited Beijing in the week or so following the adoption of the agreement by the United Nations on July 19, and their trips could be read as promising signs. But in both Chinese universities and government-affiliated think tanks, Chinese experts who focus regularly on North Korea’s nuclear program have not aligned behind their government’s propositions: that the Iran agreement provides an opening for nuclear negotiations with North Korea, and that the Iran process holds lessons for reaching a deal with Pyongyang. As informed opinion, analyses by Chinese experts offer insights into how Beijing may assess the challenges and opportunities presented by international developments, or they may even be indicative of internal policy debate. Commentaries by elite observers may also be seen as policy tools in the sense that they can be used to help set public expectations for policy outcomes.
[Iran Deal] [China NK]
Tensions in the South China Sea: the nuclear dimension
by Mathieu Duchâtel and Eugenia Kazakova
Ever since China started constructing artificial islands in the South China Sea (SCS) on an unprecedented scale and speed by the standards of the region, the world’s attention has turned again to the intricate sovereignty disputes involving China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Many expert comments and opinion pieces have explained Chinese actions in terms of sovereignty claims. This piece sheds light on a specific strategic interest pursued by China in the South China Sea: the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) quest for a credible undersea nuclear deterrent. This dimension is easily overlooked, as the PLA has never officially mentioned the strategic importance of the SCS for China’s future nuclear posture. However, several signs suggest that the PLA’s nuclear deterrence strategy provides an important context to understand land reclamation work in the SCS.
The construction of a ballistic missile nuclear submarine force has been a priority of the PLA since Mao Zedong identified SSBNs as a key procurement goal to support China’s security and independence. Mao famously said in 1959: “We need to build a nuclear submarine, even if it takes us 10,000 years”. However after six decades of effort, the Chinese arms industry has yet to produce a reliable undersea nuclear deterrent. Today, at least four SSBNs are in service in the PLA Navy (PLAN). China tested its first submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM)—the JL-1—as early as 1988. However, there is no compelling evidence that the PLAN’s current nuclear submarine force guarantees a reliable second-strike capability to China. Several test-flights of the JL-2 have been conducted but it remains unclear as to when the missile will become operational. Many questions also remain regarding the capacities of the new class of SSBNs in service with the PLAN. In particular, propulsion problems remain a tremendous obstacle. Moreover, the fact that the Chinese arms industry is focusing on the next generation of SSBNs and SLBMs confirms that achieving an undersea second-strike capability is still a work in progress.
[SLBM] [Military balance] [Surveillance] [China confrontation]
Should the Pentagon Fear China’s Newest Weapon?
Beijing conducted yet another test of a new high-tech hypersonic glide vehicle.
By Franz-Stefan Gady
August 25, 2015
Last Wednesday, China conducted its fifth test of the WU-14 hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) – an ultra high-speed missile purportedly capable of penetrating U.S. air defense systems based on interceptor missiles, Bill Gertz of The Washington Free Beacon reports.
“The latest test of what the Pentagon calls the Wu-14 hypersonic glide vehicle was carried out from the Wuzhai missile test range in central China. The test was judged successful, according to defense officials familiar with details of the event,” Gertz notes.
This was the fifth time that China tested this new weapon (See: “Will This Chinese Weapon Be Able to Sink an Aircraft Carrier?”) and it could be an indication that the W-14 may soon become operational.
Similar to the June 7 test, the WU-14 HGV again performed evasive actions - extreme maneuvers – which makes the detection and tracking of the weapon difficult, if not impossible.
[Military balance]
Ministry: No troops sent to border with DPRK
China Daily, August 28, 2015
The Ministry of National Defense has dismissed a rumor that China's People's Liberation Army was reinforcing the border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Tension recently flared on the Korean Peninsula and then eased within days. Some online speculation and media reports have said photos of tanks were proof of the Chinese army marching toward the China-DPRK border as reinforcements.
"The reports ... are not in accordance with facts and are purely hype, "ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a regular news conference in Beijing on Thursday.
Currently, the China-DPRK border "remains stable overall", and the Chinese border defense forces "have consistently maintained regular combat readiness and training status", Yang said.
[China NK] [Canard]
Unpacking Beijing’s “Sinocentric Narcissism” during the Loudspeaker Crisis
By Adam Cathcart | August 25, 2015
About two days into the recent inter-Korean negotiations in Panmunjom, the Chinese state media in Beijing declared openly its concern that the Chinese Communist Party’s upcoming military parade and orchestrated media event of the decade could be “abducted” by the escalation on the peninsula:
Even for Delury, a scholar for whom any given Chinese expression of power ought rightly to sell a few books, the headline seemed untoward. The Global Times article was quickly incorporated into a few assessments of “China’s view of the Korean crisis,” the best of which was written by Hannah Beech, Beijing bureau chief for Time (also including views from the cheerfully ubiquitous John Delury). Yonhap also assumed that the English-language Global Times piece was the best available window into Chinese Communist Party opinion in a piece that argued that Kim Jong-un had declined an invitation to Beijing.
An editorial so universally cited as the key insight into Beijing’s thinking about the Korean crisis probably deserves a bit more than passing attention.
[China NK]
A ‘Great Reversal’ in China? Coal continues to decline with enforcement of environmental laws
Hao Tan, John A. Mathews
The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue. 34, No. 1, August 24, 2015
Two headline stories dominate discussion of China’s energy trajectory right now. The first is that reports from three agencies all point to the continuing decline in use of coal in the first half of 2015, continuing a trajectory already notable in 2014. These are not declines in the rate of growth, but absolute declines in the amount of coal consumed in power generation as well as in energy-intensive industries like steel and cement production. This points to the possibility that coal consumption may be peaking much earlier than anticipated in official government statements – and so pointing to an early peaking of carbon emissions. If continued, this would be a ‘Great Reversal’ of China’s recent dominant role in consumption of dirty fossil fuels and production of greenhouse gases.
The other side of this story is the determination to enforce pollution regulation. Not only did a new Environmental Protection Law take effect from 1 January 2015, but a new draft environmental tax law was recently aired for public consultation. Accompanying the development of formal laws are new accountability measures issued on 17 August 2015 by the Communist Party Central Committee that directly target the conduct of officials with respect to pollution and ecological damage.1 Such administrative measures are sometimes even more powerful in China than the law. In 2015, a former vice-minister for the Environment, Mr Zhang Lijun, has been caught up in the ongoing anti-corruption drive, becoming the highest-ranking environment official to be investigated. These are strong indications that the ‘Great Reversal’ is likely to be further supported by institutional developments.
The decline in coal production and consumption cannot come soon enough in China. The Guardian ran a full photo-news story in June on China’s shocking levels of pollution from use of coal, focusing on the toll taken in the health of coal miners and their families. (See here) There is indeed a coal boom choking China – and it would spell ruin for the country in the absence of a determined campaign to reverse the worst effects. The jury is still out as to whether China’s dramatic shift in trajectory towards a greening of its energy system will be able to counter-balance the heavy reliance on coal with all its deleterious effects.
[Coal] [Pollution]
Kim Jong-un snubs China's invitation to military parade: source
2015/08/24 14:55
BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has declined an invitation from China to attend a huge military parade next month marking China's victory over Japan in World War II, a diplomatic source said Monday.
The rejection of the Chinese invitation represents the strained political ties between the allies over the North's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons and wayward behavior, according to the source.
China has invited world leaders to attend the military parade on Sept. 3, a high-profile show of force. Many Western leaders are expected to shun the event.
"The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is not on the list of foreign leaders who finally confirmed their attendance at the Sept. 3 military parade," the source said on the condition of anonymity.
It remains unclear whether North Korea will send its ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam, to the Chinese event, according to the source.
Kim Jong-un had been widely expected to visit Moscow in May for the Victory Day celebration but did not because of "internal affairs," according to the Kremlin. Instead, Kim Yong-nam attended the Russian military parade.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye will be in China from Sept. 2-4 to attend events marking the 70th anniversary of the victory, though it remains unclear whether she will attend the military parade.
[China NK]
Scott Walker Calls on Obama to Cancel Chinese State Visit
Zeke J Miller @ZekeJMiller
Aug. 24, 2015
Republican presidential candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, speaks during a visit to the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 17, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Amid rising tension, a Republican calls to end a diplomatic courtesy
SPARTANBURG, SC — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is calling on President Barack Obama to cancel the upcoming state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping next month in retaliation for recent cyberattacks and currency manipulation.
In a statement to TIME, Walker said it was time for the Obama administration to hold China “accountable” amid accusations that the country was behind the hack of the U.S. office of personnel management in which more than 20 million records were breached.
“There’s serious work to be done rather than pomp and circumstance,” Walker said, encouraging Obama to show “backbone.”
The White House is facing bipartisan pressure to get tougher on China. The president last hosted Xi at the Sunnylands retreat in Palm Springs, CA in an informal meeting in June 2013. Obama met with Xi in China last year when they announced a major climate accord.
Earlier Monday, Walker blamed much of the recent drop in the financial markets on China’s recent currency devaluation.
[Governance] [China confrontation] [US_election16]
Xi pledges fantastic, extraordinary and excellent Winter Games
Xinhua, August 23, 2015
Xi said that Chinese government has always attached great importance to sport and the significant role of the Olympic Movement in economic and social development.
Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Games at the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, becoming the first ever city to stage both Summer and Winter Olympics.
Xi said that the 2022 Winter Olympics will create a win-win situation as it will raise the enthusiasm of Chinese people towards the Olympic Movement and will get more Chinese involved in ice and snow events.
"We will honor our commitments that we made during the bid process and will deliver a fantastic, extraordinary and excellent Winter Games," said Xi.
[Olympics] [Ski]
The DPP’s strategic ambiguity toward China
By Emily S. Chen
Aug 19, 2015
Any political party in Taiwan hoping to manage cross-strait relations must handle two relationships: one with Taiwan’s public and the other with the Mainland Chinese leadership. While the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s cross-strait policy attends to the two, it is unevenly focused. Party leaders have given more clarity to DPP policies on domestic governance – such as promoting the passage of the cross-strait negotiations oversight law – but less to managing ties with China. The DPP’s policy toward China remains ambiguous, and has good reason to keep it vague. The DPP’s policy of “strategic ambiguity” allows party leaders to claim the DPP does not evade the China issue while allowing flexibility in interpreting its position to accommodate its pro-independence base. However, presidential favorite candidate Tsai Ing-wen may face public pressure to clarify the party’s stance on cross-strait relations. This will be more urgent if Tsai wins by a small margin in the 2016 presidential election. According to a poll by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research (TISR) in July 2015, 59.5 percent of the Taiwanese public expects a new government after next year’s elections to consult with China to replace the current “1992 consensus” and govern future cross-strait ties. The poll results show that Tsai needs to prepare for a policy leap and clarify the DPP’s cross-strait policies before consulting with China to establish a new common ground to maintain cross-strait exchanges.
The DPP’s current cross-strait policy
During the DPP’s 28th anniversary reception on Sept. 28, 2014, Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen described the DPP’s cross-strait policy as “consistent, responsible, and predictable,” promising that the DPP will seek to establish “constructive dialogue with China.” Since then, the DPP has attempted to flesh out its concept of cross-strait engagement, which puts Taiwan’s domestic audience at the forefront.
[Taiwan] [DPP]
China Challenging All Foundations of US Military Power: Ex-US Official
The former director of the Missile Defense Agency offers a stern warning.
By Prashanth Parameswaran
August 20, 2015
China is challenging all major foundations of American military power, a former U.S. defense official said in a speech Wednesday.
Since the end of the World War II, U.S. military superiority has relied on three major foundations, Trey Obering, the former director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), told an audience at the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. These were superior strategic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities (ISR); the ability to project power globally; and an overwhelming dominant technological advantage across a spectrum of conflict.
But China, Obering said, was now challenging all three of these major foundations of American power.
“I believe that China is challenging the United States, specifically targeting our strategic ISR, our power projection capabilities, and our technological advantages with their missile programs,” he said.
Obering, who had a military career spanning 35 years before becoming executive vice-president at Booz Allen Hamilton, addressed China’s threat to each of these three foundations in turn.
On the first, China has already demonstrated its capability to destroy low, earth-orbiting satellites with its anti-satellite missile test in 2007, a test that was repeated earlier this year. But, he said, Beijing is already developing a capability to reach even higher orbits which would allow it to target “nearly all of our [American] space assets.”
More worryingly, Obering said that while the United States relies heavily on space-based capabilities, the United States “has not chosen to view space in the same way” that it views air, land, and sea when it comes to protecting critical lines of communication.
Turning to the second foundation – global power projection – Obering said China was challenging U.S. carrier battle groups, a key capability for deterrence and, if needed, striking an enemy on its soil. For instance, Beijing has developed a medium-range anti-ship missile, the DF-21, which is “clearly and specifically targeted” at U.S. carrier battle groups.
“This missile is a formidable threat which represents very advanced technology,” he warned.
Moving on to the third foundation – technological superiority – he said that in his view, China was clearly not content with its current advancements but was moving to surpass the United States technologically.
[China confrontation] [Military balance]
China to accelerate railway investment in H2
Xinhua, August 17, 2015
A high-speed train in China. [Xinhua]
China has hastened efforts to build high speed rails as annual investment targets are still far from complete.
On Monday, China's northernmost high-speed railway started operation in Heilongjiang Province. The trip from Harbin City, the provincial capital, to Qiqihar City was reduced from three hours to 85 minutes.
Last week, a railway linking Jinan City and Qingdao City in east China's Shandong Province broke ground. Local governments will raise 80 percent of the 60 billion yuan (9.4 billion U.S. dollars) investment, while all previous projects were primarily funded by the China Railway Corporation.
China has invested more than 265.1 billion yuan in domestic railway construction in the first half of 2015, up 12.7 percent. An additional 2,226 km of new rail lines were put into service.
At the start of the year, China set targets to invest more than 800 billion yuan in railway construction this year, creating 8,000 km of new track.
This means the country must spend more than 500 billion yuan on railways and service 5,000 km of new lines by the end of the year.
"The government is pushing ahead with railway development with great efforts. The construction will boom in the latter half of the year," said Wang Mengshu, a railway expert with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
[Railways]
New high-speed, cold-resistant railway to start operation
CRI, August 17, 2015
A high-speed train service will start operation on Monday, linking some of the most northernmost cities in China.
The rail line will link Harbin, the capital of northeast Heilongjiang, with Qiqihaer, Heilongjiang's second largest city.
The service will have 28 trains designed to endure severe cold - up to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
"We have replaced some critical parts of the 5A train with cold-resistant stuffs, such as low-temperature valves and grease. This prevents the train from malfunctioning in cold temperatures," said Huang Lei, deputy head of the Harbin Railway Administration High Speed Train Department's Technology Inspection Division.
Average temperatures for Qiqihaer and Harbin in January are minus 19.2 degrees Celsius and minus 18.3 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The trains run at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour.
It will cut the travelling time between the two cities from 3 hours to some 85 minutes.
The high-speed train service is expected to transport 8 million passengers per year.
The railway for the new service is also designed to withstand temperature extremes.
[Railways]
Chinese J-10s perfect fighter jets for Iran: Experts
China Daily, August 17, 2015
The China-made J-10 multi-role fighter jet is a suitable choice for Iran if the Middle East power decides to upgrade its aging military aircraft fleet, Chinese aviation experts said.
"Once the sanctions against Iran are completely lifted, the country will definitely renovate its civilian and military aircraft fleets. The J-10 is a good option for the Iranians because it can fulfill all operations they want to conduct," said Wang Yanan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine.
"In addition to air combat, our J-10 is also capable of performing air-to-surface strikes and anti-ship operations," he added. "Moreover, the Iranians must have known that China, among other major weapon exporters, is the most reliable supplier when it comes to arms deals. China is also very flexible in payment issues."
Main force aircraft of Chinese Air Force, such as J-10 are always the favorite of military fans. [Photo/www.81.cn]
Furthermore, with the development of China's next-generation fighter jet progressing well, it is highly possible that the Chinese aviation industry will transfer technologies used on the J-10 to buyers, Wang said.
Wang's remarks came after two weeks of widespread speculation in foreign media that China and Iran are discussing a deal for 150 J-10 fighter jets.
The speculation began on July 30, as the Israeli military intelligence website DEBKAfile quoted unidentified military and intelligence sources as reporting that "Beijing has agreed to sell (Teheran) 150 of these sophisticated jets."
The J-10 is a third-generation, multi-role fighter aircraft designed and produced by Aviation Industry Corp of China. Military experts regard it as one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world and consider it comparable to the latest version of the United States' F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The first-generation version of the J-10, the J-10A, entered service with the People's Liberation Army air force in 2004. In 2009, the plane was declassified. By February last year, the PLA air force and the PLA navy's aviation units had at least 260 J-10As, according to British think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies.
[China Iran] [Arms sales] [Fighters] [Pakistan]
Chinese rail deal raises hopes for economic shift in North Korea
Nathan Vanderklippe
BEIJING — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015 5:31PM EDT
North Korea is hoping to woo billions of dollars in foreign investment to rejuvenate its tattered industrial landscape after signing a deal that gives a small Chinese rail company the right to invest in a huge swath of the Hermit Kingdom’s economy.
For decades, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been among the most isolated places on earth, cut off from the broader world politically and economically. It remained steeped in deep poverty as its neighbours in China and South Korea embraced reforms that radically remade their countries.
Children look at posters on human rights abuses in North Korea, Feb. 5, 2006, on display at the Full Gospel Inchon Church in Inchon, South Korea. In South Korea, the issue of human rights in the North has been spearheaded by conservative Christian whose aim is to take their faith to the northern half of the divided peninsula. Although the movement's most visible spokesmen are North Korean defectors, its core is made up of South Korean Christians who, in the past decade, have grown into the world's second-largest overseas missionary force after the United States'.
in North Korea? Photographer's Instagram feed provides a look
But a new deal with China Railway Investments Group Ltd. promises to propel the secretive nation along a path similar to what China itself followed in becoming a middle-income nation whose people now trade and travel broadly. The deal will see the state-owned Chinese rail entity form a joint venture with a North Korean government-backed company to make investments and bring in other foreign investors. Details of the deal were provided to The Globe and Mail by some of those involved.
[FDI] [Media] [Inversion] [Agency]
N. Korea's trade with China tumbles this year: KDI
2015/08/11 12:00
SEJONG, Aug. 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's trade with China plunged more than 10 percent in the first five months of 2015 due mainly to a drop in raw material prices, a report showed Tuesday.
North Korea's outbound shipments to its neighbor sank 10.3 percent on-year to US$954 million in the January-May period, while imports plunged 14.3 percent to $1.09 billion, according to the report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI).
"Bilateral trade was down 12.5 percent compared to the year before with exports of anthracite coal and iron ore affecting overall numbers," KDI said. "Compared to the year before, when trade fell 4.8 percent, this year's drop is more pronounced."
The think tank based its assessment on data provided by the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the Korea International Trade Association.
North Korea's exports of coal to China declined 1.6 percent in dollar terms, with the number for iron ore nosediving 70.3 percent.
Falling exports and a subsequent drop in earnings were probably felt by Pyongyang, which will have to consider other means of generating hard currency.
Compared to 2013, when the North's exports of coal reached its peak, this year's numbers represent a 24.6 percent drop.
"The contraction is noteworthy because the North actually diversified the places it shipped coal to in China," the KDI said.
In regards to iron ore, exports declined, both in terms of volume and prices, with the weakening of China's steel industry directly impacting trade. Exports stood at 600,000 tons, down from 1.11 million tons, with the value standing at $22.96 million.
The KDI said Pyongyang's No. 1 import item from its neighbor was filament yarn, followed by cargo trucks and petroleum products. Imports of yarn and petroleum products were down, while shipments of cargo trucks rose.
[Trade] [China NK]
China’s credibility on the line as yuan slides again, global markets slump
By Simon Denyer August 12 at 12:11 PM ?
BEIJING — China’s currency slid for a second day on Wednesday, sending more shockwaves through global financial markets and raising fresh questions about the credibility of the country’s economic management.
The surprise moves by China to allow more market forces to set currency rates — an effective devaluation at the moment — have also deepened speculation about the true strength of the world’s second-largest economy after recent jolts including a stock market plunge.
The sense that the Communist Party was an almost infallible steward of the nation’s economy took a battering during the stock crash in June and July. A few weeks later, China’s economic data — showing growth steady at 7 percent despite widespread signs of a slowdown — were widely derided by analysts as inaccurate and overblown.
Now, fresh concerns have surfaced about the stewardship of the central bank after a shock decision to allow market forces to play a greater role in setting exchange rates.
Over two days, China’s currency, known as the yuan or renminbi, was down 3.5 percent, sparking headlines about a global currency war and threatening to fan trade tensions with the United States.
[Devaluation] [China bashing]
Yuan weakens most in 2 decades on central bank reform
Xinhua, August 11, 2015
Following the change, the central parity rate of the RMB, or the yuan, weakened sharply by 1,136 basis points, or nearly 2 percent, to 6.2298 against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. [Xinhua]
China's currency fell sharply in value on Tuesday following the central bank's decision to improve its "central parity system" to better reflect market development in the exchange rate between the Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar.
