People's Republic of China, Dec. 27 2011

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 03 Jun 2012 13:01

The Arab Spring, escalation of tensions in Afghanistan and a shaky situation on the Korean Peninsula have highlighted the issue of security in the Eurasia Region. Will the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), whose status bans it from establishing a military union, be able to contain emerging threats? These are the questions that the Voice of Russia posed to SCO Secretary-General Muratbek Imanaliev ahead of the upcoming Beijing summit between Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The role of organizations like SCO on the ever-changing global arena, where economic crises and staggering welfare rates trigger mass protests, can hardly be overestimated, since these organizations possess a set of economic and political tools to grapple with problems faced by the whole region. It is especially true of the SCO space, where Afghanistan has for several years been sending ripples of insecurity. In this case, Kabul’s recent bid for SCO monitor status could be a key to resolving Afghan problems, Muratbek Imanaliev says.

The situation in Afghanistan is a matter of concern for the SCO, same as for the rest of the world. Afghanistan isn’t just a local issue. Hence a common effort is needed to deal with it. Therefore, the SCO has been set to boost direct cooperation with various international organizations to help the Afghan government and the nation cope with their growing pains. SCO member states are now lending their helping hand in solving social, economic and humanitarian problems that have been plaguing Afghanistan. The SCO is also debating the Afghan bid for monitor status in the SCO, a status that will enhance cooperation between it and the Eurasian giant.

But Afghanistan is not the only country that is pushing for closer ties with the SCO. The same goes for Iran and several other countries. This could only be expected since the SCO is an open organization, which means it’s bound to expand with time. Nevertheless, not every bid can be granted at once, for instance that of Iran, SCO Secretary-General Muratbek Imanaliev stresses.

The SCO is currently considering observer status applications of Iran and several other bidders. Still, there is one major sticking point. The SCO charter bars regimes with active UN sanctions from joining the organization. And that is Iran’s weak point, which doesn’t however mean that the SCO is going to just drop it.

Turkey is another country that stands high on the list of SCO dialogue partners, an important step towards expanding SCO’s reach, Muratbek Imanaliev believes.

SCO’s cooperation with Turkey on economic, humanitarian and cultural levels will be beneficial for both parties. The SCO is eager to tap into Turkey’s experience of fighting the three major global problems – terrorism, separatism and extremism. This all makes promoting Turkey to the status of a dialogue partner a very important political step.
According to Muratbek Imanaliev, the SCO has also been scaling up its economic cooperation recently to deepen the involvement of monitor countries and dialogue partners with its projects.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 04 Jun 2012 15:58

A very significant article by Nag, possibly the most pertinent one written in decades in main stream Indian media.. in ToI:

On the 50th anniversary of the insult heaped by the Chinese in the border war of 1962, India must resolve to return the ‘compliment’. This should be done by reviewing the country’s Tibet policy and recognizing Tibet as being under the illegal occupation of the Chinese. An independent Tibet is not only a boon for Tibetans but also for India and Indians. Not only do Tibetans and Indians have cultural affinity but an independent Tibet will also act as a buffer state and keep the untrustworthy Chinese away from our northern borders.

The action has to be swift, because the Tibetans are fast becoming a minority in their own land. This is the result of huge migration into Tibet from mainland China – a process that got impetus after a direct rail line was laid to Lhasa in 2006.

The Chinese are now setting up dams across the YarlungTsangpo that flows through Tibet into India – and is called the Brahmaputra here. Though these are run-of-the-river dams, the flow of water in the Brahmaputra will be affected and adversely impact life in Assam and Bangladesh. At a later stage the Chinese plan to divert the waters of the Brahmaputra to the Yangtze river and from there to the Yellow river to carry it to the north of China, which is water-starved. At least 10 major rivers in Asia, which flow through 11 nations, start from Tibet. These rivers include Indus, Sutlej, Mekong (which is the lifeline of Indochina), Salween (which flows into the Andaman Sea), Brahmaputra, Yangtze and Yellow river. About half of the population of Asia is dependent on rivers whose headwaters are located in Tibet. So in a century when wars are expected to be fought for water, whoever controls Tibet controls the rest of Asia.