Effective beginning Tuesday, daily central parity quotes reported to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System before the market opens should be based on the closing rate of the inter-bank foreign exchange rate market on the previous day, supply and demand in the market, and price movement of major currencies, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said.
The PBOC cited a strong U.S. dollar and sharp appreciation in the RMB real effective exchange rate as key considerations behind the policy change.
The PBOC said the RMB's central parity has deviated from its actual market rate "by a large extent and for a long duration," which has "undermined the authority and the benchmark status" of the central parity system.
Following the change, the central parity rate of the yuan weakened sharply to 6.2298 against the U.S. dollar compared to 6.1162 on Monday, down nearly 2 percent, a record low since April, 2013.
[Devaluation]
President should visit
Beijing trip to strengthen alliance with U.S. as well
President Park Geun-hye should visit Beijing and stand with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a massive military parade on Sept. 3 to celebrate the anniversary of the World War II victory over Japan.
Cheong Wa Dae still has not decided on Park's participation in the event less than three weeks away, worrying that it will harm the nation's alliance with the United States.
There is no need for further vacillating because her visit has more benefits than disadvantages.
First, China is Korea's biggest trading partner and is emerging as the dominant power in the region and a global superpower.
[Dilemma]
Park Geun-hye mulls whether to join China's war anniv.
Xinhua, August 10, 2015
South Korean President Park Geun-hye is cautiously considering whether to attend the ceremony in China to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People' s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, her spokesman said Monday.
Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters that all the matters were being deliberately considered to decide whether President Park will attend the celebratory event to be held in Beijing in early September.
China has scheduled a series of events for the war victory anniversary, culminating in a military parade on Sept. 3 in Beijing.
Min said that the presidential office was factoring in various things, including the ceremony to re-open the office of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which was established in Shanghai in 1919 for the Korean independent activists against Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
The official announcement on whether Park will join the event would be made late this week or early next week, a presidential official was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying.
Japan's Kyodo News reported that the United States called for President Park, through diplomatic channels, not to attend the celebratory event in China, but Min said it was "groundless."
Other media reports said that the U.S. side denied the Kyodo report, the spokesman added.
[Dilemma] [Park Geun-hye]
Park Likely to Attend WWII Celebrations in Beijing
Park Geun-hye /Newsis Park Geun-hye /Newsis
President Park Geun-hye is likely to accept an invitation to Beijing on Sept. 3 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
A government source on Sunday said the matter has not been decided, but there are persuasive reasons for Park to go that would outweigh any awkwardness in attending a massive military parade there.
Around the same time Park will be in Shanghai to reopen the restored building of the provisional Korean government set up there during the Japanese occupation, and she has a cordial relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Park's trip to China was also discussed during a meeting of the two foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last Wednesday
There Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi again urged Park to attend, and his Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se promised to make a decision soon.
Caution may be necessary because Washington, which feels threatened by China's military expansion in the region, has asked Park to give the event a miss, according to Japan's Kyodo News.
[Dilemma] [Park Geun-hye]
‘Parkour’ sport eases divisions between Uighurs and Han Chinese
By Stuart Leavenworth
URUMQI, China —
In China’s far-western province of Xinjiang, Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese mix on the street daily but largely lead separate lives. Many Uighurs resent Beijing’s rule, as well as government efforts to fold them into the “big Chinese family.”
But amid Xinjiang’s tense ethnic divisions, friendships are developing – gingerly – among some Uighurs and Chinese. Appreciation for food and music brings the two groups together. So does a love of sports.
In many cities of Xinjiang, the latest outdoors craze is parkour – a training regimen that started in France and has gone viral worldwide. Imagine groups of young people jumping, vaulting and flipping in the air, often using whatever structures they can find – ranging from park benches to rooftops.
As in Europe, the authorities that oversee parks and public spaces in Xinjiang are not parkour-friendly. They fear injuries or “disturbances to public order.”
Even so, it’s not hard to find parkour groups – a mix of Han and Uighurs – practicing their stunts in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, or in Aksu, a heavily policed city to the southwest.
Jin Xiaolong, 27, helped start a group in Urumqi six years ago that has grown to include 25 members. Many started as teenagers, learning about parkour from Internet videos.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article30414144.html#storylink=cpy
[Xinjiang] [Media]
PFP Chairman Soong enters presidential race
People First Party Chairman James Soong announces his candidacy for the 2016 ROC presidential election Aug. 6 in Taipei City. (CNA)
•Publication Date:08/06/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
Taiwan’s opposition People First Party Chairman James Soong announced Aug. 6 his bid to contest the 2016 ROC presidential election, pledging to free the nation from a vicious cycle of partisan politics.
“Over the last 20 years, Taiwan’s democratic progress has been stuck in a rut, plagued by the shadows of authoritarianism and cutthroat competition between conflicting ideologies,” Soong said. “Collaboration instead of endless confrontation is our only way out of this mess.”
America's Government Is Torn on How to Handle China
Reports indicate the Pentagon and some sections of Congress are frustrated with the White House’s cautious approach.
By Shannon Tiezzi
August 04, 2015
In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Defense was considering sending Navy surveillance aircraft and vessels within 12 nautical miles of China’s man-made islands in the South China Sea, violating what Beijing claims as its territorial waters and airspace. Since then, though the U.S. has made a point of publicizing its patrols in the region – including by inviting a CNN camera crew on board a surveillance operation in May, and having a Pacific Fleet commander on board another flight in July – so far, the U.S. Navy has not publicly admitted to conducting operations within 12 nm of any Chinese-controlled features.
According to a new report from Politico, the delay stems from a disagreement between the White House and the Pentagon over the wisdom of such operations. The crux of the debate is the Pentagon’s view that China’s artificial features, as man-made constructions, are not entitled to a 12 nm territorial zone. By maintaining that distance from those features, military analysts worry that the U.S. is effectively lending credence to China’s attempts to alter the status quo. As U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter put it at the Shangri-La Dialogue, “After all, turning an underwater rock into an airfield simply does not afford the rights of sovereignty or permit restrictions on international air or maritime transit.”
Meanwhile, detractors in the White House worry that deliberate (and public) U.S. operations within the 12 nm zone would escalate tensions in the volatile region, as China would respond to a perceived violation of its territory. In a worst-case scenario, that could result in a confrontation between U.S. and Chinese military assets, potentially leading to shots fired. Thus, the White House has decided to tread carefully – at least so far. That will become more difficult as opponents of the more cautious strategy make their grievance public.
It’s not only the Pentagon calling for a more robust response – some members of Congress are as well. The Politico report comes after the Senate tried to pin down Admiral John Richardson, the nominee for Chief of Naval Operations, on exactly how the administration would respond to China’s construction and island-building projects in the South China Sea. According to Breaking Defense, Richardson called China’s construction “destabilizing” but would not clarify whether or not the U.S. should respect a 12 nm zone around the artificial islands. Richardson said, “It’s absolutely important that the Navy continue to be present in that region… (but) we do have to respect the legitimately claimed territorial boundaries.”
“Does that mean respecting that?” Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) responded, pointing to a photograph of Fiery Cross Reef, where China has constructed an airstrip over the past year. Richardson replied, “I’d have to at look exactly which of those claims are legitimate… It’s a dynamic situation there.”
Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Politico that not allowing to Navy to operate within the 12 nautical mile zone is “a dangerous mistake that grants de facto recognition of China’s man-made sovereignty claims.”
[China confrontation] [Dissension]
Obama team, military at odds over South China Sea
Washington maintains the Navy has the right to sail or fly by the series of artificial islands that China is outfitting with military equipment.
By Austin Wright, Philip Ewing and Bryan Bender
| 7/31/15 2:54 PM EDT
Some U.S. naval commanders are at odds with the Obama administration over whether to sail Navy ships right into a disputed area in the South China Sea — a debate that pits some military leaders who want to exercise their freedom of navigation against administration officials and diplomats trying to manage a delicate phase in U.S.-China relations.
The Pentagon has repeatedly maintained it reserves the right to sail or fly by a series of artificial islands that China is outfitting with military equipment. The Navy won’t say what it has or hasn’t done, but military officials and congressional hawks want the U.S. to make a major demonstration by sending warships within 12 miles of the artificial islands and make clear to China that the U.S. rejects its territorial claims.
.
.
By not doing so, they charge, Washington is tacitly accepting China’s destabilizing moves, which are seen by U.S. allies in the region such as Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam as highly threatening.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/barack-obama-administration-navy-pentagon-odds-south-china-sea-120865.html#ixzz3hlc0fe31
[South China Sea] [Dissension] [US military]
Clinton donors also pumped millions into McAuliffe’s coffers
By Laura Vozzella July 29 at 5:59 PM ?
RICHMOND — Wang Wenliang is a delegate to China’s parliament whose construction conglomerate builds China’s embassies around the world and controls a strategic port near North Korea.
He also is a big donor — seven figures to the Clinton Foundation and, through his firm’s New Jersey affiliate, six figures to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
More than 175 contributors to the Clinton Foundation and to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2016 Democratic presidential campaign have dug deep into their wallets for McAuliffe (D), often giving prolifically despite little or no connection to Virginia.
Wang’s companies ship soybeans through Virginia ports, but the tie to the commonwealth is more tenuous for many of the dual donors. Among them is an Omaha database executive who lavished so much corporate jet travel on himself and the Clinton family that shareholders forced him out. A Hollywood media mogul with a singular interest in Israel. And an Argentine-born energy tycoon who recalled visiting Richmond just once — flying in and out years ago with Bill Clinton, his Georgetown classmate.
[Media] [Clinton] [China bashing]
Kim Jong-un Sends Wreath to Chinese Veterans Cemetery
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday sent a wreath to a cemetery of Chinese soldiers who were killed during the Korean War, state media said.
The wreath marking the 62nd anniversary of the armistice was placed at the cemetery in South Pyongan Province.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday visits a memorial for soldiers who fought in the Korean War, marking the 62nd anniversary of the armistice. /Xinhua-Newsis North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday visits a memorial for soldiers who fought in the Korean War, marking the 62nd anniversary of the armistice. /Xinhua-Newsis
Earlier, in a speech at an event for war veterans in Pyongyang last week, Kim expressed his respect for the sacrifice of Chinese soldiers who supported the North Korean army during the war.
It was the first time in two years that Kim sent a wreath to the cemetery and comes after a period of chilly relations between the allies.
In July 2013, Kim went to lay the wreath himself, but last year he did not even send a wreath, making the matter a fine gauge of the state of bilateral ties for some pundits.
Buried among the Chinese soldiers is Mao Anying, the eldest son of Mao Zedong. Chinese media took a keen interest in Kim's wreath.
The website China.com speculated that it represented "a meaningful message" to the Chinese leadership.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the city of Shenyang in the wake of his trip to the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture and Jilin on July 16-18.
Xi reportedly told officials to push harder for the opening of Liaoning Province to outside, suggesting that there is a mutual exchange of symbolic gestures taking place.
[China NK] [Korea War]
NK, China seeking to fix ties
By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea and China have exchanged friendly gestures in an apparent bid to improve their diplomatic relations which have been strained since Kim Jong-un took the helm in Pyongyang in December 2011.
Kim offered a gesture of reconciliation with China, Monday, when he honored Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, according to analysts.
For the first time since 2013, the dictator who is believed to be 32 years old ordered that a wreath be laid on a mass grave in South Pyongan Province where Chinese soldiers who fought with North Korea are buried.
The political observers added that a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also on Monday, to Shenyang in Liaoning Province, indicated that Beijing was willing to embrace Pyongyang as its partner in the Far East along with Moscow.
[China NK]
Pres. Park carefully mulling attendance at September event in Beijing
Posted on : Jul.28,2015 18:31 KST
After the summit by President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the morning of Nov. 10, 2014, Yoon Sang-jick, South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (front left) and Gao Hucheng, Chinese Commerce Minister (front right), exchange signed copies of the agreed minutes while the two countries’ leaders look on and applaud. (by Lee Jeong-yong, staff photographer)
Western leaders bowing out of event to celebrate China’s rise, while Park has an especially tough call to make
Beijing’s Tiananmen Square area is undergoing a facelift. Old sidewalk blocks and railings are being replaced, and surrounding infrastructure is getting a new paint job. Special bomb-resistant equipment has been installed on a stretch of Chang’an Avenue between the gate and the square.
The aim of the makeover is to prepare the setting for an upcoming military review to mark the 70th anniversary of victory against the Japanese and fascists at Tiananmen Square on Sept. 3. China has sent invitations to leaders of around fifty countries to date. The major event is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan for highlighting his country‘s achievements as one of the major victors in World War II - and showing off its newfound wealth and power.
But the review is looking increasingly unlikely to live up to Beijing’s ambitions. Leaders in several major Western countries, including the US, have already balked at attending. The only countries yet to respond to their invites are Russia and some Central Asian countries, including Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Not only has Washington expressed its basic opposition to the review, but Xi’s scheduled US visit in September makes President Barack Obama even less likely to attend. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also rumored to be planning a China visit for September, but many expect him to specifically avoid coming on the third.
[Dilemma] [US dominance]
Response to PacNet #41 “Tough times ahead if the DPP returns to power?”
By Joseph A. Bosco
Jul 28, 2015
Bonnie Glaser and Jacqueline Vitello sound the alarm for US policymakers regarding the stakes in Taiwan's presidential election next January. (PacNet #41 “Tough times ahead if the DPP returns to power?”)
The clock started running on this particular scenario on Election Day 2012 since President Ma Ying-jeou by law could not run for a third term. With no assurance of another KMT victory in 2016, Beijing strived to make the most of the four years it could count on a Ma administration being more receptive than what might follow.
It bet heavily on economic integration as the path to forging significant and irreversible political bonds. Ma was initially favorably inclined, but as Glaser/Vitello note, he faced strong domestic resistance, culminating in the Sunflower Movement and the electorate's repudiation in the 2014 municipal and legislative elections.
Persuasion having failed to sway the Taiwanese to see things their way, China's Communist leaders reverted to their default position – coercion and threats.
[Taiwan] [DPP] [China confrontation]
N.Korea Imports Luxury Goods from China
Defying international sanctions, North Korea is importing luxury goods like French wine and perfume through the Chinese border city of Dandong.
In early July, three container trucks carrying French wine, high-end perfume, and liquor went to Pyongyang via the customs checkpoint in Dandong, a source in the border town said Tuesday. They were registered as daily necessities on the customs log.
"Two senior North Korean party officials and a dozen uniformed soldiers took over the containers," the source added.
Leader Kim Jong-un will probably hand them out to ensure the loyalty of senior officials on July 27, the anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War.
The North also imported 2,000 Chinese-made computers through the customs checkpoint.
They were taken over by officers from the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, a source claimed, and will be used to train personnel at a cyber agency.
[Imports] [Sanctions] [China NK]
Ma reaffirms commitment to cross-strait peace
President Ma Ying-jeou explains the government’s cross-strait policy during a recent interview with the BBC at the Presidential Office in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Presidential Office)
•Publication Date:07/28/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
President Ma Ying-jeou said rapprochement reduces the risk of military conflict between Taiwan and mainland China, and is the best strategy for maintaining cross-strait peace.
“Relations between Taipei and Beijing have improved tremendously since I took office in May 2008 and are at the highest level in 50 years, especially in economic and cultural exchanges,” Ma said.
“But it takes caution and patience to deal with these issues. The two sides have been under separate governance for over 60 years, and things cannot be changed overnight.”
The president made the remarks in an interview concerning the government’s cross-strait policy and current state of two-way ties published July 27 on the BBC website.
According to Ma, given mainland China’s close geographical proximity, it stands as a big risk and opportunity for Taiwan. “Any leader [in Taiwan] has to learn how to minimize the risks and maximize the opportunity. That’s what I have been doing for the past seven years.”
[Straits]
Europe finds the China connection
23 July 2015
Authors: Maaike Okano-Heijmans and Daniel Lanting, Clingendael Institute
Good news from the 2015 EU–China Summit: Europe appears on track to taking itself and its relationship with China more seriously. The launch of the Connectivity Platform was an important outcome of the high-level meeting. It shows that the European Union is not a mere partaker of China-led initiatives, but a moderator and controller of quality for China’s vast ambition to reshape its global economic governance reach. European capitals play an important role in Beijing’s strategy, and their combined efforts can influence Beijing to agree with measures that may be out of its comfort zone.
[China EU]
China launches 2 satellites for independent navigation system
Xinhua, July 26, 2015
Combined photo taken on July 25, 2015 shows the Long March-3B/Yuanzheng-1 rocket carrying two new-generation satellites for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) blasting off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwest China's Sichuan Province. China successfully launched two satellites for its indigenous global navigation and positioning network at 8:29 p.m. Beijing Time Saturday, the launch center said. [Xinhua/Zhu Zheng]
China successfully launched two satellites for its indigenous global navigation and positioning network at 8:29 p.m. Beijing Time Saturday, the launch center said.
Launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern China's Sichuan Province, the two satellites were the 18th and 19th for the Beidou Navigation Satellite system, China's homegrown navigation system.
They were sent into their preset orbits by a Long March-3B/Expedition-1 carrier rocket 3.5 hours after the launch, the center said.
Expedition-1, or Yuanzheng-1, is an independent aircraft installed on the carrier rocket with the ability of sending one or more spacecraft into different orbits in space.
The successful launch marks another solid step in building Beidou into a navigation system with global coverage, the center said.
[GPS]
China protests Japan allowing Lee Teng-hui's entry
Xinhua, July 25, 2015
China on Friday voiced grave concern and strong dissatisfaction over Japan's decision to allow former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui to visit Japan.
"Lee Teng-hui is a stubborn Taiwan splittist," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang in a press release.
Despite stern representations from China, Japan assisted Lee's visit and his involvement in Taiwan separatist activities, said Lu.
The Taiwan issue concerns the core interest of China, he said, adding China is resolutely opposed to any individual trying to engage in Taiwan separatist activities in any form.
[Taiwan] [Lee Teng-hui]
Guangzhou detains 27 for illegal immigration
CRI, July 25, 2015
Local police in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province detain 27 illegal immigrants on July 17, 2015. [Photo/ legaldaily.com.cn]
Police in south China's Guangzhou City detained 26 foreign nationals and 1 Chinese national for illegally attempting to enter south China's Guangdong Province and Hong Kong for jobs, the China News reports.
According to local police in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong Province, 27 people were apprehended from a fishing barge along the port of Nansha terminal on July 17, 2015.
25 of them were from Vietnam, 1 from Bengal, and 1 from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
[Migration]
China’s NGO Law: Countering Western Soft Power and Subversion
China has recently taken an important step in more tightly regulating foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) inside the country. Despite condemnation from so called human rights groups in the West, China’s move should be understood as a critical decision to assert sovereignty over its own political space. Naturally, the shrill cries of “repression” and “hostility toward civil society” from western NGOs have done little to shake the resolve of Beijing as the government has recognized the critical importance of cutting off all avenues for political and social destabilization.
The predictable argument, once again being made against China’s Overseas NGO Management Law, is that it is a restriction on freedom of association and expression, and a means of stifling the burgeoning civil society sector in China. The NGO advocates portray this proposed legislation as another example of the violation of human rights in China, and further evidence of Beijing’s lack of commitment to them. They posit that China is moving to further entrench an authoritarian government by closing off the democratic space which has emerged in recent years.
However, amid all the hand-wringing about human rights and democracy, what is conveniently left out of the narrative is the simple fact that foreign NGOs, and domestic ones funded by foreign money, are, to a large extent, agents of foreign interests, and are quite used as soft power weapons for destabilization.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/07/25/china-s-ngo-law-countering-western-soft-power-and-subversion/
[NGO] [Destabilisation] [China confrontation] [Softwar]
China condemns separatist attack on Sydney consulate
CRI, July 24, 2015
The Chinese embassy in Australia has condemned the violent attack by Tibetan separatists on the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney.
Australian authorities have detained 10 people connected to the Wednesday attack and 8 of them have been charged with a range of offences, including trespass.
A group of about 30 Tibetan separatists stormed the forecourt of the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney during a demonstration on Wednesday afternoon. Some hurled stones at the glass door of the main building of the consulate, with one scaling a pole to pull down the Chinese national flag which was flying at half staff to mourn former Chinese top legislator Wan Li who died last week.
[Separatism] [Tibet]
CRRC wins record US$800 mln subway train order
Xinhua, July 24, 2015
China's CRRC Corp. Ltd. is going to produce subway cars for Hong Kong's railway operator, in its largest subway car deal.
CRRC subsidiary CSR Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd signed a contract valued at 4.84 billion yuan (790 million U.S. dollars) with MTR Corporation to supply 93 eight-car trains, a CRRC statement said on Thursday.
Featuring modern systems and equipment, the trains will be delivered between 2018 and 2023 to replace first-generation trains operating on the Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, Island and Tseung Kwan O lines.
[Railways]
Forbes: White House Has No China Strategy; Here’s Mine
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
on July 24, 2015 at 1:41 PM
WASHINGTON: What’s the strategy for coping with what everyone on Capitol Hill and inside the Obama administration agrees is an increasingly assertive China? The White House can’t answer, Rep. Randy Forbes says, “because they don’t have it.” So, it’s fair to ask: what is Forbes’s strategy, then?
The House seapower chairman’s outline for a “winning strategy” boils down to five principles, he told me in an interview:
1.Have a clear objective: a peaceful and prosperous Pacific where China follows the rule of law and the US works closely with its partners.
2.Speak truth to Chinese power: Be willing to offend Beijing with frank statements, especially on issues like human rights and Taiwan.
3.Punish Chinese provocations, for example by un-inviting them from international wargames like RIMPAC if they continue building artificial “islands.”
4.Strengthen our military presence in the Pacific, especially (but not only) naval forces.
5.Communicate our strategy — to the American people so they buy in, to our allies so they’re reassured, and to the Chinese so they’re deterred.
[China confrontation] [Hawk]
Book reaffirms ROC South China Sea sovereignty
Book reaffirms ROC South China Sea sovereignty
New book “Compilation of Historical Archives on the Southern Territories of the ROC” underscores the reality of the nation's sovereignty in the South China Sea. (Courtesy of MOI)
•Publication Date:07/23/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
A new book documenting ROC government efforts to develop national territories in the South China Sea over the past century will be released by the Ministry of the Interior early next month.
“Compilation of Historical Archives on the Southern Territories of the ROC” is expected to help the public better understand the historical context and facts supporting ROC sovereignty in the region. At the same time, it pays tribute to the dedication and sacrifice by ROC military personnel in safeguarding national territory and providing assistance to foreign fishermen operating in the South China Sea.
According to the MOI, the publication comprises mainly materials on display at an exhibition jointly organized by Academia Sinica and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and National Defense in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung cities last year.
One highlight, an MOI official said, is excerpts of an interview with Admiral Miao Yong-qing and his personal collection of photos taken while serving on board ROCN Tai Ho DE-23 in 1966. “These provide rare documentary evidence of activities by the ROC navy on Northeast Cay, Southwest Cay and Thitu Island of the Nansha (Spratly) Islands.”
Other highlights include a section dedicated to recent infrastructure projects spanning solar energy and transportation on Taiping—the largest naturally formed island among the Nansha chain.
The timing of the release of the book and last year’s exhibition are particularly significant given rising tensions stemming from sovereignty disputes over the region that prompted President Ma Ying-jeou to propose the South China Sea Peace Initiative in May.
“Such initiatives, along with the undeniable fact that Taiping has been garrisoned by ROC troops since 1956, underscore the country’s sovereignty and maritime rights based on U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the official added. (SFC-JSM)
[South China Sea] [Taiwan]
Tough times ahead if the DPP returns to power?
By Bonnie S. Glaser, Jacqueline Vitello
Jul 20, 2015
Taiwan’s presidential election is six months away, but it seems increasingly likely that the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen will win. In a July 7 TVBS public opinion poll, Tsai leads the KMT’s Hung Hsiu-chu 54.2 percent to 24.6 percent. Among those closely watching the possible return of the DPP to power is China, which worries that if elected, Tsai will deny that the two sides of the Strait belong to one China and pursue de jure independence. This fear derives from Tsai’s history as the creator of the “two states theory” in the Lee Teng-hui era as well as her unwillingness to accept the existence of “one China” even as she pledges to maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Beijing could react harshly if Tsai is elected president of Taiwan, including by taking punitive economic measures, suspending communication and cooperation mechanisms, stealing away some of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, or even using military coercion or force.
[Taiwan] [Client] [DPP] [Separatism]
Another Shoe Drops in the Turkish “Passports for Uyghurs” Case
Evidence keeps accummulating that a clandestine Turkish government program to enable Uyghur emigration from the PRC--for motives either noble, sinister, or both--has turned into a major security cock-up, embarrassment for Turkey, and a serious issue in PRC-Turkish relations.
I wrote this on July 11 on the occasion of the forcible repatriation of over one hundred Uyghur men from Thailand to the PRC amid PRC allegations that the Turkish government, in addition to providing diplomatic and consular support to the Uyghurs, had crossed a line by providing fake travel documents:
Please note that the PRC Foreign Ministry, as well as Global Times, were already raising the passport issue at the beginning of 2015. First the PRC employed the polite fiction that some profit-minded freelancers were selling Turkish passports to Uyghurs; then it was “consulates and embassies of unnamed countries” were dishing out documents; now, unambiguously, the PRC is pointed the finger at the Turkish government.
…
The only remaining grey area is whether all the Uyghur men who end up in Syria are simply hapless “cannon fodder” recruited by jihadis, or whether the Turkish security services identify some particularly capable Uyghur militants, provide documents, and enable travel, training, and battlefield experience in Syria in order to cultivate Turkey-friendly assets in Syria or potentially in AfPak/Central Asia. Might never get to the bottom of that one, unless the PRC decides to crank up the evidentiary apparatus another notch in order to make sure Western journos finally get the point.
The PRC is busy fleshing out this story, and added the new wrinkle that the Turkish scheme had facilitated terrorist activities within the PRC.
[Turkey] [Xinjiang]
ICBC pledges to scale up investments in Kenya
Xinhua, July 22, 2015
China's largest bank on Tuesday pledged to scale up investments in Kenya by bringing money as well as Chinese investors to invest to the East African nation.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) chairman Jiang Jianqing who met with Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi said he was impressed by the progress Kenya has made in the recent past.
"We are impressed by the progress going on in Kenya and we will bring more Chinese investors to Kenya. Kenya is not only the fastest growing economy in Africa, it also leading in the world," he said according to a statement issued after the meeting.
Jiang was accompanied by officials of the bank and members of the China Entrepreneurs Forum of Yabuli, which brings together the wealthiest of the Chinese business community.
The ICBC chairman who has been in Nairobi to attend China-Africa Entrepreneurs Forum which brought together over 100 participants from Kenya and China said it was the first time ICBC bank officials had come to Kenya and they were impressed.
[Africa China] [ODI]
China restores artist Ai Weiwei’s passport
Highlights
Beijing barred him from travel in 2011 after he criticized government
Forced to miss showings of his works in San Francisco, Miami
Other activists still face travel restrictions amid crackdown
Artist Ai Weiwei posted this photo on Instagram to mark the return of his passport by the Chinese government.
Artist Ai Weiwei posted this photo on Instagram to mark the return of his passport by the Chinese government. | Instagram
By Stuart Leavenworth
BEIJING —
Ai Weiwei, the acclaimed Chinese artist who ran afoul of the government for, among other things, criticizing its response to a massive 2008 earthquake, announced Wednesday that authorities have returned his passport to him.
“Today, I picked up my passport,” Ai said proudly on Instagram, posting a photo of his bearded self holding his People’s Republic of China travel document.
While it is not yet known where Ai may take his first foreign trip, the new passport should allow him to attend a September showing of his work at the Royal Academy of Arts in Britain.
Because of his travel ban, Ai was unable to attend showings of his work in the United States in recent years, including a 2014 exhibit in Miami and another one that launched later that year at San Francisco’s Alcatraz prison.
Ai, who designed Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” stadium for the 2008 Olympics, was once in the good graces of China’s ruling Communist Party. The son of a revolutionary poet, he was held out as a symbol of China’s emerging hip creative class – the Andy Warhol of his generation.
But as his fame grew, Ai became increasingly outspoken against what he saw as China’s oppressive and backward policies. Most notably, he mounted a campaign to investigate corruption and shoddy building practices in the wake of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, in which thousands of students and other people died.
He built a huge social media following – both on Chinese sites and ones blocked in China, such as Twitter. But in March of 2011, police detained him for 81 days as he was preparing to board a flight to Hong Kong. His passport was taken away.
Later that year, authorities ordered Ai to pay a $2.4 million penalty for unpaid taxes. Claiming the charges were politically motivated, the artist paid off part of the penalty with the help of supporters, including one who threw a bag of cash over the wall of his Beijing studio.
Unable to travel, Ai had to supervise the installation of his elaborate sculptures and artworks from afar. For the Alcatraz exhibit, he had to pack up and direct transport of a five-ton sculpture called “With Wind” that consisted of solar cookers used by Tibetans, who have long resisted Chinese rule.
Also for that exhibit, Ai and his helpers used tiny LEGO bricks to create images of imprisoned or exiled rights activists from 33 countries, including China and the United States. The exhibit, which ran for seven months until late April this year, sold nearly 900,000 tickets, according to the For-Site Foundation, which sponsored the show.
KMT names Hung as presidential candidate
Legislative Yuan Vice President Hung Hsiu-chu (center) celebrates her nomination as the KMT’s 2016 ROC presidential candidate July 19 in Taipei City. (CNA)
•Publication Date:07/20/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
Legislative Yuan Vice President Hung Hsiu-chu was officially named as the ruling Kuomintang’s 2016 ROC presidential candidate July 19 in Taipei City.
Hung’s unanimous nomination at the KMT’s national congress was met with wild cheering by attendees. She now goes head to head with Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, in the race for the ROC’s top job.
[Taiwan] [KMT]
No need for China’s leaders to lose nerve over market
15 July 2015
Author: Peter Drysdale, ANU
The Chinese authorities moved decisively on many fronts last week to put a floor under the collapse of Chinese stock markets. ChiNext, China’s Nasdaq, was plummeting from astronomical heights. The CSI 300 index of China’s biggest listed companies, which had soared more than 150 per cent over last year’s levels, plunged almost 40 per cent in little more than a month before moves to prop up the market halted the fall.
There’s nothing unusual about governments stepping in to cushion stock market collapses. Central banks in the United States, Japan and Europe have all moved in recent times to buy shares and ease credit in order to turn around stock market crashes. But there was more than a whiff of panic about the moves to stop the stock market rout in China. Aside from easing interest rates (a move that might be taken further in a deflationary economy that is operating under potential), the regulators capped short selling; pension funds were pledged to buy more stocks; initial public offerings were suspended, and brokers were cashed up by the central bank to buy more shares.
China’s stock market is still very underdeveloped. Its absolute size, measured in volume of turnover, has more than doubled over the past year. But it still plays a surprisingly small role in the economy. It’s about a third of GDP, by one measure, compared with more than 100 per cent in developed economies. Less than 15 per cent of household financial assets are invested in the stock market. That’s why rising share prices did little to boost consumption and why falling prices will do little to hurt it. The players in the market are small. Institutional investment is underrepresented. Corporations do not yet rely on equity financing for investment. The connection between the stock market and China’s economic performance is much weaker than in developed economies.
Then why was there a touch of policy panic around managing what would seem like a side problem? The context of Europe’s unravelling gave pause to even cool, experienced policy hands around the world. Experience and depth in managing financial markets is a commodity that’s understandably still in short supply in China. Xiao Gang, Chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, is under particular pressure. Premier Li Keqiang had with good reason emphasised the growth and reform of the stock market as a facilitator of the emergence of the new, entrepreneurial edge of the Chinese economy. But that’s no short-term job. There’ll be missteps. Yet pinning over-reaction on President Xi’s inclination to reach for the armoury of the state is too simple (though for some, politically convenient) an explanation of how the Chinese state has responded to this event.
South Africa VP Hopes to Learn China's Experience of Industrialization
2015-07-16 07:26:18 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Yu
South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks during an interview with China Radio International in Beijing on July 15, 2015. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]
South Africa is looking to China as a model in its process of re-industrialization.
The comment was made by the South African Deputy President in Beijing, before leaving for Qingdao, the second stop of his five-day trip to China.
CRI reporter Wu You has more.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says the driving force behind frequent exchanges between the leaders of China and South Africa is economic growth. He recalled that when China started the industrialization process in the late 1970s, Chinese leaders like Deng Xiaoping had traveled to Japan and Europe to seek investment and technological exchanges. That's also what he hopes to get from China.
"We want as much investment as we possibly can get from businesses that originate from China, but we also want innovation. We want them to come and invest and as they invest, they bring new ways of doing things. We give them the market, and we give them profits."
As an example, Deputy President Ramaphosa cites the expansion in South Africa by Hisense Co Ltd, a Chinese multinational white goods and electronics manufacturer.
[Africa China]
China calls for Iran-style nuclear talks with North Korea instead of sanctions
People’s Daily, mouthpiece of the ruling Communist party, says deal with Tehran sends ‘message of hope’ and shows dialogue is better than threats
Reuters in Beijing
Wednesday 15 July 2015 07.16 BST
The successful outcome of the Iran nuclear talks shows China’s mantra of relying on talks rather than sanctions and threatening force is the correct approach, and one that should be applied to North Korea, the Beijing government’s official newspaper has said.
Under the deal sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union and United Nations will be lifted in return for Iran agreeing to long-term curbs on a nuclear programme that the west suspects has been aimed at creating a nuclear bomb.
China, one of the country’s involved in the negotiations with Iran, had long railed against unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States and Europe, though it has supported UN ones, and had denounced threats of force.
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist party, said the talks sent a “message of hope” to the world that diplomatic efforts were finally able to pay off after more than a decade of tensions.
“The facts show that dialogue and negotiation were the only correct and effective path to appropriately resolve the Iran nuclear issue, and that certain countries threatening to use force on Iran and imposing unilateral sanctions are not acceptable,” the newspaper said.
[Iran deal]
High-speed railway on trial run in farthest north
Xinhua, July 13, 2015
A high-speed railway between two cities in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, known for its high latitudes and biting cold winters, began a trial operation on Monday.
The railway, with the highest latitude among all high-speed railways in China, will be put into official operation in August, more than five years after the construction started on the 281-km route.
With a designated speed of 250 kilometers per hour and eight stops, the rail is expected to carry about eight million passengers annually.
The trains have been modified to adapt to temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius and resist adverse weather, such as strong winds, heavy rain, snow and fog.
In late June, the county's first high-speed railway to cross mountainous areas began operation, linking Fuzhou City, east China's Fujian Province, and Hefei, Anhui Province.
After China's first bullet train was built in 2008, high-speed rail has expanded prodigiously, with more than 16,000 kilometers of fast track in operation and another 10,000 kilometers under construction.
[HSR]
100,000-cow-power dairy farm in China to feed Russian market
By William Hennelly (China Daily USA)Updated: 2015-07-09 11:14
100,000-cow-power dairy farm in China to feed Russian marketThey say that money is the mother's milk of politics. In this case, it's just the milk.
A 100,000-cow dairy farm is being constructed in Northeast China to supply the Russian market with milk and cheese, in what can be construed as agricultural geopolitics.
Russia has extended an import ban of most agricultural products from the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Norway until August 2016, in retaliation for recently renewed Western economic sanctions over Russia's military moves in Ukraine and Crimea.
The new dairy site is in Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang province, Zhang Chuntszyao, chairman of the Association of Applied Economics of Heilongjiang province told Interfax on Monday.
Russia's ban was originally scheduled to expire in August, but was extended in late June in response to the renewal of Western sanctionsthrough January.
[Dairy] [Sanctions] [Unintended consequences] [China Russia]
Turkey's "Passports for Uyghurs" Scheme Continues Its Messy Public Unraveling
Saturday, July 11, 2015
The year-long tug of war between Turkey and the PRC over several hundred Uyghur detainees in Thailand was finally resolved, Solomonic fashion, by Thailand sending 170+ women and children to Istanbul in early July in a little noticed event, and the deportation of 100+ Uyghur men to the PRC this week, which has occasioned much public ballyhoo, some nasty incidents inside Turkey, and toothless (and, I expect somewhat less than wholehearted) official execration by the US and the EU.
A most interesting sidebar to the Thailand story has been the wheels coming off the reckless Turkish passports-to-Uyghurs scheme.
To humblebrag here, I was one of the few to note and write about over the last few months, starting in February and here, and here in April, as well as my recent epic Turkey/Uyghur backgrounder.
To complement recent (well, as recent as a day or two before) public references to unnamed foreign countries providing documentation to Uyghurs, a Public Security Bureau official went on record to brief foreign journos that, yes, it is Turkey.
[Uyghur] [Xinjian] [Separatism] [Jihad] [Turkey] [Outsourcing]
SCO starts expansion, ratifies 10-year development strategy
Xinhua, July 11, 2015
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Friday ratified a resolution on starting its expansion procedures and passed a comprehensive blueprint for the bloc's development in the next decade.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R) and other leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Presidents of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon (L), Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev (2nd L), Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev (3rd L), Russia VladimirPutin(3rd R) and Uzbekistan Islam Karimov (R), pose for a group photo before the 15th SCO summit in Ufa, Russia, July 10, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]
The leaders of the SCO states ratified the resolution on starting the procedures of granting India and Pakistan full membership of the organization, according to a declaration issued after the 15th SCO summit held in Ufa, capital of Russia's Bashkortostan Republic.
The SCO also elevated Belarus to the status of observer from dialogue partner, and took in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal as new dialogue partners, read the document.
Meanwhile, the leaders approved the SCO Development Strategy until 2025, which set targets and tasks for the organization's development in the upcoming 10 years.
The strategy maps out goals for the SCO member states to conduct cooperation in the areas including politics, security, trade and economy, people-to-people exchanges in the next decade.
[SCO]
Nationwide two-child policy expected soon
China Daily, July 11, 2015
China will probably introduce an overall two-child policy in one or two years, senior demographers expect, as the top population authority said the government would keep fine-tuning birth rules to ensure a sustainable and balanced population growth.
Yang Wenzhuang, director of the family planning grassroots guidance department under the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said the relaxation of the family planning policy in 2013, which allows couples with one spouse being an only child to have a second child, helped lay a solid foundation for future adjustments to the birth rules.
The number of couples who qualify is about 11 million, with nearly 70 percent of them born after 1980, Yang said.
Largely due to the policy relaxation, China had 16.8 million new births last year, 470,000 more than 2013, statistics from the National Health and Family Planning Commission show. Yang expected a bigger increase this year.
"That helps decision-makers make more precise demographic development forecasts and buys more time for socioeconomic and infrastructure preparation to welcome more babies," Yang said at a news conference on Friday.
However, more adjustments are required to "address a major demographic challenge facing the nation: that problems in the population structure, particularly rapid aging, affect economic growth," he added.
[Demographics] [Ageing society]
Obama’s policy on arms sales to Taiwan needs credibility and clarity
By Shirley Kan
Jul 7, 2015
Just as President George W. Bush raised doubts with a much-criticized “freeze” on arms sales to Taiwan, President Barack Obama has raised questions about his adherence to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). The TRA guides US policy in making available to Taiwan defense articles and defense services for its “self-defense.” US leadership and credibility regarding the “Rebalance” to Asia requires decisive, urgent action regarding Taiwan. That policy should include tangible follow-up actions to support Taiwan, maintain stability in the Asia-Pacific, and help Taiwan avoid coercion and conflict.
In May, the Office of the Secretary of Defense submitted to Congress its annual report on China’s military power, a report that is coordinated throughout the administration. In it, the administration claimed that “consistent with the TRA, the United States has helped to maintain peace, security, and stability in the Taiwan Strait by providing defense articles and services to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability. To this end, the United States has announced more than $12 billion in arms sales to Taiwan since 2010.” The next month, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou boasted that “the U.S. has sold a total of $18.3 billion worth of arms to Taiwan since he took office seven years ago.”
[China confrontation] [Taiwan] [Arms sales]
Obama meets with Vietnamese leader to expand ties
Xinhua, July 8, 2015
U.S. President Barack Obama held talks with Nguyen Phu Trong, head of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), at the White House Tuesday, as the two countries seek to deepen ties two decades after normalization of diplomatic relations.
"What we've seen is the emergence of a constructive relationship that is based on mutual respect, and that has benefited the peoples of both countries," Obama told reporters at the Oval Office after meeting with Trong, general secretary of the CPV.
Trong's visit came 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War and 20 years since Washington and Hanoi resumed diplomatic ties.
China builds multiple unit train for Europe
Xinhua, July 8, 2015
The first advanced multiple unit train to be exported to Europe rolled off the assembly line of China's Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd on Tuesday.
The company, located in central China's Hunan Province, is a subsidiary of China's high-speed rail maker CRRC Corp. Ltd.
The motor coach train, colored red and yellow after the national flag of Macedonia, is the first of six such trains purchased by the country, said Chen Xihong, deputy chief engineer of Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive. The first one will be delivered soon
[Railways]
A Partnership with China to Avoid World War
George Soros
July 9th, 2015 – The New York Review of Books
International cooperation is in decline both in the political and financial spheres. The UN has failed to address any of the major conflicts since the end of the cold war; the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference left a sour aftertaste; the World Trade Organization hasn’t concluded a major trade round since 1994. The International Monetary Fund’s legitimacy is increasingly questioned because of its outdated governance, and the G20, which emerged during the financial crisis of 2008 as a potentially powerful instrument of international cooperation, seems to have lost its way. In all areas, national, sectarian, business, and other special interests take precedence over the common interest. This trend has now reached a point where instead of a global order we have to speak of global disorder.