Many of these things i have been raking for sometime . But i think the start should be to make Kailash Mansarover disputed by laying direct Indian claim over the Han one, along with de recognizing PRC/ Han supremacy or occupation of Tibet. That is also where all the major river systems originate.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 04 Jun 2012 22:10

China's Invented History

The conflict between the Philippines and China over the Scarborough Shoal may seem to be a minor dispute over an uninhabitable rock and the surrounding waters. But it is hugely important for future relations in the region because it showcases China's stubborn view that the histories of the non-Han peoples whose lands border two-thirds of the South China Sea are irrelevant. The only history that matters is that written by the Chinese and interpreted by Beijing.

The Philippine case for Scarborough is mostly presented as one of geography. The feature, known in Filipino as the Panatag Shoal and in Chinese as Huangyan Island, is some 130 nautical miles off the coast of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippine archipelago. It's well within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone, which, as per the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention, extends 200 nautical miles off the coast. On the other hand, the shoal is roughly 350 miles from the mainland of China and 300 miles from the tip of Taiwan.

China avoids these inconvenient geographical facts and relies on historical half-truths that it applies to every feature it claims in the South China Sea. That's why it's now feuding with not just the Philippines, but other nations too. Beijing's famous U-shaped dotted line on its maps of the South China Sea defines territorial claims within the 200-mile limits of Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei, and close to Indonesia's gas-rich Natuna Islands.

In the case of the Scarborough Shoal, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives the historical justification that the feature is mentioned in a Chinese map from the 13th century—when China itself was under alien Mongol rule—resulting from the visit of a vessel from China. This "we were there first" argument is nonsense. Chinese sailors were latecomers to the South China Sea, to say nothing of onward trade to the Indian Ocean. The seafaring history of the region at least for the first millennium of the current era was dominated by the ancestors of today's Indonesians, Malaysians, Filipinos and (less directly) Vietnamese.

As China's own records reveal, when Chinese traveled from China to Sumatra and then on to Sri Lanka, they did so in Malay ships. This was not the least surprising given that during this era, Malay people from what is now Indonesia were the first colonizers of the world's third largest island, Madagascar, some 4,000 miles away. (The Madagascan language and 50% of its human gene pool are of Malay origin). They were crossing the Indian Ocean 1,000 years before the much-vaunted voyages of Chinese admiral Zheng He in the 15th century.

Malay seafaring prowess was later overtaken by south Indians and Arabs, but they remained the premier seafarers in Southeast Asia until the Europeans dominated the region. The Malay-speaking, Hindu-ized Cham seagoing empire of central Vietnam dominated South China Sea trade until it was conquered by the Vietnamese about the time the European traders began to arrive in Asia, while trade between Champa (present-day southern Vietnam) and Luzon was well established long before the Chinese drew their 13th century map.

The Scarborough Shoal, which lies not only close to the Luzon coast but on the direct route from Manila Bay to the ancient Cham ports of Hoi An and Qui Nhon, had to be known to Malay sailors. The Chinese claim to have "been there first" is then like arguing that Europeans got to Australia before its aboriginal inhabitants.

Another unsteady pillar in China's claim to the Scarborough Shoal is its reliance on the Treaty of Paris of 1898. This yielded Spanish sovereignty over the Philippine archipelago to the U.S. and drew straight lines on the map which left the shoal a few miles outside the longitudinal line defined by the treaty. China now conveniently uses this accord, which these two foreign powers arrived at without any input from the Philippine people, to argue that Manila has no claim.

The irony is that the Communist Party otherwise rejects "unequal treaties" imposed by Western imperialists, such as the McMahon line dividing India and Tibet. Does this mean Vietnam can claim all the Spratly Islands, because the French claimed them all and Hanoi has arguably inherited this claim?

China also asserts that because its case for ownership dates back to 1932, subsequent Philippine claims are invalid. In other words, it uses the fact that the Philippines was under foreign rule as a basis for its own claims.