[US global strategy] [China card]
Can China play a role in Greek debt crisis?
Global Times Published: 2015-7-7 0:28:01
While China unveiled large-scale efforts to stabilize its stock market, Europe's financial order is grimly challenged by Greece. The referendum on Sunday said "No" to reform measures required by international creditors, which caused a stalemate that has not been seen since the eurozone was established. Greece has already defaulted on IMF loans and may default on the EU later. Meanwhile, Greek banks have been closed for over a week. The country is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Many are greatly interested in the steps China may take following the failed dialogue between Greece and the EU. They wonder whether China will offer assistance to Greece and what role China will play in the EU's internal disputes.
This curiosity is understandable as China has abundant foreign exchange reserves and Greece is also a key country in China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative. Apparently China is willing to help Greece address its problems in economic and social development.
However, China would hope that its efforts to lift Greece out of hardship can be helpful for the big picture and also constructive.
In other words, China wants its participation to be beneficial for both Greece and the EU. This mentality is rooted deeply in China's foreign relations.
It is by no means diplomatic language when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that China hopes to see Greece stay in the eurozone. China is probably one of the countries outside the EU that sincerely hopes Europe will prosper. A stronger EU will foremost counter the US, while China will not suffer losses.
Ordinary Chinese people may think what happened in Greece is far from us. But close observation will help us understand that EU member states are most likely to become China's friends. In projects that are of mutual benefit to both China and the EU, we can have a positive attitude.
The China-Greece relationship has grown quickly over past years. Besides offering financial aid through multilateral institutes such as the IMF, China also invests in large Greek infrastructure projects. During the time of the Greek debt crisis, China has held onto the country's bonds.
Greece will very likely stay within the eurozone even it rejects the bailout terms. The EU is the major party behind Greece's bailout, so China can take on the task of helping the EU weather its sovereign debt crisis.
The EU has to face the post-Greece crisis. China should pay attention to how the eurozone is going to clean up the mess created by Greece and what the eurozone can withstand as a consequence.
[EU] [China global strategy]
MOFA reaffirms ROC sovereignty in South China Sea
The ROC government maintains a permanent presence on Taiping in the South China Sea, as evidenced by the island’s use as a regional base for satellite communications, surveillance patrols, weather forecasting and wharf services. (Courtesy of Coast Guard Administration)
•Publication Date:07/08/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
The South China Sea islands, as well as their surrounding waters, are an inherent part of ROC territory from the perspectives of geography, history and international law, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs July 7.
Exercising full rights over the Chungsha (Macclesfield Bank), Nansha (Spratly), Shisha (Paracel) and Tungsha (Pratas) islands, the government does not recognize any claim to sovereignty over or occupation of these areas by other countries or territories, irrespective of the reasons put forward or methods used for such claim or occupation, MOFA spokeswoman Anna Kao said.
“Any arrangement or agreement regarding Taiping Island [Itu Aba] or other islands in the South China Sea and their surrounding waters that is reached without ROC involvement or consent shall have no legal effect on the nation, and shall not be acknowledged by the government.”
First discovered, named and incorporated into national territory during dynastic Chinese rule, the South China Sea islands were illegally occupied by the Japanese in 1938. The ROC recovered its territories in the region after victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), according to Kao.
[Taiwan] [South China Sea] [Qing]
Deciphering PLA Media Commentaries on North Korea: All Show or Real Talk?
Date & Time:
Wed, 07/22/2015
Deciphering PLA Media Commentaries on North Korea: All Show or Real Talk?
Location:
KEI Conference Facility
1800 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
Speakers:
Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga | Former Editor of China Brief, Jamestown Foundation
Discussant: Jonathan D. Pollack | Senior Fellow, John L. Thorton China Center, Brookings Institution
Moderator: Nicholas Hamisevicz | Director of Research and Academic Affairs, Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI)
Description:
As North Korea’s most important supporter on the international stage, China’s handling of relations with Pyongyang plays an important role in determining the future development of the country and stability of the Korean peninsula. This relationship, forged during the Korean War, is closely watched and scrutinized, despite its opaque nature. As Chinese President Xi Jinping has distanced himself from Pyongyang, the Chinese media appears to be hosting an increasingly open debate over the relationship and China’s policy options. Within China, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is a principle stakeholder in Beijing’s policy decision-making, and thus is an important barometer for understanding the evolution and direction of China’s policy. PLA officials have penned some of the more interesting, and forceful, articles in the media, which in turn has fueled speculation from Western analysts about a potential shift in China’s approach to the North.
Does Chinese military commentary represent accurate and authoritative views on policy toward North Korea? Are their certain military officials or publications that we should watch closely? Do these commentaries by Chinese military officials actually influence China’s policy toward North Korea?
Join KEI as it hosts Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga, former Editor of China Brief at the Jamestown Foundation, as he analyzes Chinese military commentary about North Korea and offers insight on how to better decipher statements from Chinese military officials about North Korea. Dr. Jonathan Pollack, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution will serve as a discussant providing context and additional thoughts about the paper.
[China NK] [PLA]
China’s insatiable appetite for power
By Editorial Board July 4
ONE OF the defining features of communism in the Chinese experience has been the fierce determination of party leaders to maintain a monopoly on power and obliterate any competition. China’s bosses have largely abandoned communism as an economic principle and embraced capitalism, but when it comes to the levers of power, they don’t give an inch.
Yet the reality is that China simply cannot fulfill all the needs of its citizens, and there has been plenty for nongovernmental organizations to do. Over the past two decades, all kinds of nongovernmental organizations have sprung up, many funded from abroad, helping with health care, business and environmental protection and filling other needs. While China has often refused to formally register these groups, they have operated anyway, in a sort of legal gray zone.
[NGO] [Subversion] [China confrontation] [Inversion]
'Qingdao' freight train departs in Shandong
Xinhua, July 2, 2015
The "Qingdao" freight train heading to Central Asia sets off from the central station of CRIntermodal in Qingdao, a port city in east China's Shandong Province, July 1, 2015. The freight train, carrying auto parts, digital products and tyres, will transport cargoes to Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. (Xinhua/Yu Fangping)
[Railways] [Belt and Road]
Donald Trump: I get along great with Mexico but China should watch out
Campaign stop in New Hampshire hears ‘nice person’ unload freely on Republican rivals like Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush
Ben Jacobs in Bedford
Wednesday 1 July 2015 02.22 BST Last modified on Wednesday 1 July 2015 02.36 BST
Donald Trump showed a brief moment of self-reflection on Tuesday. Addressing a crowd of 200 New Hampshire residents gathering around a backyard pool, the billionaire said: “I don’t think I am the meanest person.”
The billionaire pushed backed on any criticism that he was bigoted against Hispanic people. “I get along great with Mexico. I get along great,” he said. Trump went on to note: “Thousands of people have worked for me over the years from all the Latin countries.” However the flamboyant billionaire still wasn’t shy about raising concerns about immigration. He cited several news stories on the topic including one with the headline: “Illegal alien rapes and murders baby.”
Trump also touted his foreign policy acumen, particularly in regard to China. If he were elected, he said, “Oh would China be in trouble. The poor Chinese.” Trump also claimed that the Chinese respect him, citing as evidence that a Chinese company just extended its lease in a building he owns in New York.
[Trump]
Weapons of the Next War
In order to avoid another war in Asia, we need to visualize it.
By August Cole and Peter W. Singer
June 30, 2015
For the last two decades, the Asia-Pacific has represented a positive story in geopolitics, at least compared to the chronic instability in the Middle East. There was an integration of economies on both a regional and global level, a rise in prosperity unprecedented in human history, and a relative absence of major conflicts either between nations or within them. This era of stability is ending, however. In the 21st century, this very same good news story has put the region on the geopolitical center stage, and not in a good way.
China has enjoyed a political, economic, and now military rise that Foreign Affairs magazine has said may be the “most important international relations story of the 21st century.” The problem is that no one knows how that story might end. Disputes with every one of its maritime neighbors over islands and sea rights are helping to fuel a regional arms race. But underlying these disputes are larger geopolitical questions centering on Beijing’s vision of emerging as the leading global power of the next 100 years, the American response, and whether this reordering will be one that remains only within the realm of politics and economics.
Henry Kissinger remarked in a 2012 essay that U.S.-China relations have long been “…heading for confrontation rather than cooperation.” This confrontation is purposeful, not careless. Even the “China Dream” now has the country becoming, in strategist Liu Ming Fu’s concept, “the most powerful country in the world” – a world that he defines as “post American.” This is not merely top-down thinking: The Chinese Communist Party is carefully encouraging a more nationalist Chinese public to become aligned with this ambition. According to one survey, more than 80 percent of those polled think China should return to its status as the world’s strongest power in both political and military terms. It is an alignment that combines historical longing and 21st century ambitions, nurtured by a Party leadership that has harmonized its strategy with popular priority. Indeed, the Party’s Global Times newspaper last September featured an editorial “As possibility of a Third World War Exists, China Needs To Be Prepared” by a professor at PLA Defense University who made the case as explicitly as possible: “Without large-scale military power, securing China’s overseas interests seems like an empty slogan.”
The risk is obvious: The once unthinkable is more thinkable by the day, a brewing Cold War between great powers, one that could even turn hot.
[China confrontation] [Hegemony] [Conflict]
China's Afghanistan Moment
China’s evolving policies toward Afghanistan hardly illustrate a rising power bent on territorial expansion and could be a possible area of Washington-Beijing cooperation.
Lyle J. Goldstein
July 1, 2015
The 7th Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) with China has recently concluded in Washington. Hawks will no doubt opine that the Obama Administration has not shown adequate backbone in standing up to China in the South China Sea. Doves, by contrast, will complain that progress on key issues, such as North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal, have been superseded by tense discussions about reefs and rocks.
It has become increasingly clear that close U.S.-China cooperation is a prerequisite to managing problems across the globe, from the Ebola crisis in West Africa to the deteriorating security situation in the Persian Gulf to maintaining the delicate ecological balance in the polar regions. A rather ripe area for regional cooperation that has not received adequate attention concerns the future of Central Asia, and the Afghanistan imbroglio, in particular. Continuing grave instability in Afghanistan was once again underlined last week as the Taliban attacked the Parliament building in Kabul.
In a perfect world perhaps the United Nations together with the new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani would invite China to enlarge its role in fostering regional stability and PLA soldiers clad in blue helmets would flood the narrow alleyways and valleys of dangerous Helmand Province to finally accomplish what Washington has been unable or unwilling to do. There is emphatically no support whatsoever for that scenario – least of all in Kabul and Beijing. Still, Chinese strategists are talking about Afghanistan with an unmistakable urgency of late. This edition of Dragon Eye will make a close examination of an early 2015 Chinese-language academic analysis of the situation in Afghanistan published in the State Council’s journal ???? [Asia and Africa Review] by two Shanghai academics.
[China Afghanistan] [China confrontation]
Construction on China-Russia gas pipeline starts
China.org.cn, June 30, 2015
Workers try to debug a device in laying a natural gas pipeline for the Chinese section of the China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline in Heihe, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 29, 2015. The 3,968-kilometer China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline, which extends from gas fields in Russia's Far East to east China's Shanghai, started construction on Monday. It is designed to transport 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to China every year.[Xinhua]
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli Monday announced the start of construction on the China section of the 3,968-kilometer China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline.
Zhang said the Chinese side is ready to work with the Russian side to ensure that the pipeline will be completed and put into operation on schedule in 2018.
The pipeline, extending from gas fields in Russia's Far East to Shanghai, is designed to transport 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to China every year.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev joined Zhang at a televised inauguration ceremony that was held simultaneously in Beijing, Moscow and the border city of Heihe in northeast China.
In a speech at the ceremony, Zhang said the East Route gas pipeline is the largest China-Russia cooperative project conducive to diversifying energy strategy and guaranteeing the energy security of both countries.
[China Russia] [Gas] [Pipeline]
China joins global elite in high-speed railway technology
China Daily, June 29, 2015
High speed trains in Wuhan, China. [File photo]
China has become a world leader in high-speed railway technology with its development of a cutting-edge permanent magnet synchronous traction system that will take bullet trains to an ultrafast 500 kilometers per hour.
The advanced 690-kilowatt traction system was developed by CRRC Corp, the country's train-making behemoth, at its Zhuzhou Institute in Hunan province. It will soon enter mass production, said Ding Rongjun, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who heads the institute.
"Now we have our own permanent magnet synchronous traction system with full intellectual property rights, marking a new chapter in China's high-speed railways," he said, adding that only a handful of countries are capable of manufacturing the sophisticated apparatus, including Germany and Japan.
Feng Jianghua, deputy director of the institute, said the adoption of the technology will reshape the high-speed railway industry because traction equipment is the most important part of a bullet train.
Currently, most high-speed trains in service in the world are propelled by alternating current asynchronous motors, a traction system first developed in the 1970s.
[HSR]
China builds mystery midget submarine
Andrew Tate, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
25 June 2015
DigitalGlobe imagery published on Google Earth showing what appears to be a midget submarine at the Wuchang shipyard in Wuhan, China. A Type 041 conventional submarine berthed at the same site in January is shown for comparison. (IHS/Google, DigitalGlobe)
China has apparently built a previously unseen midget submarine at its Wuchang shipyard in Wuhan.
DigitalGlobe satellite imagery dated 24 October 2014 showing the submarine was posted on Google Earth and was highlighted by a contributor to the Bellingcat open source intelligence website.
The imagery shows the craft berthed at the pontoon used for fitting out submarines. The midget submarine had left the pontoon by late November and by mid-January 2015, another submarine, probably a Type 041 Yuan-class boat, occupied the berth.
Based on the imagery the midget submarine has an approximate length of 35 m and beam of 4 m, suggesting a surface displacement in the region of 400-500 tonnes.
The Wuchang shipyard is at the forefront of conventional submarine production in China and has constructed most of the Type 039 Song-class and Type 041 Yuan-class boats, including the most recent variant, with its distinctive hydrodynamic fairings between the casing and the fin. It also built the world's largest conventional submarine, the Type 032 Qing-class ballistic missile trials submarine.
The Right Way to Study China's Military
Here's how newcomers to the Chinese security field can really master their craft.
Peter Mattis
June 29, 2015
On February 2, 1977, the late Mike Oksenberg, a China expert then serving on the National Security Council staff, wrote a memo to his boss, National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, expressing his dismay with the state of U.S. Government analysis on China. Although Oksenberg had “not been very impressed thus far by what [he had] seen,” he was admirably concerned about the future: “How do we cultivate talent so that 15–20 years from now, we will have a core group of 25–35 top-flight Chinese intelligence analysts in the then age bracket of 40–55. Everyone agrees with me that unless something is done, such a group will not exist.” Thirty-five years later, a senior U.S. academic on China would stand up at a Washington, DC conference and tell an audience of his peers in government and defense contractors that universities had failed to build expertise in the ivory tower and to produce sufficient numbers of properly trained analysts to support ongoing analysis of the Chinese military. And more recently, General Karl Eikenberry, a retired U.S. Army foreign area officer, called American expertise on China into question when he suggested expanded support for China and East Asian area studies to “to better understand and more effectively respond to China's attempts to expand its influence.”
[China confrontation] [Intelligence]
Xinjiang senior leader under graft probe
Xinhua, June 28, 2015
Alimjan Maimaitiming, provincial government secretary general of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is being investigated for suspected serious violation of discipline, the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on Sunday.
Alimjan is also a member of Party leadership group of the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
[Xinjiang] [Corruption]
Chinese FM dismisses suspicion of 'seeking hegemony'
Xinhua, June 28, 2015
Chinese Foreign Minister on Saturday dismissed the suspicion that China as a major rising power might repeat the old path of constraining other countries' development and seeking hegemony.
In a speech made at the luncheon of the Fourth World Peace Forum held in Beijing, Wang Yi reaffirmed China' s stance in safeguarding contemporary international order and system and denied the conventional thinking that China as a major rising power might put the development space of others under constraint and seek hegemony.
"As a participant of and contributor to the global and regional order, a growing China would only mean greater strength for peace and more positive energy in the world." Wang said.
China contributes the biggest number of peacekeeping personnel among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and takes an active part in settling global hotspot issues through political dialogue.
[Hegemony]
China, Kazakhstan agree to integrate growth strategies
Xinhua, June 27, 2015
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov met Thursday and agreed to align their countries' growth strategies and boost bilateral cooperation on production capacity.
China and Kazakhstan are indeed comprehensive strategic partners, said Zhang, who arrived in Astana on Wednesday for a three-day visit to Kazakhstan.
He recalled that during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Kazakhstan in May and Masimov's trip to China in March, the two sides reached important consensus on consolidating bilateral ties and practical cooperation, including collaboration on production capacity
[Belt and Road]
China issues report on US human rights
Xinhua, June 26, 2015
China published a report on the United States' human rights situation on Friday.
The report, titled "The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2014," was released by the Information Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, in response to "the 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" issued by the U.S. State Department on June 25 local time.
China's report states that the U.S. made comments on the human rights situations in many countries while showing not a bit of regret for or intention to improve its own terrible human rights record.
"The U.S., a self-proclaimed human rights defender, saw no improvements in its existent human rights issues, but reported numerous new problems," it says.
[Human rights]
Russia, Mongolia to march in China parade to mark end of World War Two
China's President Xi Jinping attends a welcoming ceremony for Angola's President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 9, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee
China's President Xi Jinping attends a welcoming ceremony for Angola's President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 9, 2015.
Reuters/Jason Lee
Troops from Russia and Mongolia will march together with Chinese forces in a parade in Beijing in September to commemorate the end of World War Two, the government and state media said on Thursday, confirming the first two foreign participants.
China has been coy about which countries it plans to invite to the parade, but says it will also likely invite representatives from the Western Allies who fought with China during the war.
President Xi Jinping could be left standing on the stage with few top Western officials, however, diplomats have told Reuters, due to Western governments concerns over a range of issues, including the expected presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
[NCW]
It's Official: America Has a China-Containment Policy
Actually, that was a title of a post I wrote in July 2010, before island-building, before the Senkaku crises, before the rare earths brouhaha, even before Hillary Clinton declared that the US had a “national interest” in freedom of navigation at the 2010 ASEAN foreign ministers’ conference in Hanoi and formally kicked off the “pivot”.
I offer it as a reminder to the indignant commentators who declare we’re just out in the South China Sea responding to the PRC threat, a theme serendipitously sounded in an op-ed in The Australian by the Lowy Institute’s Alan Dupont after I thought I had finished this piece, but not too late some last-minute cut and paste:
Fairfax columnist Hugh White, for example, believes US policy makers have long believed that the territorial disputes in the South China Sea are a strategic opportunity rather than a problem for the US, allowing them to “cast Beijing as a bullying and aggressive rising power and themselves as the indispensable guardians of regional order and international law”.
These portrayals misrepresent the main causes of the rising tensions in the South China Sea and the issues at stake for Australia and the region.
The genesis of the current imbroglio was Beijing’s 2012 decision to prioritise the South China Sea and initiate an extensive, unprecedented land reclamation program on disputed islands that it occupied or planned to occupy.
That’s leaving out a big chunk of history, including all the stuff Hillary Clinton was involved in before she left office.
[China confrontation] [South China Sea]
China’s Propaganda Efforts in the US
The intensity and scope of Sino-US relations at the beginning of the twenty-first century have increased significantly and taken more pronounced strategic importance. The rivalry and interdependence between Beijing and Washington have become an important element in the backbone of modern international relations at a regional (in particular in the Asia-Pacific region) and a global levels.
Under these conditions, within the complex of Sino-US relations the role of the propaganda component has substantially increased and the directed information influence has become the most important sphere of political relations between China and the United States, a tool that both countries actively use in relation to each other and the international community as a whole. The information technology boom, the dynamic growth of the global information space brought significant adjustments to the organization and implementation of propaganda both for the US and China, necessitating continuous improvement of this work in view of its importance in the competition between these two countries.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/06/24/chinas-propaganda-efforts-in-the-us/
[Propaganda] [China US]
Trading away Taiwan is no bargain for the USA
By Denny Roy
Jun 23, 2015
The argument that Washington should abandon support for Taiwan to gain favor with Beijing faces strong counter-arguments that have prevailed in policy-making up to now. George Washington University professor Charles L. Glaser presents a fresh reboot of the idea in the spring 2015 issue of the journal International Security. Glaser says protecting Asia-Pacific allies is a vital US interest, but protecting Taiwan is not. Yet Taiwan is the main cause of Chinese opposition to US strategic leadership in the region. Meanwhile, tensions between China and rival claimants over disputed territory in the East and South China Seas threatens to spark military conflict, and foreign governments wish for more clarity in Beijing’s longer-term strategic intentions – specifically, whether it is a “greedy state” that seeks to replace the United States as regional hegemon. Glaser proposes solving all of these problems through a Sino-US “grand bargain”: the United States government “ends its commitment to defend Taiwan” in exchange for Beijing’s promise to “peacefully resolve” its maritime territorial disputes and “officially accept the United States’ long-term military security role in East Asia.”
[China confrontation] [Taiwan]
New round of China-bashing over the South China Sea
18 June 2015
Author: Mark J. Valencia, National Institute for South China Sea Studies
We are witnessing another round of China-bashing — this time because of its reclamation activities on islands and submerged reefs in the South China Sea. The US Department of Defense has accused China of undermining the status quo and generating instability, being out of step with international rules and norms, and ‘militarising’ these features.
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has alleged that ‘turning an underwater rock into an airfield simply does not afford the rights of sovereignty or permit restrictions on international air or maritime transit’. Claimants like the Philippines and Vietnam have said a lot worse, the former even likening China’s actions to those of Nazi Germany prior to World War II.
[China bashing] [South China Sea]
New route opens for Indian pilgrims to Tibet
China Daily, June 22, 2015
The first group of Indian Buddhist followers entered southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region through Nathu La Pass at 10 a.m., on June, 22, 2015, starting a 12-day pilgrimage to Mount Kangrinboqe and Mapam Yumco Lake in Tibet's Ngari Prefecture.
Overseas Chinese to send home US$66 bln this year
China Daily, June 22, 2015
A clerk counts currency at a Bank of China Ltd branch in Nanchong, Sichuan province. [Photo/Xinhua]
China will receive $66 billion this year in remittance inflows, according to World Bank projections.
The figure is almost three times what China received in 2005, which was $23.62 billion, based on the organization's estimates and International Monetary Fund balance of payments reported by the Chinese government.
Remittances, what immigrant workers send to their home countries, are a traditional means of financial support for family members left behind. With China being the fourth-largest source of immigrants and the most populous nation in the world, the numbers should come as no surprise. As the volume of overseas Chinese has increased, so has the flow of money returning to China.
Dilip Ratha, lead economist in immigration and remittances at the World Bank, says: "Inflows (to China) increased sharply by 24 percent in 2008, followed by a dip by 13 percent in 2009. We expect to see an increase of remittance inflows to China by 3 percent to $66 billion in 2015, largely benefiting from continued US economic recovery."
[Remittances] [Diaspora]
Beijing is transforming EU-China ties by transforming the context
Augusto SOTO | 21.06.2015 | 00:00
The announcement by Beijing that it will pledge a multi-billion euro investment in Europe's new infrastructure 315 billion euro’s fund at a summit on June 29 in Brussels, signals not only a milestone in financial diplomacy, injecting dramatic vitality to EU-China ties at the expense of the US. It is also the latest step in China's efforts to shape regional, macro-regional and global economic governance by peaceful means, challenging the US, embarked on a policy of containing China at the South East Asia Sea and at the Asia Pacific in military terms. Beijing’s move deserves EU’s active action, among other things, in order to persuade Washington that in fact there is no Chinese threat to its security, and on the contrary, a series of economic measures aimed at peaceful development encompassing not only EU-China ties, but also the Eurasian landmass as well as the Asia Pacific.
[China EU]
China, Russia sign $400m deal on high-speed railway
Xinhua, June 19, 2015
Chinese and Russian companies signed a contract on Thursday on jointly conducting pre-construction survey and design of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway in Russia.
The deal was inked between the Russian Railways and a consortium consisting of China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEC) and two Russian companies.
CREEC is one of the top-level engineering design and consultant companies in China. Under the contract worth 20.79 billion roubles ($380 million), the Chinese company will join hands with the Russian partners to conduct surveying, regional development planning and design for the high-speed railway between 2015 and 2016.
The signing of the contract marked a concrete step forward in building the $20 billion railway, which is planned to be completed by 2018. It will also be the first time that Chinese high-speed railway technology reaches out to the world.
The 770-km railway is a key infrastructure development project in Russia, which will span the frozen lands between Moscow and Kazan, capital of the Tatarstan Republic.
With a maximum design speed of 400 km per hour, it will carry millions of passengers every year and reduce the travel time between the two cities from 14 hours to three and a half hours.
In the long run, the high-speed railway will be extended to Yekaterinburg, some 1,600 km to the east of Moscow. It will become part of the planned Beijing-Moscow high-speed transport corridor.
Chinese companies have developed world-leading capabilities in building high-speed railways in extreme natural conditions. The Harbin-Dalian high-speed railway was built on frozen soils in Northeast China and has been operating smoothly in temperatures of minus 50 degrees Centigrade.
[China Russia] [HSR]
N.Korean FM Arrives in Beijing
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport on Thursday. Pundits believe he is sounding out his hosts about a possible visit from regime leader Kim Jong-un.
But Ri is only passing through en route to Africa, according to a diplomatic source in Beijing, and has no official schedule to meet Chinese officials.
He left the airport in a North Korean embassy vehicle and no Chinese officials welcomed him at the airport.
But Ri is expected to stay for four days, leaving enough time for him to hold a closed-door meeting with Chinese officials.
China invited Kim to a parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in September, but ties are chilly at the moment.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday expressed willingness to offer food aid to North Korea after a severe drought there.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters that Beijing is keeping a close watch on drought reports.
"China sends sympathy to the North, and hopes that the North Korean government and people will win the battle against drought quickly," Lu added.
The aid could serve as a stepping stone to improving ties.
Hong Kong legislators reject electoral reform plan
China.org.cn, June 18, 2015
Citizens carry placards and national flags outside the Legislative Council headquarters in Admiralty district to support the Hong Kong government's electoral reform package on June 17, 2015. [Photo / China Daily]
After a nine-hour debate which started on Wednesday, Hong Kong's Legislative Council rejected an electoral reform proposal with 28 of 37 legislators present voting against it. Eight voted for the plan.
During the first day of the reform motion reading, city legislators on both sides of the political divide stood firm on their position. Hundreds of people from all walks of life had converged outside the council head-quarters to voice their support for the reform proposals.
The Hong Kong government moved a motion to overhaul the method to select the city's next chief executive, prescribed in an annex of the Basic Law.
The motion was moved 20 months after the creation of a special task force to run the electoral reform process.
The reform proposal would have given all residents the right to vote for the chief executive in 2017 for the first time by "one person, one vote" if more than 46 legislators out of the total of 70 voted for the motion.
Under the current system, the chief executive is chosen by a 1,200-strong committee of Hong Kong's political and economic elite, rather than by the city's voters.
[Hong Kong] [Democracy]
The Looming US-China Crisis in the South China Sea
by Mel Gurtov
The long-running, multi-party dispute over control of islets in the South China Sea (SCS) is worsening both in rhetoric and provocative activity. Meeting in late May at the Shangri-La Dialogue on regional security, US and Chinese defense officials sparred over responsibility for the increased tension, though they stopped short of issuing threats. In fact, all sides to the dispute say they want to avoid violence, prefer a diplomatic resolution, and support freedom of navigation.
Both the US and China insist that the dispute notwithstanding, their relationship overall is positive and enduring. But China, claiming indisputable sovereignty over the SCS, is backing its claim in ways that alarm the US and several Asian governments: construction of an air strip on the Spratly Islands, a land reclamation project that has artificially expanded its claimed territory, and most recently emplacement of two mobile artillery vehicles.
[China confrontation] [South China Sea]
Foreign Groups Fear China Oversight Plan
By Andrew Jacobs
June 17, 2015
BEIJING — A remarkable assortment of foreign organizations set up shop in China in the decades after its emergence from isolation under Mao Zedong, offering good will, money and expertise that helped link the nation more closely to the rest of the world and turn it into the global powerhouse it is today.
But sweeping new legislation introduced by the government of President Xi Jinping is forcing many of these groups — including international trade associations and philanthropic foundations — to consider scaling back their activities in China or pulling out of the country entirely.
The proposed law, which began circulating in draft form last month and is expected to be enacted later this year, would put foreign nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations under the supervision of the Chinese security apparatus, reflecting both the more restrictive approach toward civil society endorsed by Mr. Xi and the ruling Communist Party’s longstanding fear that external forces are conspiring to overthrow it.
If the government adopts the legislation unchanged — a prospect many experts say is likely given the party’s approach to lawmaking — foreign groups working in China will have to find a government sponsor and seek police approval for all “activities.” With few exceptions, they will be barred from accepting donations inside China and will be required to hire Chinese citizens for at least half of all staff positions. And professional associations, whether for scientists or insurance brokers, will be prohibited from accepting Chinese members.
Beijing has long been wary of international groups that campaign for political causes or work to promote rule of law and legal rights in China. But the proposed foreign nongovernmental organization management law has caused alarm across a broad array of institutions that the Chinese government had previously welcomed, including European industry groups, American universities and international aid organizations.
Several groups said the law could force them to curtail their operations, including professional training programs, public lectures and grant-making, in part because it appears to empower the police to decide the legality of almost everything they do. More broadly, there is concern that after three decades of increasing openness, China has concluded that it no longer needs what the outside world has to offer and is beginning to close its door.
“A lot of groups are panicking, even those that are completely apolitical,” said an American employee of a foundation that focuses on governance and environmental issues and is preparing for the possibility that it will have to leave China.
[NGO] [Subversion] [Softwar] [China confrontation]
Is Xi Following Putin’s Lead in Waging War By Stealth?
By Gary Sands 6/17/15 at 3:15 PM
The Chinese are notorious for copying Western products and adapting them to serve the Chinese market. Look at Alibaba, often described as China’s answer to eBay. Or Weibo, a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook. Plus, thanks to weak intellectual property protection laws in China, these companies often get away with it.
Yet there is nothing inherently immoral or illegal about governments copying geopolitical strategies from other governments, and China’s northern comrade, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, may be setting a dangerous precedent.
The apparent success of Putin’s misadventures in Ukraine could serve as an attractive geopolitical militaristic strategy for other nations with territorial disputes, such as China. But if Putin’s strategy in Ukraine is so dangerous and widely condemned, why would Chinese President Xi Jinping bother copying Putin?
Some political analysts argue that when a nation’s leaders face economic difficulties, the public’s preoccupation with day-to-day problems can be alleviated by focusing on broader concerns like nationalism and the protection of the state’s interests.
Economic growth in China is a serious concern, as overcapacity in real estate and heavy industry took gross domestic product (GDP) from the 9 percent average from 1989 to 2015 to an expected 7 percent first-quarter year-over-year growth rate this last quarter.
Russia is also facing an economic slowdown. Its GDP is expected to shrink by 3 percent in 2015 as $50 a barrel oil and capital outflows of $115 billion harm growth prospects.
Despite an economic crisis in Russia, Putin’s popularity has soared, largely the result of increased nationalism. In May 2013, a little less than a year before Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, Putin’s approval ratings stood at 64 percent. Following further intervention by Russia, which stands accused of providing arms and forces in the east of Ukraine, Putin’s latest approval rating rocketed to 86 percent.
[Russia confrontation] [China confrontation] [Putin] [Inversion]
China seen as launching plan to revamp global economic order
By Andrew Nachemson - The Washington Times - Tuesday, June 16, 2015
China’s leaders have embarked on a conscious strategy to reshape the economy of Asia and the world to their advantage, according to two top scholars at the Council on Foreign Relations, who warned Tuesday the restructuring could occur at the expense of U.S. economic interests if American policymakers fail to develop a comprehensive response.
“China has a very clear, broad, proactive and well-thought out-regional strategy,” one that is “more expansive than any other country in the world,” said former Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats, who spoke on China’s long-term economic strategy in a session with former Treasury Department China envoy Olin Wethington.
The current drift of events are also playing to China’s strengths, Mr. Wethington said in a briefing Tuesday for reporters. “The status quo will not continue to serve us well,” he said.
Both Washington and Beijing have said they are trying to accommodate China’s emergence as a global economic superpower without disrupting the Asian economic boom, but there have been clear signs of competition as China challenges the U.S.-authored rules of the road. China is not a party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal President Obama has called one of his top priorities, and an International Monetary Fund reform program that would give China, India and other rising powers a greater say in decision-making has broken down because of its failure to pass the U.S. Congress.
[China confrontation]
Why Democracies Dominate: America’s Edge over China
America’s political institutions will prove to be its enduring edge in its economic and military competition with Beijing.
Matthew Kroenig
June 15, 2015
CHINA’S ENORMOUS population and rapid rate of economic growth mean that Beijing could soon dislodge Washington from its standing as the most dominant power in Asia. The Economist, for example, predicts that China could overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy—an important measure of national power—in the year 2021. Moreover, we know that military might tends to follow economic heft. Beijing’s ongoing military buildup is already constraining America’s ability to project power in the Asia-Pacific region. If China follows Washington’s lead in investing in global power-projection capabilities, decades from now it could conceivably usurp global military supremacy from Washington.
[Hegemony] [Democracy]
Is Chinese autocracy outperforming western democracy?
Stein Ringen 12 June 2015
The author suggests that China’s regime could put itself to a referendum – a democratic referendum against electoral democracy. He expects it would win that referendum. Book review.
President Xi Jinping, 2014.
President Xi Jinping, 2014. Demotix/Gregor Fischer. All rights reserved.
In a new and important book, an eminent political scientist argues the case that the Chinese system is not only unique but also a morally justifiable alternative to democracy. He calls it a ‘political meritocracy’ and suggests that recent experience shows meritocracy to have so much promise and democracy so much difficulty that the balance is shifting in favour of meritocracy.
The experience in question is ‘the crisis of governance in Western democracy’ and ‘the success of meritocracy in China.’
The book is The China Model (Princeton University Press). Its author is Daniel A. Bell, a Canadian political scientist who for about ten years has been teaching at one of China’s élite universities, Tsinghua in Beijing, and who has become known as an original thinker about today’s China.
This is a challenge to be taken seriously. The author has a unique theoretical competence and is uniquely positioned to observe Chinese affairs. His book offers the most sophisticated defence to date of the Chinese system, wrapped into a trenchant criticism of democracy.
[China model] [Democracy] [Meritocracy]
China, Australia sign free trade agreement
China.org.cn, June 17, 2015
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott with Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb in Canberra. [Photo/ce.cn]
China and Australia signed a long-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on June 17 in Canberra, Australia.
The agreement ensures 85 percent of all Australian exports enter China tariff-free and 95 percent when the deal is in full force.
Australia will eventually reduce tariffs to zero on all goods imported from China.
The FTA also includes opening-up of numerous service sectors, a simplified review procedure for investments, most-favored-nation treatment, favorable market access rules and market transparency.
Chinese commerce minister Gao Hucheng and Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb inked the agreement.
At the ceremony Prime Minister Abbott said the "unprecedented" and "monumental" pact was the "next chapter" in strong relations between the two countries.
"This deal today is history-making for both our countries," he said. "It will change our countries for the better. It will change our region for the better. It will change our world for the better.
He said the "extraordinary" agreement had opened the vast Chinese market to further Australian investment, primary products and services, while facilitating further Chinese investment in Australia.
The landmark signing finalized negotiations that started ten years ago and followed the Declaration of Intent signed in November by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Negotiations on the FTA concluded in November last year.
[Australia China] [FTA]
China Rising
by Pepe Escobar
In this week’s edition of CounterPunch Radio, host Eric Draitser interviews Pepe Escobar.
As intellectual acumen and cross-cultural expertise go, it would be hopeless to expect self-described “Don’t Do Stupid Stuff” Obama administration foreign policy advisers — as well as Pentagon functionaries/hacks — to understand the complexities of China.
For instance, they would be incapable of evaluating all the myriad ramifications included in Professor Alfred McCoy’s masterful deconstruction of US-China geopolitics.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha is currently visiting Singapore, where he is discussing with his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong the intricacies of ASEAN-China concerning the formidably complex South China Sea disputes.
[China rising] [Mackinder]
The US’ “Asia Pivot” is in Doldrums
If the US’ “Asia Pivot” was to be described in one sentence, it would be “encirclement” of its two most important strategic peers in the world: Russia and China. The idea of “encirclement” was further based upon building a chain of allies across Asia, which is somehow now suffering from standstill. As it stands, not only is the US not succeeding in securing that chain of allies, but the ‘counter-economic-offensive’ of Russia and China has struck a heavy blow to the US ambitions as well.
As far as the question of the effectiveness and the success of “Asia Pivot” is concerned, one can evaluate it by emphasizing the fact that in its bid to strengthen its weak position, the US did not hesitate to virtually accept Iran’s erstwhile position on its nuclear programme. The fast changing situation inside Afghanistan and in Central Asian region must have compelled the US to make a serious attempt to wean Iran to its side so that the Iranian route to the Caspian Sea could be opened to use for the former. In other words, in the US’ new strategic calculations with regard to its position in this part of the word, Iran has come to occupy a significant position, and as such, Iran is most likely to take strategic advantage of it in order to strengthen its position against Saudi led “Sunni” block in the Middle East.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/06/16/the-us-asia-pivot-is-in-doldrums/
[Pivot] [Iran]
Why America Should Fear China's Hypersonic Nuclear Missile
Zachary Keck
June 15, 2015
China all but confirmed it tested its hypersonic missile delivery vehicle a fourth time.
On Friday, China’s Defense Ministry seemed to confirm U.S. reports that Beijing tested its Wu-14 hypersonic vehicle on Sunday, June 7. Responding to an inquiry by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, China’s Defense Ministry said, “The scheduled scientific research and experiments in our territory is normal, and those tests are not targeted at any country and specific goals.”
The statement was eerily similar to the one China’s Defense Ministry issued following the January 2014 test of the Wu-14. At that time, the defense ministry said: “It is normal for China to conduct scientific experiments within its borders according to its plans. The tests were not aimed at any nation nor any specific target.”
Last week’s test was the fourth one China has conducted in just 18 months, suggesting it is a priority of China’s military. The Wu-14, which can carry nuclear or conventional warheads, can travel at ten times the speed of sound, or 7,680 miles per hour. Its maneuverability enables it to bypass U.S. missile defense systems.
This point was underscored by He Qisong, a defense expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. Speaking to the SCMP, He said that “The Wu-14 … is designed to penetrate US missile defence systems, meaning the PLA is capable of defending China's territorial sovereignty."
[China confrontation] [Missile defense] [Military balance]
Obama's pivot to nowhere
By Stephen Collinson, CNN
Updated 1856 GMT (0156 HKT) June 16, 2015
Washington (CNN)—There's more than President Barack Obama's legacy, or his wounded pride, on the line in the showdown with Congress over a huge pan-Pacific trade deal.
As lawmakers appear ready to thwart Obama's renewed effort this week to secure the power to conclude pacts such as the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, the implications for U.S. global power and prestige could linger long after he leaves office in January 2017.
With U.S. regional allies anxious about China's rise and willingness to project military power, Obama has made what is known as his "Asian pivot" -- an increase in U.S. economic, military and diplomatic resources to the region -- a central foreign policy priority.
READ: Inside the trade bill's collapse
The TPP is a cornerstone of that process and is meant ensure the world's most dynamic emerging market evolves into a rules-based system that benefits all nations, and it's meant to check China's ability to bully smaller ones, such as America's friends in Southeast Asia.
But if the TPP is thwarted, U.S. credibility in Asia will suffer, and allies will again wonder whether Obama's assurances that the United States will remain an essential Pacific power and guarantor of security in the region will be fulfilled. On Monday night, House Republicans appeared to be buying time as they planned to add an extension for a vote on trade adjustment assistance until July 30.
"You are either in or you are out," stressed Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Monday, assessing the implications of a busted trade agreement for the U.S. role in Asia.
"It's very, very serious. The President wants it, everybody knows this is important, and you can't get it through. How credible are you going to be? The world doesn't wait. Not even for the United States."
[TPP] [Obama] [Pivot] [China confrontation] [Governance]
A Net Assessment of East Asia
Geopolitical Weekly
June 16, 2015 | 08:00 GMT
By George Friedman
When I began this series a month ago, I pointed out that the most significant feature of the global system currently is the ongoing destabilization of the Eurasian land mass, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Arctic to the Arabian Sea. One important aspect of this is that the destabilization isn't, at this point, a single systemic crisis, but a series of relatively self-contained disorders. Thus the European, Russian and Middle Eastern systems have different dynamics, and while they touch on each other, they have not yet reached the point of having merged into a single crisis.
It is in this context that I turn to the question of East Asia. Asia is so vast and diverse and geographically fragmented that it is impossible to speak of Asia as a whole. East Asia is that part of Asia east of the Central Asian deserts that extend deep into China, and north of the Himalayas and hilly jungles east of the Himalayas. It consists of two main parts: One is the mainland, the region between the southern barriers and Siberia, which is Han China and its subordinate states, Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Manchuria. The other is the East Asian archipelago, a string of islands and peninsulas stretching from the Aleutians to the Malay Peninsula-Java interface. Of particular importance to an East Asian net assessment are Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan. One additional feature is noteworthy: the Korean Peninsula, wedged between China and the archipelago. In the simplest terms, at this moment, the critical question is the dynamic in the northeast, involving China, Japan, the Koreas and, of course, the global power, the United States.