Manila wants to resolve the matter under the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention, but Beijing argues that its 1932 claim isn't bound by the Convention, which came into effect in 1994 since it preceded it. That's a handy evasion, most probably because China knows its case for ownership is weak by the Convention's yardsticks.

China is making brazen assertions that rewrite history and take no account of geography. Today's naval arguments won't come to an end until the region's largest disputant stops rewriting the past.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 05 Jun 2012 01:11

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asi ... ml#photo=2

A look at China’s military

Although the People’s Liberation Army has no history of meddling in domestic politics, it did help the Communist Party win control of China.

-----

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 05 Jun 2012 09:54

Russia and China: New horizons for cooperation - Vladimir Putin

Ahead of his visit to China,Vladimir Putin wrote an article about cooperation between the two nations in the fields of economics, energy and international security. The article was published by the Chinese daily Renmin Ribao.

I am pleased to have this opportunity on the eve of my state visit to China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit to address the millions of readers of one of the world’s most influential newspapers, Renmin Ribao. I value this chance to share my views on the future of our countries’ partnership and the role Russian-Chinese relations play in today’s world, which is in the midst of complex transformation, faces big global and regional security challenges, attempts to dilute the principles of international law, and economic and financial upheaval.

All of these issues are the subject of much discussion and attention at the big international forums and summits that take place, and I am confident that reason and collective approaches will prevail in tackling today’s problems. The main thing is that all clear-headed politicians and experts in economics and international relations realise that it is not possible to set the global agenda today behind Russia’s and China’s backs and without taking their interests into account. Such is the geopolitical reality of the twenty-first century.

In this context, we are aware of our common responsibility for the Russian-Chinese partnership’s long-term development and the importance of our common efforts within the United Nations and other multilateral organisations and regional bodies.

We therefore have high hopes for the intensive programme of meetings we have planned with the Chinese leadership, and we also hope for fruitful work at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit that will conclude China’s successful presidency of this organisation.

‘Russian-Chinese relations free from prejudices and stereotypes’

Russian-Chinese relations have been deservedly called an example of the new type of relations between states. Our relations are free from prejudices and stereotypes and this makes them stable and not subject to short-term considerations, which is valuable indeed in today’s world, where stability and mutual trust are so clearly lacking.

The 2008-2009 global financial crisis showed us how important it is for us to understand and listen to each other and pursue common, consensus-based policies. Joint infrastructure and energy projects, big contracts and orders, and reciprocal investment are the resources that enabled our countries and our business communities to overcome the difficulties, create new jobs, and keep factories and businesses working.

Russian-Chinese bilateral trade reached the record mark of $83.5 billion in 2011. We have now set the medium-term target of $100 billion by 2015, and will work towards reaching $200 billion by 2020. If we keep up today’s dynamic, we will be able to reach these targets even earlier.

What must we do to achieve these goals? Above all, we need to optimise our bilateral trade structure and improve its quality by increasing the share of high value-added goods. We have the objective conditions we need for this. Our national markets have big capacity and growing demand for modern goods and services. We have good fundamental positions in education, science and technology, and a wealth of experience in production cooperation.

We will actively develop big joint projects in civilian aircraft manufacturing, space, and other high-tech sectors. We will also pursue projects in techno-parks, industrial clusters, and special economic zones in both countries. In my view, what we need here is a genuine technological alliance between our two countries, a genuine interweaving of our production and innovation chains so as to forge the links between our companies and our research, design, and engineering centres. We need to continue these efforts by working together in other countries’ markets too.

We need to build a modern infrastructure for our financial and investment ties and our bilateral business relations. It is clear now that we must make quicker progress in moving over to using our national currencies to settle reciprocal trade, investment and other operations. This will also insure us against various currency risks and will strengthen the ruble and the yuan’s positions.

The energy-sector dialogue between our two countries also has a strategic dimension. Our joint projects have a big impact in shaping the global energy market’s entire configuration. They offer China more reliable and diversified energy supplies for its domestic needs, and offer Russia the chance to open up new export routes to the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.

Among the results already attained, I note the launch of the Russian-Chinese oil pipeline that delivered 15 million tons of oil last year, and the conclusion of a long-term contract – 25 years – for electricity supplies to China. Russia also increased its coal exports to China to 10.5 million tons in 2011, and have plans for joint development of coal deposits. I hope that we will soon begin large-scale deliveries of Russian gas to China.

Our cooperation in the nuclear energy sector also offers many opportunities. Russia took part in building the first section of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, which the stress tests results show to be the safest in China. Last year, our specialists helped to launch China’s first fast-neutron experimental reactor, thus making China the fourth country, after Russia, Japan and France, to possess this technology. Construction of the fourth section of a uranium enrichment plant was completed ahead of schedule. We hope to continue our cooperation on building the Tianwan power plant’s second and subsequent sections, and to take part in building other energy sector facilities in China.

The source and driving force of our relations is the friendship and mutual understanding between our peoples. We held very successful reciprocal national years and language years. Now we are holding the Year of Russian Tourism in China, and next year our attention will be on the Chinese Tourism Year in Russia.

I think the time is ripe for us to draw up a long-term action plan for developing our bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian sphere.

‘Russian-Chinese partnership plays effective part in strengthening stability’

Naturally, current international affairs will be on the upcoming visit’s agenda. They include strategic stability, disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and countering the threats and challenges to sustainable development, and our peoples’ lives and wellbeing, including terrorism, separatism, organised crime, and illegal migration.

Russia and China share very similar positions on all of these issues, positions based on the principles of responsibility, commitment to the basic values of international law, and unconditional mutual respect for each other’s interests. This makes it easy for us to find a common language, develop common tactics and strategies, and make a constructive contribution to international discussions on the most serious issues we face today, whether the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, the problems in Syria and Afghanistan, or the Korean Peninsula and Iranian nuclear programme issues.

I stress that the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership plays an effective part in strengthening regional and global stability. This is our guiding logic in our efforts to develop cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which marked its tenth anniversary last year.

I was one of the people at the origins of this group. Time has shown that we made the right decision in transforming the Shanghai Five into a full-fledged cooperation organisation.

The SCO today is a rapidly-developing multilateral organisation. We have yet to realise its full potential, but looking back at the road travelled so far, we can say for sure that the organisation has already earned itself an influential place and speaks with a confident voice on the international stage.

The SCO has brought much that is new and useful to global politics. Above all, it offers a partnership model based on genuine equality between all participants, mutual trust, mutual respect for each people’s sovereign and independent choice, and for each country’s culture, values, traditions, and desire for common development. This philosophy best embodies what I consider to be the only viable principles for international relations in a multipolar world.

The SCO and its members’ efforts and cooperation with a broad range of foreign partners have been highly instrumental in substantially reducing terrorist activity in the region. But the challenges we face today are becoming ever more diverse, complex, and change constantly. Those who spread the ideas of terrorism, separatism and extremism continue to perfect their subversive methods, recruit new fighters to their ranks, and expand their financing sources.

To respond to these challenges we must continue to develop the SCO’s capacity to ensure security and make our cooperation mechanisms even more effective. This is why the upcoming summit will pay particular attention to approving the 2013-2015 SCO member states’ programme for cooperation in combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, and the new draft provisions on political and diplomatic measures and response mechanisms in situations that threaten peace, security and stability in the region.

The links between terrorism, drugs production, and drugs trafficking are another serious challenge. We must work together in coordinated fashion to combat this. We must develop this cooperation most actively through the SCO’s anti-drugs strategy.

The situation in Afghanistan is one of our common concerns. The SCO is making a big contribution to helping the Afghan people in rebuilding their long-suffering country. The decision to grant Afghanistan observer status in the SCO will be another concrete step that we will take at the upcoming summit. We will discuss the prospects for joint work within the SCO with Afghanistan’s leader, Hamid Karzai.