Hung clears KMT presidential primary threshold
Legislative Yuan Vice President Hung Hsiu-chu celebrates her high approval ratings in the KMT’s first-ever presidential primary poll June 14 at party headquarters in Taipei City. (CNA)
•Publication Date:06/15/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
Legislative Yuan Vice President Hung Hsiu-chu passed June 14 the 30 percent requirement in the primary poll for selecting the ruling Kuomintang’s 2016 ROC presidential election candidate.
Hung averaged 46.2 percent support in three polls conducted June 12 and 13 by Statinc Co., Trendgo Consultant Co. Ltd. and United Daily News. All of the telephone-based interviews comprised 1,200-plus valid responses.
The potential candidate’s approval rating was assessed individually and against Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party and its confirmed candidate for the presidential race. A total of 50.7 percent of respondents supported Hung’s nomination, while 41.6 percent said they will vote for her.
[Taiwan] [Election] [Gender] [KMT]
New cargo train service between China, Europe opens
Xinhua, June 14, 2015
The first freight train linking Harbin and Hamburg prepares to depart from Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 13, 2015. The first freight train linking Harbin and Germany's Hamburg departed from Harbin on Saturday. It runs a course of 9,820 kilometers and is expected to return to Harbin on July 11. (Xinhua/Wang Song)
A freight train service between the northeastern China city of Harbin and Europe was launched on Saturday, opening a new trade route between China and Europe.
The train left the railway station in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, at 10 a.m. Saturday, carrying 49 containers of domestic goods such as electronic products and auto parts from northeast and north China, worth 3 million U.S. dollars.
During the 9,820-km-long travel, the train will pass Russia and Poland before reaching its destination of Hamburg, Germany, said Tu Xiaoyue, general manager of HAO Logistics Co., Ltd, a joint venture which runs the service.
The train will be run once every week and each single trip takes 15 days. It will transport goods from China, the Republic of Korea and Japan as well as European countries such as Germany, Poland, France, Spain and Italy.
Several Chinese cities, including Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, Hefei, Yiwu and Suzhou, have launched similar freight train services to Europe.
[Railways] [Eurasian landbridge]
China, Cuba prepare to launch direct flight
Xinhua, June 14, 2015
China and Cuba are planning a direct flight linking the two's capitals across the vast Pacific Ocean, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Saturday.
Air China will operate the flight.
Details of when the flights will be launched and how frequent they will be has not been revealed.
CAAC does say the new flights will help promote cultural exchanges.
Chinese travellers hoping to get to Cuba have been forced to land in a 3rd country, normally Canada, before being able to make the trip to the island nation, making the journey additionally long.
China vows 'zero tolerance' of food safety crime
Xinhua, June 12, 2015
China is stepping up efforts to guarantee food quality with zero tolerance of food safety crime, according to a national teleconference on food safety on Thursday.
Food safety has a direct bearing on the health and safety of all people, and is a basic requirement of a moderately prosperous society, said Premier Li Keqiang in a written instruction.
He called for full implementation of the revamped Food Safety Law and pledged "zero tolerance" for food safety crime.
A food trace system monitoring the whole process of food production, logistics and sales should be established, Li said.
Zhang Gaoli, a vice premier and head of a ministerial food safety committee under the State Council, also called for strict supervision of food manufacturers and distributors in his instruction to the conference.
The conference was presided over by Wang Yang, another vice premier, who stressed the importance of a sound risk management system in protecting food safety.
Food safety control should be based on the principle of prevention first and timely information disclosure, Wang said.
He urged local governments to assume responsibility for food quality and encouraged the whole of society to supervise and guarantee food safety.
Wang highlighted the fundamental role of law in protecting consumers' safety and interests, calling for publicity for the revised law to enhance legal awareness among food producers.
China's top legislature on April 24 adopted an amendment to the Food Safety Law that gives the heaviest penalties yet to offenders. It will go into effect on Oct. 1.
[Food safety]
Soldiers kill suspected DPRK border-crosser
China Daily, June 12, 2015
A person suspected of illegally crossing the border from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was killed by Chinese border patrol soldiers in Helong, Jilin province, on Thursday, the city's publicity department reported on its micro blog.
The suspect reportedly resisted arrest after entering the village of Nanping and was shortly before 4 am. The case remains under investigation.
The Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, which administers Helong, shares more than 500 kilometers of border with the DPRK.
In December, a runaway DPRK soldier reportedly killed four Chinese residents in Helong during a robbery after he crossed the border, according to Xinhua News Agency. The soldier was shot during his arrest and died in a hospital, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in January.
The prefecture established a military-civilian defense system for better border security following the incident. Local residents were encouraged to report any illegal border activities, and a telephone hotline was created.
Ashton Carter’s remarks suggest an Obama policy shift on China
By Bill Gertz - - Wednesday, June 10, 2015
The Obama administration appears to be in the early phase of a policy shift on China. Tougher rhetoric and policies, most recently demonstrated by remarks in Asia from Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, coincide with the departures of two key officials long known for advocating more conciliatory policies toward Beijing.
Paul Heer, who for years held the influential post of national intelligence officer for East Asia, retired recently, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said. From his position as the most senior intelligence official on China, Mr. Heer was known for a steadfast bias that sought to play down the various threats posed by China in favor of more conciliatory views. His influence also is said to have extended to personnel appointments within the CIA’s analytical section, which critics say resulted in “groupthink” on China.
A second major personnel change was the departure last week of the White House’s senior China specialist, Evan Medeiros, who left after a reported dispute with White House National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice. Ms. Rice has a reputation as a prickly manager known for swearing profusely at subordinates. Mr. Medeiros was regarded by critics as among the most pro-China policymakers in the White House’s highly centralized foreign policy and national security power structure.
Congressional Republicans have said Mr. Medeiros was behind the White House decision several years ago to deny sales of advanced U.S. F-16 jet fighters to Taiwan to bolster its flagging air forces.
Mr. Medeiros, in academic writings before his White House posting, has asserted that the Chinese military posed little or no threat and that Beijing’s policies are generally benign.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/10/inside-the-ring-ashton-carters-china-remarks-signa/#ixzz3cuT4HXcC
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
[China confrontation] [Hardliners]
Suu Kyi makes first China visit
China Daily, June 11, 2015
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, starting a groundbreaking visit to China that is expected to consolidate another channel for Beijing to communicate with the neighboring country.
Myanmar's National League for Democracy (NLD) delegation led by its chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi (C) and officials from Chinese Embassy pose for a group photo at Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar, June 10, 2015. Aung San Suu Kyi left here on Wednesday for her first visit to China aimed at enhancing mutual understanding and promoting cooperation and friendly relations between the two neighbors. [Photo/Xinhua]
Beijing showed how important it considers the first visit of 69-year-old Suu Kyi by having the Chinese ambassador to Myanmar see her off at the airport, a rare arrangement in interparty exchanges.
She met Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, on Wednesday in Beijing.
President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang will also meet Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's National League for Democracy, which is likely to perform strongly in elections later this year, the party has announced.
[Myanmar] [Aung San Suu Kyi ]
Tapani Incident centennial marked by Tainan City
Tapani Incident centennial marked by Tainan City
Tapani Memorial Park in Tainan City’s Yujing District is a silent witness to the bloodletting a century ago between locals and Japanese colonial forces. (Courtesy of Academia Sinica)
•Publication Date:06/09/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
The centennial of the 1915 Tapani Incident, the last major uprising against the Japanese during the colonial era (1895-1945), is to be marked with a series of events by Tainan City Government.
Starting with the first official release of victims’ names in August, the schedule of planned activities includes academic conferences, memorial concerts and unveiling historical documents. The commemoration closes in October with the inauguration of a dedicated museum in Yujing District.
Yeh Tse-shan, director-general of TCG’s Cultural Affairs Bureau, said the museum was converted from a century-old sugar refinery complex in Yujing. “The region witnessed the fiercest confrontations during the uprising. A total of 1,412 were killed in the crackdown, while another 1,424 were arrested and sentenced by the Japanese.”
[Japanese colonialism] [Taiwan]
China's new rail giant bags first overseas deal from India
China Daily, June 10, 2015
Photo taken on Jan. 4, 2014 shows a trial train take a test run on the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway constructed by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) in Turkey. [Xinhua]
China Railway Rolling Stock Corp Ltd (CRRC) will provide 14 subway trains with 112 carriages in total to Kolkata, India, said the company on Tuesday.
This is the first overseas order that CRRC has received. The train giant, a merger of CNR Corp and CSR Corp, got this order from its subsidiary company - CNR Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company in February.
As the third-biggest city in India, Kolkata will replace the old trains that have been running for over 30 years in its south-north subway line which reaches a length of 23.45 km in order to ease the transportation pressure.
According to the company, this is the first time that CNR Dalian has entered the market of South Asia.
CRRC started trading on the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses on Monday, becoming the world's biggest rail conglomerate in terms of market value and sales.
[Railways] [China India]
China is building the most extensive global commercial-military empire in history
Written by
Steve LeVine
June 09, 2015
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the sun famously never set on the British empire. A commanding navy enforced its will, yet all would have been lost if it were not for ports, roads, and railroads. The infrastructure that the British built everywhere they went embedded and enabled their power like bones and veins in a body.
Great nations have done this since Rome paved 55,000 miles (89,000 km) of roads and aqueducts in Europe. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Russia and the United States established their own imprint, skewering and taming nearby territories with projects like the Trans-Siberian and the Trans-Continental railways.
Now it’s the turn of the Chinese. Much has been made of Beijing’s “resource grab” in Africa and elsewhere, its construction of militarized artificial islands in the South China Sea and, most recently, its new strategy to project naval power broadly in the open seas.
Yet these profiles of an allegedly grasping and treacherous China tend to consider its ambitions in disconnected pieces. What these pieces add up to is a whole latticework of infrastructure materializing around the world. Combined with the ambitious activities of Chinese companies, they are quickly growing into history’s most extensive global commercial empire.
[China rising] [Infrastructure]
Chinese bullet train completes military transport test
By Chen Boyuan
China.org.cn, June 9, 2015
The first ever military transport test has been successfully completed at the Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed railway in northwest China, marking a milestone in the People’s Liberation Army's (PLA) mobility, China National Defense Daily reported.
An analysis session held on June 2 showed that if the train is fully loaded with troops, soldiers' personal weapons can be placed on the luggage racks as well as in the spare room at both ends of each carriage. But if troops carry Type-40 rocket launchers and Type-120 bazookas, the train's personnel transport capacity will be reduced to 80 percent.
The data gathered at the test will be applied to the future emergency mobility of military personnel in the Chinese PLA Lanzhou Military Region.
[Xinjiang] [Separatism] [Railways]
The $6.5 Trillion China Rally That’s Making Stock-Market History
by Kyoungwha Kim
June 9, 2015 — 11:09 AM NZST
Updated on June 9, 2015 — 7:15 PM NZST
It’s enough money to buy Apple Inc. eight times over, or circle the Earth 250 times with $100 bills.
The figure, $6.5 trillion, sums up the value created in just 12 months of trading on Chinese stock exchanges -- and why some see a rally that’s gone too far.
As China’s boom surpasses the headiest days of the U.S. Internet bubble, signs of excess are cropping up everywhere. Mainland speculators have borrowed a record $348 billion to bet on further gains, novice investors are piling into shares at an unprecedented pace and price-to-earnings ratios have climbed to the highest levels in five years. The economy, meanwhile, is mired in its weakest expansion since 1990.
“We have a wonderful bubble on our hands,” said Michael Every, the head of financial markets research at Rabobank International in Hong Kong. “Of course, there’s short-term money to be made. But I fear it will not end well.”
Chinese shares face their next big test on Tuesday, when MSCI Inc. decides whether mainland securities are eligible for indexes used by $9.5 trillion of funds worldwide.
An endorsement would signal global acceptance for equities that had until recently been off limits to most overseas money managers. Rejection would deal a blow to bulls who pushed the Shanghai Composite Index to a seven-year high on Monday.
While no other stock market has grown this much in dollar terms over a 12-month period, previous booms have arguably had a greater impact when adjusted for purchasing power and the size of economic output at the time.
At the height of Japan’s rally in 1989, for example, the nation’s market capitalization reached 145 percent of gross domestic product, versus an estimated 87 percent in China today, according to data from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed for five straight years in the run-up to the crash of 1929, adding more than 200 percent.
Hungary first European country to sign up for China Silk Road plan
Reuters/Stringer
Hungary has become the first European country to sign a cooperation agreement for China's new "Silk Road" initiative to develop trade and transport infrastructure across Asia and beyond, China's foreign ministry said late on Saturday.
The countries' foreign ministers signed a memorandum of understanding for what is formally known as the "One Belt, One Road" project in Budapest, according to a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry website.
China welcomes more European countries to look East, and strengthen cooperation with China and other Asian countries, and participate in the "One Belt, One Road" in various ways, said Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, according to a separate statement on the website.
President Xi Jinping said earlier this year he hoped annual trade with the countries involved in Beijing's plan to create a modern Silk Road would surpass $2.5 trillion in a decade.
Hungary hopes to closely cooperate with China and push on with the Hungarian-Serbia railway and other major construction projects, Hungary's President Janos Ader was quoted as saying by the Chinese foreign ministry.
China is helping fund and build a railway connecting Hungary and Serbia.
Projects under the plan include a network of railways, highways, oil and gas pipelines, power grids, Internet networks, maritime and other infrastructure links across Central, West and South Asia to as far as Greece, Russia and Oman, increasing China's connections to Europe and Africa.
[Belt & Road] [Railways]
The risks of US freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea
1 June 2015
Author: Sam Bateman, RSIS
The US Secretary of Defense has ordered the US military to develop options for more assertive freedom of navigation (FON) operations around China’s man-made islands in the South China Sea. There are significant legal, operational and political risks involved with these operations.
The legal situation regarding China’s claimed features in the South China Sea is messy. The claims overlap with other countries that have also undertaken extensive reclamation works on their occupied features, including building airstrips and adding military fortifications. But the US only appears concerned with what China has done. The US thus risks giving the impression that it has moved away from a position of neutrality in the sovereignty disputes.
[South China Sea] [China confrontation] [Double standards]
Did “China” Say “War” With the United States is “Inevitable”?
Spoiler: No.
It would seem a certain amount of foreign affairs reporting starts out as pabulum fed by the government and its loyal allies to available journos, who further if incompletely digest it and then crap it out on the digital pages of various newspapers, magazines, and think tank white papers for the delectation of a somewhat undiscriminating public.
In other words, the media is often just the messenger, and there’s no point in getting aggravated about crappy coverage and blaming the messenger when the real problem is crappy policy.
But sometimes, especially in the runup to a big foreign policy show—which the U.S. South China Sea gambit certainly has become—the evolution and devolution of media coverage provides useful insights into who’s pushing what and why.
I currently have a piece up at Asia Times, “China Hawks crosshair Obama on South China Sea” on a rather important example. It extensively fisks an interesting and rather ugly op-ed by Bloomberg View’s Josh Rogin, which seems to represent only the most recent iteration of sustained a campaign by China hawks to ensure that President Obama has no political alternative but to greenlight a yearned-for act of escalation: a US Navy Freedom of Navigation sail-by within 12 miles of one of the PRC’s reclaimed “island” features in the South China Sea.
[China confrontation] [South China Sea] [Media]
China Wastes No Time Raising Sunken Cruise Ship
China began to raise the sunken cruise ship Eastern Star just four days after it sank into the Yangtze River. By contrast it took Italian authorities 20 months to get efforts underway to raise the cruise ship Costa Concordia that sank off the coast of Isola del Giglio in Italy, and Korea has to wait 17 month until salvage companies get to work on the ferry Sewol that sank off the southwest coast.
Experts say the difference is due to the conditions of the vessels, such as the weight of the ships and underwater currents.
The Eastern Star weighs 2,200 tons, just one-third of the weight of the Sewol (6,825 tons) and 1/50 of the Costa Concordia (114,147 tons).
The three wreck also differ in the manner they sank.
Most parts of the Eastern Star and Costa Concordia did not sink but protruded out of the water. The Eastern Star sank in 15 m-deep waters and the Costa Concordia in waters just 37 m in depth.
The Sewol has been completely submerged 44 m under the surface.
The authoritarian nature of the Chinese government facilitated a quick decision to raise the Eastern Star just 72 hours after the accident. No efforts were made to listen to the opinions of the family members of the victims. A speedy recovery could cause bodies trapped in the vessel to be lost in the currents, but such matters were apparently not considered.
[Sewol] [Eastern Star] [China comparison]
Mdme. Tsai Goes to Washington
Mdme. Tsai Ing-wen, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate for president in the 2016 Taiwan elections, came to Washington and appeared at the Center for Strategic and International Studies a.k.a. Pivot Central to make some remarks, chat with Kurt Campbell (proud pivot pappy), and do some Q&A moderated by the indefatigable pivot sherpa Bonnie Glaser (more on that later).
Tsai gave a good account of herself in her prepared remarks: competent, appealing, moderate, etc. She also provided a look at what a DPP wanted to do, wouldn’t do—and might be unable to do—if it gained control of the presidency, a pretty good bet given the comatose nature of the KMT’s presidential campaign.
For US audiences, perhaps the key statement was her reaffirmation of “the status quo” a.k.a. “no Taiwan independence” (go to the 17 minute mark).
Subsequently, Campbell did ask an interesting question about the cohesion of Taiwan society given its significant divisions, a sign to me that US policymakers are interested in the possibility that gridlock in Taiwan political institutions will lead to escalating “Sunflower” style street action—or perhaps a DPP gambit to piggyback on student unrest and declare that the unambiguous will of the Taiwan people expressed in mass demonstration compels an independence referendum pronto, sorry about that--and a messy opposing reaction. Tsai responded with the generic “democratic dialogue” kumbaya optimism which, I should say, I don’t quite share.
Campbell elicited Tsai’s statement on the South China Sea issue, very much CSIS’s obsession de jour. Tsai obligingly ticked off the talking points: peaceful, international law, UN conventions, & “as you said, freedom of navigation”.
Getting East Asian democracies to nut up and back the US SCS play is, post Shangri La, a diplomatic priority. On June 4, Danny Russel openly called on the Republic of Korea to support the US position, apparently as part of the public frontloading of expectations for ally fealty that has become an inseparable element of pivot promotion.
[China confrontation] [Taiwan] [South China Sea]
Suu Kyi to make her first visit to China
China Daily, June 6, 2015
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to lead a delegation to China for the first time next week.
The visit comes amid strained ties between the two neighbors over conflicts near their border and months ahead of a general election in Myanmar.
Observers said the trip underlines the changes in both countries' policies, with Beijing engaging in exchanges with various sectors other than just the government, and the party headed by Suu Kyi expected to continue reaching out to Beijing if it wins the election.
President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang will meet Suu Kyi, who heads Myanmar's National League for Democracy, during the trip from June 10 to 14, Nyan Win, the party's secretary and spokesman, told Reuters.
An Economic Reason for the US vs. China Conflict
by Bart Gruzalski
There are many reasons that the US is pushing on China in the South China Sea. Two articles have been published on Counterpunch in recent weeks exploring “why?” None mention an important economic reason that has, at least in part, motivated the US to go to war and is very much at stake in the growing dispute with China: the value of the dollar.
The dominance of the dollar in world trade is critical to its value and to the US economy. Once the US abandoned the gold standard, it signed firm agreements with Saudi Arabia and all of Middle East OPEC nations that bound them to sell oil in dollars. Because of this agreement the dollar is often referred to as the “petrodollar.” The value of the dollar/petrodollar rests on its being the currency of international trade, not only for oil, but for weapons and food and everything else.
Two Dollar Wars
As I discussed in a 2013 Counterpunch article, one reason Bush II invaded Iraq was because Iraq threatened the US by selling oil in Euros. If Sadam Hussein had been allowed to continue, this would have been a major challenge to the dominance of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Petroeuros could begin replacing petrodollars. This would have weakened the value of the dollar and undermined the US economy. That is an underpublicized reason for the elimination of Saddam Hussein. The value of the dollar was at stake as well as the health of our economy. The second Iraq war eliminated this threat and Iraqi oil was again sold in dollars.
Ron Paul made public this rationale but it has been given scant attention. “Saddam Hussein demanded Euros for his oil. His arrogance was a threat to the dollar; his lack of any military might was never a threat…There was no public talk of removing Saddam Hussein because of his attack on the integrity of the dollar as a reserve currency by selling oil in Euros. Many believe this was the real reason for our obsession with Iraq. I doubt it was the only reason, but it may well have played a significant role in our motivation to wage war.”
Ron Paul also made public the rationale for the surprising US-led removal of Gadhafi and the destruction of his government in Libya. Again, protecting the dollar was the main reason: Gadhafi was planning on selling oil in dinars, an all-gold African currency. According to Ron Paul, the US has targeted any country that threatens the dollar by using a non-dollar currency to conduct international business.
[Reserve][US global strategy] [China confrontation]
Chinese wheels set to run on UK rails
China Daily, June 2, 2015
About 151 years ago, it was the British who built the first railway line in China. Now the Chinese want to return the favor by supplying the United Kingdom with state-of-the-art trains that can run on the country's first high-speed rail.
The opportunity they see is Britain's HS2, the high-speed train project that links London with the English Midlands and Northern England. Advanced technology, extensive experience and cost efficiency are believed to be the competitive advantages that Chinese firms are banking on to open the doors in the UK and other mature economies in Europe.
"Western companies, such as Germany's Siemens AG and France's Alstom, entered the high-speed rail sector earlier, but no countries in the world have a high-speed rail network as extensive as China's," Yu Weiping, vice-president of CNR Corp, told China Daily at a recent rail exhibition in the UK.
CNR is set to become the world's largest maker of rolling stock by sales after its merger with CSR Corp. The latter has set up a UK subsidiary that will now become the UK subsidiary of the merged company.
Yu said that about 60 percent of the world's high-speed railways are in China and China's high-speed rail network is the world's most complicated one. "The climate and geographic situation in China is diverse from the north to the south and from the east to the west. It is safe to say that if our high-speed trains can adapt to the complicated situation in China, they can run in any country in the world," he said.
[HSR]
Korea, China Sign FTA
President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping officially signed a bilateral free trade agreement on Monday. Park was given a letter from Xi by visiting Chinese Trade Minister Gao Hucheng at Cheong Wa Dae.
In the letter, Xi called the FTA a "landmark" that would pave the way for a "new leap" in trade relations.
Park sent Xi a letter through Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick and said the bilateral trade pact would deliver "a wide range of opportunities and benefits" for both sides, while deepening the strategic cooperation between Seoul and Beijing.
[China SK] [FTA]
China's Military Dream
The newest element in military strategy in China’s most recent defense white paper is the emphasis on cyber power.
By Greg Austin
June 02, 2015
The release on last Tuesday of China’s Military Strategy fleshes out for the first time the vision its leadership, newly installed only two and a half years ago, has for the development and use of the country’s military power.
Earlier glimpses were provided in the military sections of the 60-point reform manifesto of November 2013, the declaration in February last year that China would do everything necessary to become a cyber power, and the second-draft National Security Law released earlier this month.
The recent document is highly noteworthy on several levels.
In the very first sentence after the preface, the 2015 strategy puts the “information society” (cyber power) as the departure point of international security.
[China military] [Cyberwar]
What institutions do Asian countries need to keep growing?
Author: David Dollar, Brookings Institution
31 May 2015
The notion of a ‘middle-income trap’ has entered the lexicon of policymakers in emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere. Many leaders of countries that have experienced fast growth — such as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang — worry that economic growth will come off the boil as their countries reach middle-income status.
Growth for virtually all advanced economies was slower in the 2000s than in the 1990s; meanwhile growth rates in poor and middle-income countries accelerated. But there is a lot of variation in these broad trends, especially for the middle-income countries. Some of the latter have seen very impressive growth spurts, while others have stagnated.
What explains why some countries grow fast and others languish? There is a strong empirical relationship between the quality of institutions (as measured by the World Governance Indicators’ Rule of Law index) and economic growth. But institutional quality does not change very much from year to year or sometimes even from decade to decade, which makes it hard to explain why countries have periods of high growth followed by low growth (or vice versa).
[Middle income trap] [China rising]
Chinese Blast Korea for Letting MERS Patient Travel
A Korean man carrying the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus has traveled to China via Hong Kong, causing shockwaves among the Chinese public.
Angry Chinese citizens are posting messages on the Internet blasting the Korean government for its lax handling of quarantine protocol. "Korea will be responsible if MERS spreads in China," one typical comment read.
Chinese and Hong Kong health officials are tracking around 200 people who may have come into direct contact with the 44-year-old Korean man, who arrived in Hong Kong on May 26 on an Asiana flight carrying 80 Korean and 73 Chinese passengers as well as eight crew.
The man then boarded a bus and traveled to Guangzhou with 40 passengers.
[Hysteria] [Social media]
What Should Be the Final Word on Freedom of Navigation in the South China Sea
Peter Lee
Monday, June 01, 2015
...But Won't Be
Attendees at the Shangri La confab would like you to believe it’s about protecting Freedom of Navigation (hereinafter FoN) in the South Chinese Sea (hereinafter SCS) from the Perfidious Red Chinese (hereinafter PRC).
Nonsense.
I debunked the FoN canard pre-conference at Asia Times. The only nation with an existential interest in FoN in the SCS is the PRC. In case you missed it, here’s the link:
And a couple more data points.
One is courtesy of an Australian wonk, Sam Bateman:
Bonnie Glaser has recently claimed that approximately 60 per cent of Australia’s seaborne trade passes through the South China Sea…
When measured by value, the figure of 60% of our seaborne trade passing through the South China Sea is way off the mark. Based on the latest data for Australia’s overseas trade, it mightn’t even be half that—and about three-quarters of it would be trade to and from China. Thus the notion of a threat to our seaborne trade from China is rather a non-sequitur.
[South China Sea] [China confrontation] [Inversion]
FIFA crisis sparks heated debate in China
Xinhua, May 30, 2015
The recent arrest of top FIFA officials has ignited a heated debate among Web users in China where a government-backed football reform plan was launched early this year.
While some argue corruption is a long-standing problem for the entire sports world, some blasted at U.S. attempt to extend jurisdiction.
"A sting operation by the US in Zurich! Is it S.H.I.E.L.D. in real?" said a post by "Please Call Me Sir Li".
A netizen named Yang Yinghan commented, sarcastically, "USA, the hope of all human beings!"
"It is nothing but a fight for power and interests. Justice? Forget about it," said On the way-JWF on Weibo, a Chinese equivalent to Twitter, adding a "thumb-down" expression in his post.
"This is a FIFA version of Game of Thrones!" echoed Taiheng.
[FIFA]
China’s New Roads to Russia
F. William Engdahl
I know of no comparable global Great Project to equal what is now unfolding, bit-by-bit, as China reveals more about her Silk Road Economic Belt high-speed railway infrastructure network. And it’s now clear that the road will be filled with entire new cities, industrial zones, construction, improving standards of living for hundreds of millions of people previously abandoned. The implications for founding a new global alternative to the bankrupt dollar system are immense.
The Chinese don’t dither around when they’ve reached a consensus. The project of President Xi Jinping to develop a new economic space across Eurasia from Beijing to the borders of the European Union, which he unveiled during one of his first foreign visits as President in 2013 in Kazakhstan, is now known as the New Silk Road Economic Belt.
The project is emerging as the centerpiece of a renaissance in infrastructure construction that will transform and lift the entire world economy for decades. For the economic space encompassing China and Asia, a recent study estimated that over the next years some $8 trillion of infrastructure investment will be needed to bring those economies into modern standards of commerce and development.
[Belt and Road] [Eurasia] [China Russia]
UK’s Taiwan representative office renamed
U.K. Representative to Taiwan Christopher Terence Wood announces May 27 in Taipei City the renaming of the British Trade and Cultural Office as British Office. (Courtesy of BO)
•Publication Date:05/28/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
The British Trade and Cultural Office was rebranded British Office May 27 as part of U.K. government efforts to better define the activities and functions of its representation in Taiwan.
No changes have been made to the role of the office, which includes providing services for U.K. citizens, promoting bilateral innovative and scientific collaboration, enhancing joint programs tackling climate change, spurring two-way trade and attracting inbound investment to Britain.
U.K. Representative to Taiwan Christopher Terence Wood said the new name better reflects the character and mission of the office. “People did not really understand what [BTCO] signified, and often did not recognize us as a government office. Some thought we were simply a British company.”
[UK] [Taiwan]
Chinese military sets course to expand global reach as ‘national interests’ grow
By Simon Denyer May 26 at 4:46 PM ?
BEIJING — China said Tuesday that it plans to extend its global military reach to safeguard its economic interests, while defending its territorial claims at sea against “provocative actions” by neighbors and “meddling” by the United States.
A policy document setting out China’s military strategy, issued by the State Council, or cabinet, underlined the dramatic growth of the country’s defense ambitions — especially its naval ambitions — in tandem with its rapid economic rise.
Beijing insisted in the document that its military is dedicated to “international security cooperation” and peaceful development. But it also said the navy will expand its focus from “offshore waters defense” to a greater emphasis on “open seas protection” as China aims to establish itself as a maritime power. The air force, meanwhile, will shift its focus from “territorial air defense to both defense and offense.”
Patrick Cronin, director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, called the white paper “a blueprint for achieving slow-motion regional hegemony.”
[China rising] [Chinese military]
Security issues vital to 'Belt and Road' initiative
By Zhang Lulu
China.org.cn, May 27, 2015
One of the CICA nongovernmental forum roundtable meetings is dedicated to the Belt and Road initiative. The meeting was held on May 26 in Beijing. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]
During a two-day international meeting in Beijing, former state leaders, diplomats and experts agreed that security issues are vital to the "Belt and Road" initiative and thus must be addressed carefully.
Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road initiative in 2013, and the concept has gained significant traction since then. Scholars have cautioned, however, that security issues are vital to the initiative since it will affect vast expanses of several regions, including some of the world's most volatile countries.
During a nongovernmental forum under the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, which addresses security issues in Asia, a number of scholars also voiced their concerns about these security issues.
[Belt and Road] [Xinjiang] [Jihadist]
China Warns of 'Instability' on Korean Peninsula
China has expressed concerns over instability on the Korean Peninsula, in a rare public departure from its staunch loyalty to North Korea.
In a white paper released Tuesday, the Chinese Defense Ministry said, "The Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia are shrouded in instability and uncertainty."
These have "a negative impact on the security and stability along China's periphery," it added.
This suggests that China is determined to remain active in trying to curb North Korea's nuclear arms development.
The paper also cites security threats like the U.S.' "pivot to Asia" or reorientation of defense efforts to deter China, Japanese rearmament, and maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
Defense white papers have been published every two years since 1998.
The paper said China will drastically improve the capabilities of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force and expand the area of naval operations from coastal waters to the high seas.
"It is necessary for China to develop a modern maritime military force structure commensurate with its national security and development interests, safeguard its national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests… and participate in international maritime cooperation, so as to provide strategic support for building itself into a maritime power," the paper states.
"We will not attack unless we are attacked, but we will surely counterattack if attacked," it added.
[China Global strategy] [Spin] [Media]
China delivers all 2016 Olympics subway trains
Ecns.cn, May 26, 2015
A subway train to be used for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro rolls out at Changchun Railway Vehicles in Changchun city, Northeast China's Jilin province, May 25, 2015. China has delivered all 15 subway trains that will operate on Line Four, between the Olympic village and the Copacabana game center, in Rio de Janeiro, the first time Chinese railway development has catered for an overseas Olympic Games. (Photo: China News Service/Zhang Yao)
[Railways] [Brazil] [Olympics]
Ma proposes South China Sea Peace Initiative
Ma proposes South China Sea Peace Initiative
President Ma Ying-jeou sets out his plan to settle territorial disputes and promote regional cooperation through the South China Sea Peace Initiative May 26 in Taipei City. (Staff photo / Chin Hung-hao)
•Publication Date:05/26/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
President Ma Ying-jeou unveiled May 26 his South China Sea Peace Initiative, calling on all countries and territories in the region to employ it in resolving disputes and developing resources.
“In view of rising tensions in this region, the ROC, drawing on its successful peacemaking experiences in the East China Sea, solemnly pledges to take the lead in advancing peace and prosperity through this initiative,” Ma said.
“Whether from the perspective of history, geography or international law, the Dongsha [Pratas], Nansha [Spratly], Shisha [Paracel] and Zhongsha [Macclesfield Bank], as well as their surrounding waters, are an indisputable part of ROC territory. The nation holds full rights over them in accordance with international law.”
The president made the remarks at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Research Forum hosted by the International Law Association and American Society of International Law in Taipei City.
[South China Sea] [Taiwan]
China, Peru agree on feasibility study on transcontinental railway
Xinhua, May 23, 2015
China and Peru have agreed to conduct a feasibility study on a proposed transcontinental railway connecting Peru's Pacific coast with Brazil's Atlantic coast.
The two governments agreed on this during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to Peru, a Latin American country which has a free trade pact with China and wishes to diversify its economic cooperation with China.
The Chinese side is interested in taking part in the potential project, which would benefit both countries as Latin America has an urgent need to upgrade its infrastructure and China wishes to export its industrial capacity and investment.
Li has just arrived in the Peruvian capital, which is the third leg of his four-nation tour to Latin America after Brazil and Colombia. He will also visit Chile.
[Railways] [Latin America]
China’s South China Sea strategy: simply brilliant
18 May 2015|William Choong
In the past 12 months, China has provoked considerable attention with its reclamation activities in the South China Sea, particularly in the Spratlys where it controls seven maritime features.
China’s history of salami-slicing presents a dilemma to regional countries as well as external powers with regional interests: do they escalate an incident each time China slices the salami and risk open conflict, or stand down and allow China to augment its territorial claims.
The million-dollar question remains: who or what will freeze China’s reclamation in the South China Sea? The answer: nothing, really.
It has been proposed, for example, that like-minded states carve out a ‘code of practice’ that would stress the rule of law and mirror the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Another option being considered by the Pentagon is to send US aircraft and ships within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese-built reefs in the Spratlys, to challenge its influence there.
[South China Sea] [China confrontation] [Unique]
China university rebukes US espionage allegations
Xinhua, May 21, 2015
Famous Chinese university refuted U.S. spying accusations against its three professors on Thursday, saying their achievements abide by international scientific research rules and academic ethics.
Tianjin University said it is gravely concerned over the arrest of Zhang Hao, a professor at the School of Precision Instrument and Opto-electronics Engineering of the university, in the U.S. over economic espionage charges.
Zhang was arrested on May 16 at the International Airport of Los Angeles as he entered the U.S., with invitation to attend an international microwave conference.
U.S. prosecutors accused six Chinese nationals, including Zhang and two other teachers from Tianjin University, Pang Wei and Chen Jinping, of stealing wireless technology from the U.S., according to reports.
In a statement issued by its publicity department, the university expressed indignation over and firmly denied U.S. media reports that implied that the university has gained illegally in the case.
Both Zhang and Pang got a doctor's degree in electronic engineering at the University of Southern California in 2006. After graduation, Zhang was employed by Skyworks while Pang worked in Avago Technologies. The two were employed by Tianjin University in 2009.
[Espionage] [China confrontation] [Hysteria]
US Rolls Out the Escalation Product in the South China Sea
I have a piece up at Asia Times, The Salami Slices Back!, on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Spoiler: the threat to FoN is the linchpin justification for US meddling in the SCS, but it's pretty much BS.
Rather timely, isn’t it? Since the US started flying military patrol aircraft around PRC-held islands in the South China Sea yesterday to uphold “freedom of navigation”. And the PRC responded by flying some bomber around international airspace, apparently inside Japan’s ADIZ, occasioning an intercept.
Something I’d like to point out to people who get mil-boners from the idea of the US armed forces finally coming into direct confrontation with the PRC and forcing the arrogant Chinese dragon to its scaly knees: The PRC grits its teeth and lets the US military go where it wants; it retaliates asymmetrically, both in target (more vulnerable allies) and in measures (economic & diplomatic).
In my opinion things will get really interesting if/when Japan Self Defense Forces join the US military in these demonstration flights, and if/when US/Japanese forces protect a Philippine flotilla doing some hydrocarbon-related activity inside the Philippine EEZ, maybe after the UNCLOS arbitration declares the nine-dash-line invalid.
Meanwhile, unleash the journos and pundits! The US government has assiduously prepped for this escalation so that the operation and the Chinese reaction can be suitably presented in the public sphere.
An interesting element of the coverage is that it highlights the leading DoD role. The PRC activity is pretty much Ash Carter’s op.
Ash Carter, the US Secretary of Defense, has been remarkably mouthy in matters of foreign policy, not just on the PRC, in the area of policy pronouncements, threats, complaints, etc. (and actions like the recent assassination or was it failed capture? raid on that IS guy), so it was interesting to read an article by Greg Sheridan and Rowan Callick in The Australian marking the formal kickoff of the US SCS campaign.
[China confrontation] [South China Sea]
China’s growth prospects: ‘Sinophoria’ or imminent collapse?
JANE GOLLEY considers the arguments over whether China can sustain high economic growth.
In early 2015, China’s Premier Li Keqiang lowered the official growth rate to around 7 per cent—its lowest target in 11 years, and one that is being touted as the new normal rate of growth, in contrast with the heady double-digit levels of the past.
Many independent estimates of China’s growth for 2015 are lower by two or three percentage points—an indication of how much uncertainty there is even in the short term. Longer-term forecasts (or guestimates, as they should be called) vary even more widely, ranging from optimistic predictions as high as 7 per cent through to 2020 and 6 per cent through to 2030 to doomsday scenarios about the economy’s imminent collapse. If the doomsayers are right, the future for the Chinese and global economies is grim.
In a recent paper entitled ‘Asiaphoria versus regression to the mean’, two American economists, Larry Summers and Lance Pritchett reflect on these wide-ranging forecasts. ‘Asiaphoria’ reflects the belief that Asia is destined to become the centre of global economic activity in the next two decades.
Summers and Pritchett challenge this view for being too optimistic, because forecasters tend to place too much emphasis on recent rates of per capita GDP growth, which—given those of China and India compared with Europe and the United States—drives this Asiaphoria.
[Prediction]
U.S. indicts 6 Chinese citizens on charges of stealing trade secrets
By Ellen Nakashima May 19 at 9:30 AM ?
A federal grand jury has indicted six Chinese citizens in what authorities say was a long-
running conspiracy to steal valuable technology from two U.S. firms for the benefit of the Chinese government.
The indictment, unsealed Monday, highlights the threat posed by insiders who use their position to steal sensitive information on behalf of a foreign government or for financial gain. The move is part of a larger trend by the U.S. government to step up efforts to deter Chinese theft of trade secrets.
It is also a manifestation of the ongoing innovation war between China and the United States and could increase tensions in a relationship that is already fraught.
“According to the charges in the indictment, the defendants leveraged their access to and knowledge of sensitive U.S. technologies to illegally obtain and share U.S. trade secrets with the [People’s Republic of China] for economic advantage,” said Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, head of the Justice Department’s national security division. “Economic espionage imposes great costs on American businesses, weakens the global marketplace and ultimately harms U.S. interests worldwide.”
[Read the full indictment]
One of the six defendants, Hao Zhang, 36, was arrested on Saturday at Los Angeles International Airport. He had flown from China to speak at a conference.
Zhang and two other defendants had obtained engineering degrees from the University of Southern California and then secured jobs at high-tech firms. The other three remained in China and were alleged to be part of a conspiracy in which the defendants set up a company in China to profit from stolen U.S. technology that filters wireless signals in cellphones and other mobile devices.
[Cyber espionage] [China confrontation] [Hysteria]
China-Thailand canal agreement report denied
China Daily, May 20, 2015
A report claiming that China and Thailand have signed an agreement concerning plans to build a major canal project has been denied.
The Chinese government was not involved in any research or cooperation about building the Kra Isthmus Canal in Thailand, and no official statement has been made by the government relating to the project so far, the Chinese embassy in Bangkok said on Tuesday. The denial came after the widely circulated report said Chinese and Thai officials had signed a memorandum of understanding in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
The report said the 100-kilometer canal would link the South China Sea and the Andaman Sea through the Malay Peninsula in southern Thailand. The route would provide an alternative to the Strait of Malacca, a key shipping lane for world trade.
The waterway would be 1,200 km shorter than the current route, the report added, and the project would take 10 years to complete and involve investment of at least $28 billion.
How China's Censors Influence Hollywood
May 18, 2015 4:58 AM ET
Frank Langfitt
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall. Chinese censors cut a scene from the movie that they thought made China look weak. Because China is such a huge market, some U.S. moviemakers may choose to avoid portraying China in negative terms.
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall. Chinese censors cut a scene from the movie that they thought made China look weak. Because China is such a huge market, some U.S. moviemakers may choose to avoid portraying China in negative terms.
Danjaq/Eon Productions/The Kobal Collection
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall. Chinese censors cut a scene from the movie that they thought made China look weak. Because China is such a huge market, some U.S. moviemakers may choose to avoid portraying China in negative terms.
Age of Ultron, the new Avengers movie, kicked off the summer blockbuster season in China last week and already has taken in more than $150 million. Fast and Furious 7 has finished up its run, pulling in more than $388 million — more than it made in the U.S. — and becoming China's all-time box-office champ.
Those huge box-office numbers underscore just how essential the Chinese market has become to Hollywood's bottom line. Because money is power, that also means the Communist Party has increasing influence over how some Hollywood movies are made and how they portray China.
China's government chooses which movies can be shown in what is now the world's second-biggest cinema market, so many filmmakers have to think more carefully about how to attract Chinese audiences and not offend the country's censors, according to scholars and theater owners.