The SCO was established as an organisation tasked with ensuring stability and security across the vast Eurasian continent. We think that any attempts by other countries to pursue unilateral action in the SCO’s region of responsibility would be counterproductive.

At the same time, the SCO is an open organisation that is ready to work together with all interested partners. This is stated in the SCO’s charter. India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan are all involved in the SCO as observer countries. Belarus and Sri Lanka are SCO dialogue partners. Turkey will join us at this upcoming summit. Given the growing interest in the SCO’s activities, we are currently settling how to strengthen the legal basis for the organisation’s continued enlargement.

The SCO’s experience offers interesting and very promising solutions for the entire international community in terms of developing policies from below through a consensus-based process. Policies take shape within the different regional organisations first of all, and then become part of the dialogue between us all. Out of these regional ‘building blocks’ we can put together a more stable and predictable environment for global politics and the global economy.

We think that this kind of network diplomacy will become a vital part of international relations. The SCO member states saw this trend in the making and have acted on it by developing a network of partnerships between multilateral organisations throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Today, the SCO is working hard to develop cooperation with the UN, CIS, CSTO, EurAsEC, ASEAN, ESCAP, and other international bodies.

We see great potential in developing cooperation between the SCO and the Eurasian Economic Community, and in the future, with the Eurasian Economic Union. I am sure that these organisations can mutually enrich and effectively complement each other in their work.

There is no doubt that we must strengthen political cooperation within the SCO and step up our economic cooperation. The organisation is up to the task of implementing even the biggest joint projects. It would be in our common interests to make use of the obvious advantages offered by China’s fast-growing economy, the technological potential that Russia is developing as it modernises, and the Central Asian countries’ rich natural resources. I think we should concentrate particularly on cooperation in the energy, transport, infrastructure, and agriculture sectors, and in the high-tech fields, especially in information and telecommunications technology.

But this requires us to put in place genuinely effective financial support and project management mechanisms within the SCO. We need platforms for developing joint plans, places for assembling multilateral programmes. The SCO energy club, which we have almost finished establishing now, could serve as a good example in this respect.

Much of the SCO’s future development potential lies in developing direct ties between our countries’ business communities and companies. I am sure that the business forum in Beijing during the summit will demonstrate the broad range of opportunities for public-private partnerships in expanding our economic cooperation. It is important to actively involve our countries’ industrial and banking sectors in carrying out the plans we set. All of this requires more effective and intensive work from the SCO Business Council and Interbank Group. They already have quite a solid package of proposals.

It is also in our common interests to develop cooperation in healthcare, culture, sports, education, and science. The opportunities in these fields are most convincingly embodied in the Network University, one of the SCO’s most striking initiatives, which now brings together 65 different universities in the SCO member countries. The university will have its rector’s offices in Moscow. We are ready to do all we can to help develop this very promising and much-needed project.

As it enters its second decade, the SCO continues to grow and develop. It will hold firm in its work to its guiding principles and basic goals, and at the same time will continue to take account of the changing international situation. This is the approach that will be reflected in the basic agreement we are set to discuss and adopt at the summit – the Basic Guidelines for the SCO Medium-Term Development Strategy.

‘Russia needs prosperous China; China needs successful Russia’

We have high hopes for the Russian-Chinese talks and the SCO summit in Beijing. Russia needs a prosperous China, and I am sure that China needs a successful Russia. Our partnership is not directed against anyone, but is about construction and strengthening justice and the democratic foundations in international life. This partnership is thus something needed in today’s world.

An old Chinese saying states that common hopes require common efforts. We are ready for these common efforts in the interests of our countries and peoples. This work will certainly produce worthy results.

gunjur · Post by **gunjur** » 05 Jun 2012 10:33

China official arrested over claims he spied for CIA

A Chinese state security official has been arrested on suspicion of spying for the United States, sources told Reuters, a case both countries have kept quiet for several months as they strive to prevent a fresh crisis in relations.
The official, an aide to a vice minister in China's security ministry, was arrested and detained early this year on allegations that he had passed information to the United States for several years on China's overseas espionage activities

The aide, detained sometime between January and March, worked in the office of a vice-minister in China's Ministry of State Security, the source said. The ministry is in charge of the nation's domestic and overseas intelligence operations.
The sources did not reveal the name of the suspected spy or the vice minister he worked for. The vice minister has been suspended and is being questioned, one of the sources said.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 05 Jun 2012 15:29

China Papers Warn of ‘Rift’ Following US Shift toward Asia

Chinese state media on Tuesday warned that Washington's planned military shift towards the Asia-Pacific threatens to create rifts between the two countries and may upset regional stability.

The warnings come days after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta outlined a plan to transfer the majority of U.S. warships to the region by the end of the decade as part of the Obama administration's “strategic re-balance” toward Asia.

A commentary in the Communist Party-run People's Daily newspaper rejected Washington's insistence that the move is not aimed at containing China, whose increasing assertiveness about its maritime claims have upset many neighbors in the region.

The paper said it is “plain for all to see” that the United States has made China its target, saying this could “create schisms” in the region.

On Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin called on the U.S. to respect China's regional interests, saying that deploying more forces and strengthening military ties in the region are “inappropriate” actions.

“All parties should contribute to maintaining and promoting peace, stability and development in the region. Deliberately highlighting the military and security agenda, deploying more military forces and strengthening military alliances in the Asia-Pacific region are inappropriate.”

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 05 Jun 2012 17:07

China warns foreign embassies not to monitor pollution

Foreign embassies in China should refrain from publishing their own independent air pollution readings, a senior Chinese official has warned.

The deputy environment minister's comments appeared aimed at the US embassy, which puts out its own figures on high pollution levels in Beijing.

The US embassy has a monitoring station on its roof and publishes the results hourly on the internet.

Air quality in Beijing and other cities is notoriously poor.

Without mentioning the US, Wu Xiaoqing, deputy minister of Environmental Protection told a press briefing in Beijing that only the Chinese government is authorised to publish air pollution data.

In reply to a question, Mr Wu said that "some foreign embassies and consulates in China are monitoring air quality and publishing the results themselves".

He said that this contravened the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

"It is also against relevant environmental protection regulations," he said.

But many residents have questioned the accuracy of official government figures, which until this year did not include the most damaging particles.

The US says its own equipment should not be wholly relied on, as its data is compiled from only a single monitor. Its website makes clear that the measurements are for the benefit of embassy personnel and do not give citywide data.

The US monitoring helped spur a public outcry earlier this year that forced China to update its own standards, according to the BBC's Damian Grammaticas.

China has privately demanded that the US halt its readings in the past, but this is believed to be the first time it has delivered a public warning over the issue, he adds.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 05 Jun 2012 17:11

China, the Ghosts of Tiananmen, and the Hard Landing

Christopher Sidor · Post by **Christopher Sidor** » 05 Jun 2012 22:57

^^^
Will all due respect to people who died on that fateful date of June, the last thing that the world economy needs right now is a hard landing in China. Europe is doing all the hard landing that is required on this planet.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 06 Jun 2012 23:54

China Closes Tibet to Tourists

Travel operators say Chinese authorities have closed Tibet to foreign visitors and canceled visas for the region.

The move comes days after two Tibetans set themselves on fire in the region to protest Chinese rule.

No reason was given for the ban on foreign visitors with several Beijing based tour operators saying the restrictions could last for several months.

The ban comes as Tibetans prepare for a month-long (Saga Dawa) festival marking the birth of Buddha which normally draws thousands of tourists.

China enacted a similar ban on foreign visitors around the same time last year and has done so periodically during religious holidays or periods of unrest.

Nearly 40 people, including Buddhist monks, nuns and their supporters have set themselves on fire since March 2011 to protest Chinese rule.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 06 Jun 2012 23:56

China says saves children from illegal preachers in Xinjiang

(Reuters) - Police in China's far western region of Xinjiang have rescued 54 children from illegal preachers, state media said on Wednesday, in what an exiled rights group said was a violent raid on a school teaching the Koran.