Unlike the United States, China doesn't have a movie-rating system. So the government relies on censors at the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People's Republic of China — SAPPRFT — to block content it deems offensive for general audiences. What officials find offensive can extend beyond sex, violence and foul language to politics, culture and portrayals of China.
[Censor] [China bashing]
Obama Wants 30-Year China Nuclear Pact OK’d but Opponents Fear Tehran, Pyongyang Will Get Tech
AP – Japan Times
MAY 13, 2015
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Tuesday urged senators to support a new 30-year agreement with China on civilian nuclear cooperation but faced a barrage of concern from both parties that Chinese companies are exporting sensitive technology to Iran and North Korea.
Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that China’s nonproliferation record has “improved markedly” since the last agreement was signed in 1985, “though it can still do better.” He said he could not confirm that Chinese firms have stopped selling such technology.
The current agreement expires at the end of the year. President Barack Obama submitted the new agreement to lawmakers April 21 for a period of review lasting 90 days when Congress is in session. If unopposed by legislation, the agreement goes into force.
Frank Klotz, undersecretary for nuclear security at the Department of Energy, said the agreement will “enhance our ability to manage and mitigate the risk of China diverting sensitive nuclear technology to its military programs or re-exporting it without U.S. permission.”
[Export controls][Proliferation] [Pretext]
Charged With Graft in China, Some Fugitives Are Finding Luxury in U.S.
By Stephanie Saul and Dan Levin
May 15, 2015
Even before his name appeared on the “most wanted” list, holes had emerged in the immigrant success story of Wei Chen.
His business partner sued him last year, alleging that nearly $50 million was missing from their development project in Plantation, Fla. The ensuing litigation revealed that Mr. Chen had changed his name from He Yejun, and that he had once been a top executive in a state-owned beer company in China.
When the Chinese government released a list last month of what it described as its leading 100 fugitives accused of economic crimes — including 40 people believed to be hiding in the United States — there was He Yejun’s name, along with that of his wife.
They were accused of misappropriating funds in China before moving to the United States in the late 1990s. Records show that among Mr. Chen’s luxury purchases since immigrating are a $2 million condo near Miami, a Bentley and a 70-foot yacht owned through a corporation.
[Corruption]
China, India sign 24 deals after Li-Modi meeting
Xinhua, May 16, 2015
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said his talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have met expectations on Friday.
"We just had in-depth talks and touched a wide range of topics, which we both expect to yield common ground and results. It is fair to say that we met expectations," Li said after the talks with Modi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Modi said he was honored that Chinese President Xi Jinping gave him a warm welcome in Xi'an, capital city of Shaanxi Province and Xi's hometown, on Thursday afternoon.
This is the first time Xi has welcomed a foreign leader to his hometown.
"President Xi's welcome also touched the hearts of 1.25 billion Indian people," Modi said.
"I discussed many issues with Premier Li, which will take our relations towards a positive direction. Our cooperation not only benefits the two countries, but also sends a positive signal to the world," Modi said.
Li chose India for the first stop of his overseas trip since he took office.
[China India]
China and India sign business deals worth more than $22bn
Agreements on renewable energy, steel, media and finance revealed at end of a three-day visit by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi attends the India-China business forum in Shanghai on Saturday Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters
Reuters
Saturday 16 May 2015 05.58 BST Last modified on Saturday 16 May 2015 06.03 BST
China and India signed deals worth more than $22bn in areas including renewable energy, ports, financing and industrial parks, an Indian embassy official said on Saturday.
Namgya C Khampa, of the Indian embassy in Beijing, made the remarks at the end of a three-day visit by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, during which he sought to boost economic ties and quell anxiety over a border dispute between the neighbours.
Khampa said: “The agreements have a bilateral commercial engagement in sectors like renewable energy, industrial parks, power, steel, logistics finance and media and entertainment.”
China is interested in more opportunities in India’s $2tn economy.
During a visit to India in 2014 by China’s president, Xi Jinping, China announced $20bn in investments over five years, including the establishment of two industrial parks.
Since then, progress has been slow, in part because of the difficulties Modi has had in getting political approval for easier land acquisition laws.
[China India]
Hometown diplomacy highlights Modi's Xi'an tour
Xinhua, May 15, 2015
"This is the first time I have treated a foreign leader in my hometown and I hope you have a happy stay," Xi said at the start of the meeting.
Xi welcomed Modi and thanked him for the warm reception he received on his India visit in September, when the Indian PM accompanied him to visit his home state of Gujarat.
"That left me with a deep and good impression," Xi said.
In September, Xi and Modi "reached an important consensus on promoting the bilateral strategic partnership of cooperation and forging a closer partnership of development," according to the president.
Both sides have maintained frequent high-level contact and engagement, promoted cooperation in priority areas including construction of railways and industrial parks, strengthened exchanges, controlled border areas, Xi said.
China-India relations are experiencing stable development and facing broad prospects, he added, predicting that Modi's visit will strengthen the partnership.
Xi called on the two countries to look at their ties from a long-term perspective, strengthen coordination on global and regional affairs, and "steer the international order to develop in a fairer direction".
The two countries could strengthen communication on the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and Modi's "Act East" policy, find areas of common interest, and hone a mode of cooperation with reciprocal benefit, Xi said.
He said the two countries should seek common ground in their respective development strategies to jointly promote the region's economic integration and contribute to global economic growth.
He called for more bilateral cooperation in areas including railways, industrial parks, urbanization and training, pledging to encourage Chinese companies to invest in India.
U.S., China set for high-stakes rivalry in skies above South China Sea
By Greg Torode
When the U.S. navy sent a littoral combat ship on its first patrol of the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea during the past week, it was watching the skies as well.
The USS Fort Worth, one of the most modern ships in the U.S. navy, dispatched a reconnaissance drone and a Seahawk helicopter to patrol the airspace, according to a little-noticed statement on the navy's website.
While the navy didn't mention China's rapid land reclamation in the Spratlys, the ship's actions were a demonstration of U.S. capabilities in the event Beijing declares an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the area - a move experts and some U.S. military officials see as increasingly likely.
"It's not inevitable but if we are betting paychecks I'll bet that they will eventually declare one, I just don't know when," said a senior U.S. commander familiar with the situation in Asia.
ADIZs are not governed by formal treaties or laws but are used by some nations to extend control beyond national borders, requiring civilian and military aircraft to identify themselves or face possible military interception.
[ADIZ] [South China Sea] [China confrontation] [Media]
Why the Chinese Navy is in the Mediterranean
By: Magnus Nordenman
May 14, 2015 5:48 PM
On Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigates Linyi and Weifang left the Black Sea along with a Russian Navy guided missile corvette to begin the first ever round of Chinese and Russian naval exercises in the Mediterranean.
The exercise — Joint Sea 2015 — is mostly a sign of a growing security relationship between Moscow and Beijing, and an attempt to signal the two powers’ ascendance on the global stage.
Besides, it also follows after nearly two years of increased Russian naval activity not only in the Mediterranean, but also the Baltic Sea, the High North, and the Black Sea. However, China also has its own reasons for operating in the Mediterranean, and the current exercise is far from the first time the Chinese military has operated there.
[China Russia] [Sea power] [Joint military exercises]
Cross-strait ties conference kicks off in Taipei
Cross-strait ties conference kicks off in Taipei
President Ma Ying-jeou touts the merits of the 1992 consensus during a cross-strait relations conference May 14 in Taipei City. (CNA)
•Publication Date:05/15/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
The International Conference on Retrospect and Prospect on Cross-Strait Relations got under way May 14 in Taipei City, shedding new light on the state of two-way ties and related issues.
Organized by Taipei-based Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies under the auspices of the ROC Mainland Affairs Council, the one-day event saw scholars from Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the U.S. take part in roundtable discussions.
Other attendees included President Ma Ying-jeou, MAC Minister Andrew Hsia, David Brown, adjunct professor of China studies at Johns Hopkins University, and Mark Stokes, executive director of U.S. think tank Project 2049 Institute.
[Straights]
China Railway Group wins Russian high-speed project
Xinhua, May 13, 2015
China Railway Group Limited announced on Wednesday that one of its subsidiaries has won the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail contract together with two Russian companies.
The consortium will jointly conduct surveying, regional development planning and design for the project between 2015 and 2016.
The contract is worth 20 billion rubles (about 2.42 billion yuan, or 395 million U.S. dollars).
A formal deal is expected to be inked at the end of May. China Railway Group is discussing coordination and project management with its Russian counterparts.
The high-speed railway linking Moscow and Kazan, capital of Tatarstan Republic, is scheduled to open in 2018 before the Russia FIFA World Cup. Travel will be shortened from the current 14 hours to 3.5 hours.
China Railway shares opened 3.8 percent higher on Wednesday.
[HSR] [China Russia]
Xi's trip highlights China's resolve to safeguard world peace
Xinhua, May 13, 2015
Xi's 3-nation trip highlights China's resolve to safeguard world peace, defend int'l justice
President Xi Jinping meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Friday. New deals will see China become the largest consumer of Russian gas. [Photo/Agncies]
Chinese President Xi Jinping's six-day trip, which brought him to Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, has achieved substantial results, and has opened a new chapter for the Chinese diplomacy, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters upon the conclusion of the tour.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan returned to Beijing on Tuesday night after visits to Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus
His Kazakhstan trip is at the invitation of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi visited Russia from Friday to Sunday and attended the ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow.
Xi also paid a state visit to Belarus from Sunday to Tuesday as guest of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
In the span of six days, the president held talks with his counterparts of the three nations, and attended more than 50 bilateral or multilateral events, met with people from all walks of life including political leaders and WWII veterans, promoting China's notion of promoting peace, development and win-win cooperation.
Xi's trip to the three Eurasian countries mainly has two themes: to attend commemorative activities for the victory of World War II (WWII) and to further promote political trust and pragmatic cooperation between China and the three countries.
[China global strategy] [China Russia]
The Sleeper Issue of 2016 Is China
Why are we so worried about the Islamic State when Beijing is the real challenge?
By AARON L. FRIEDBERG
May 11, 2015
As the long march to the presidential nomination begins, most of the likely Republican contenders are talking tough on foreign policy and criticizing the Obama administration for its evident failings in handling Russia, Iran, Syria, and the Islamic State and other Islamist extremists.
These threats are undeniably pressing but, in the long run, all of them pale in comparison to the strategic challenge posed by China. Yet China and Asia more generally have thus far been almost entirely absent from political discourse over the future of American foreign policy.
Over the next months this is likely to change on the campaign trail.
[China confrontation] [USelection16]
Washington versus Beijing: Curbing the Yuan
Valentin Katasonov | 11.05.2015 | 00:00
There has been a rise in tensions in relations between the US and China in all directions. Some of the problem issues relating to the monetary and financial sphere include: the yuan’s status as a reserve currency; the convertibility of the yuan; the artificially low exchange rate of the yuan against the US dollar; China’s inferior role in the IMF given its position in the global economy; restrictions on the access of US capital to China’s banking sector; and the curbing of Chinese investments in the US economy.
One of the monetary and financial tensions between China and the US is the possibility of the yuan becoming a reserve currency. According to the accepted definition, a reserve currency is a currency that makes up part of a state’s international reserves. More often than not these are central bank reserves, but they can also be Treasury reserves. Information on the currency structure of the world’s international reserves is given below (Table 1).
[Reserve] [China confrontation]
Asia Rising:
A Monthly Letter from ASPI President Kevin Rudd
It’s now just over three months since I joined the Asia Society Policy Institute as its inaugural President. The Asia Society is an extraordinary institution. Its history goes back nearly 60 years to when its founder, John D. Rockefeller 3rd, envisaged an association which was to anticipate the 21st century being the Asian Century. Rockefeller was a remarkable man. To have conceived this back in the mid-1950s required an uncommon vision for the future.
Last year the Asia Society Trustees decided to build on Rockefeller’s vision by establishing the Asia Society Policy Institute — the Society’s first think tank. This is entirely consistent with Rockefeller’s view of the world. Over the last 60 years, the Asia Society has developed an enviable reputation across the United States and Asia as a platform for the introduction of Asian culture, civilization, and arts to a U.S. and wider Western audience. It has been remarkably successful in building cultural bridges with most countries in Asia as a result. By adding a think tank, the trustees are completing Rockefeller’s original vision.
In my first three months, I have been consulting extensively within the United States and across various countries in Asia, including China, India, Singapore, and Malaysia. The idea was to craft a think/do tank that is not simply a replication of the other fine institutions across the United States, or for that matter across Asia. Instead, this new organization will work with the governments of Asia and the United States on common, practical problem-solving related to challenges which confront individual countries or the region as a whole. Our starting point will always be to understand what the policy position of a given country happens to be, and why that position is held, rather than seeing that country as simply an object of American policy advocacy. We do not see ourselves as a policy advisory arm of the U.S. government or any government in Asia. Our vision is to be an effective policy bridge among the countries of the region, and more broadly between the region and the United States.
[US Global strategy] [China confrontation]
Obama’s quiet nuclear deal with China raises proliferation concerns
President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet at the U.S. ambassador's residence in The Hague on March 24, 2014. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
By Steven Mufson May 10 at 9:56 PM ?
It seemed like a typical day for President Obama. He taped a TV interview on trade, hosted the champion NASCAR team on the South Lawn and met with the defense secretary in the Oval Office.
Not so typical was something that didn’t appear that day on the president’s public schedule: notification to Congress that he intends to renew a nuclear cooperation agreement with China. The deal would allow Beijing to buy more U.S.-designed reactors and pursue a facility or the technology to reprocess plutonium from spent fuel. China would also be able to buy reactor coolant technology that experts say could be adapted to make its submarines quieter and harder to detect.
[China confrontation] [F&E] [Dual use] [Export controls] [Nuclear energy]
Xi's presence in Moscow highlights resolve to safeguard peace
Xinhua, May 10, 2015
Along with leaders from many other countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday joined his Russian host, Vladimir Putin, at the grandest Victory Day parade at Moscow's Red Square since 1991.
Xi's presence and the unprecedented participation of Chinese soldiers in the parade delivered a clear message: China and Russia are seeing eye to eye on upholding the post-war international order and safeguarding world peace.
[Victory Day Parade] [Russia China]
Accused of Spying for China, Until She Wasn’t
By Nicole Perlroth
May 9, 2015
Photo
Sherry Chen, a hydrologist for the federal government in Ohio, was arrested last October and accused of economic espionage. Afterward, she said, “I did nothing but cry for days.” Credit Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
On Monday, Oct. 20, 2014, Sherry Chen drove, as usual, to her office at the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, where she forecast flood threats along the Ohio River. She was a bit jet-lagged, having returned a few days earlier from a visit to China. But as she headed to her desk, she says, she had no reason to think it was anything other than an ordinary day. Then her boss summoned her.
Once inside his office, a back door opened and in walked six agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The agents accused Mrs. Chen, a hydrologist born in China and now a naturalized American citizen, of using a stolen password to download information about the nation’s dams and of lying about meeting with a high-ranking Chinese official.
Mrs. Chen, 59, an adoptive Midwesterner who had received awards for her government service, was now suspected of being a Chinese spy. She was arrested and led in handcuffs past her co-workers to a federal courthouse 40 miles away in Dayton, where she was told she faced 25 years in prison and $1 million in fines.
Her life went into a tailspin. She was suspended without pay from her job, and her family in China had to scramble for money to pay for her legal defense. Friends and co-workers said they were afraid to visit. Television news trucks parked outside her house, waiting to spot a foreign spy hiding in plain sight in suburban Wilmington, population 12,500.
[China confrontation] [Espionage] [Paranoia]
The Sino-Russian Entente in Eurasia
M.K. Bhadrakumar May 10, 2015
The presence of the Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9 signifies a significant step forward in the strategic partnership between the two big powers. The Chinese media underscored this in no small measure. The following quotes from the dispatches by Xinhua news agency bring out the flavor of what unfolded in Moscow over the weekend:
• Xi’s presence in Moscow “demonstrates China’s determination to safeguard the post-WWII world order.”
• “Xi’s presence and the unprecedented participation of Chinese soldiers in the parade delivered a clear message: China and Russia are seeing eye to eye on upholding the post-war international order and safeguarding world peace.”
• The Red Square parade “is meant to showcase Russia’s great power and unyielding will in front of Western pressure and its determination against attempts at rewriting history and challenging the postwar order.”
• “The parade is not only a military show but a diplomatic event.”
The joint statement signed by Putin and Xi after their talks in the Kremlin on Friday reflects similar views on the major international issues such as Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea. The portion relating to Ukraine says the two powers urge relevant parties to formulate a comprehensive, balanced and sustainable political solution that takes into full consideration the reasonable interests of all parties concerned.” Beijing has shown a high degree of understanding for Moscow’s core concerns in the Ukraine crisis. [Emphasis added.]
[China Russia][Eurasia]
Vietnam has also undertaken significant construction in the South China Sea
Amidst intense international focus on China’s land reclamation activities in the Spratly Islands, rumors have circulated that Vietnam has also undertaken significant construction in the South China Sea. AMTI has used satellite imagery to confirm that Vietnam has engaged in land reclamation in recent years on two Spratly features: Sand Cay and West Reef.
These never-before-published images reveal:
• That in the last several years, Vietnam has added approximately 65,000 square meters to West Reef and 21,000 square meters to Sand Cay. It has also developed its military facilities at Sand Cay.
• By comparison, in the last year, China has reclaimed seven features. Its largest Spratly project is Fiery Cross Reef, whose new landmass may exceed 900,000 square meters.
[South China Sea]
Stirring up the South China Sea (III): A Fleeting Opportunity for Calm
Asia Report N°267
7 May 2015
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The South China Sea is the cockpit of geopolitics in East Asia. Five countries – Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – plus Taiwan have substantial and competing territorial and maritime claims in a body of water that is both an important source of hydrocarbons and fisheries and a vital trade corridor. The recent history has been scarred by cycles of confrontation. Today, the clashes are becoming more heated, and the lulls between periods of tension are growing shorter. As the region continues to grow in influence and power, the handling of the competing claims will set the tone for relations within East Asia for years. The cost of even a momentary failure to manage tensions could pose a significant threat to one of the world’s great collaborative economic success stories. Despite China’s controversial development of some of the reefs it controls, the current relatively low temperature of the disagreement offers a chance to break the cycle, but it is likely to be short-lived. The countries of the region, supported by the wider international community, need to embrace the opportunity while it lasts.
[South China Sea] [Shill]
Revising U.S. Grand Strategy Toward China
Authors: Robert D. Blackwill, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, and Ashley J. Tellis, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
"China represents and will remain the most significant competitor to the United States for decades to come. As such, the need for a more coherent U.S. response to increasing Chinese power is long overdue," write CFR Senior Fellow Robert D. Blackwill and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Associate Ashley J. Tellis in a new Council Special Report, Revising U.S. Grand Strategy Toward China.
"Because the American effort to 'integrate' China into the liberal international order has now generated new threats to U.S. primacy in Asia—and could result in a consequential challenge to American power globally—Washington needs a new grand strategy toward China that centers on balancing the rise of Chinese power rather than continuing to assist its ascendancy."
The authors argue that such a strategy is designed to limit the dangers that China's geoeconomic and military power pose to U.S. national interests in Asia and globally, even as the United States and its allies maintain diplomatic and economic interactions with China.
[China confrontation] [Grand strategy]
Chu eyes enhanced cross-strait collaboration
•Publication Date:05/05/2015
•Source: Taiwan Today
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait should shelve disputes and enhance collaboration on the basis of the 1992 consensus, according to ruling Kuomintang Chairman Eric Chu May 4.
“Under the framework of mutual understanding, Taiwan and mainland China must capitalize on increased exchanges in recent years to join hands on important regional issues, including economy, environment and stability,” Chu said.
“With the advent of a new generation, the two sides should move ahead and work together to create a win-win situation.”
Chu made the remarks after his meeting with Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, at an annual forum between the two parties in Beijing. The leaders discussed a variety of issues pertaining to cross-strait cultural, economic and youth affairs.
[Straits]
Xi meets visiting KMT chairman
Xinhua, May 4, 2015
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, called for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to build a community of shared destiny and settle political differences through equal consultations.
Xi Jinping (R), general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu on Monday, May 4, 2015 in Beijing. This has been Chu's first visit to the mainland since he was elected KMT chairman in January. [Photo: ecns.cn/ Sheng Jiapeng]
Xi Jinping (R), general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu on Monday, May 4, 2015 in Beijing. This has been Chu's first visit to the mainland since he was elected KMT chairman in January. [Photo: ecns.cn/ Sheng Jiapeng]
Xi made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu in Beijing on Monday.
The meeting took place in the Great Hall of the People and is the first between Xi and Chu, bringing broad attention and expectations.
Stressing the 1992 Consensus is the foundation for the exchanges with Taiwan authorities and political parties, Xi said the mainland is willing to take the lead to share the development opportunities with Taiwan compa