China's official Xinhua news agency said 12 of the children received burns when "the suspects ignited a flammable device to resist capture" during the incident in the remote southern Xinjiang city of Hotan.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 07 Jun 2012 00:18

China steps up efforts to keep officials from leaving country

The practice has become so endemic inChina'sofficialdom that theCommunist Party'stop disciplinary body is enacting an "anti-flight" program to keep people in place. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection last month reviewed ways to keep people from moving abroad, including confiscating passports and registering family members living overseas as a way to monitor who might be kept out of high positions.

Chinese prosecutors say 18,487 officials, including executives from state-owned companies, have been caught during the last 12 years while allegedly trying to flee overseas with ill-gotten gains, according to this week's issue of China Economic Weekly. The magazine described the typical "naked official" as a man in his 50s who was approaching retirement and had accumulated at least $13 million.

ThePeople's Bankof China last year inadvertently made public a confidential study stating that 800 billion Chinese yuan ($126 billion at today's exchange rate) had been siphoned overseas by thousands of officials in the government and state-owned companies from the mid-1990s until 2008.

Another report by the Washington-based watchdog Global Financial Integrity, which tracked illicit outflow of money by all people, not just officials, found China led the world with $2.7 trillion (five times as much as runner-up Mexico) illegally taken out of the country from 2000 to 2009.

The top destinations for stashing cash were the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Within the United States, Los Angeles topped the list.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 07 Jun 2012 15:24

Hundreds riot and dozens arrested at Foxconn iPhone factory in China

* Estimated 1,000 staff clash with security guards in factory dorm rooms
* Foxconn is world's biggest gadget maker and produces iPhone and iPad
* Firm has been slammed for forcing staff into long hours and low pay
* Latest incident after suicides and explosion at Foxconn plants

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 07 Jun 2012 20:47

FYI, Chinese police have been raiding bars and clubs picking up foreigners and looking at their visas, jobs. If their jobs are easily replaceable by Chinese nationals they are kicked out.
Job situation is extremely bad.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 08 Jun 2012 09:35

China’s Lies, Damn Lies, and Secret Statistics: Besides pollution figures, what else is Beijing trying to keep hush-hush?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 08 Jun 2012 19:55

Still Seriously Unmatched - Teresita & Howard Schaffer

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 09 Jun 2012 08:47

To be Pak's future ICBM?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/
World News latest

Chinese firms breaking UN embargo on North Korea
a new missile is carried during a mass military parade at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the country's founding father Kim Il Sung

Exclusive: Chinese firms are breaking a United Nations embargo by supplying North Korea with key components for ballistic missiles including launch vehicles, according to evidence provided by an intelligence agency in the region.

08 Jun 2012

Classified documents seen by The Daily Telegraph show that Beijing has failed to act when confronted with evidence that Chinese companies are breaking UN Resolution 1874 and helping North Korea to build long range missiles.

This measure, passed with China's support on June 12, 2009, strengthens an arms embargo by urging all UN members to inspect North Korean cargoes and destroy any items linked to the country's missile or nuclear programmes.

But a study compiled by the intelligence agency of a country in the region shows how North Korean companies are continuing to buy banned materials in China. These entities "have been smuggling in or out controlled items by either setting up and operating a front company in China, or colluding with Chinese firms to forge documents and resorting to other masking techniques," says the report.

The companies include the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, known as KOMID, which deals in weapons and military equipment and has been singled out for UN sanctions.

Launch vehicles for long range missiles are among the items illegally purchased inside China. North Korea is currently trying to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that would be able to reach the United States. The country has already built a handful of nuclear bombs.

"The North Korean entities subject to UN sanctions are known to have been deeply involved in the North Korean procurement of Chinese ICBM transporter-erector-launcher vehicles," says the report.

In August 2011, Changgwang Trading Corporation, a front company for KOMID, bought four lorries in China that were then altered into ICBM launchers and displayed in a parade in Pyongyang to celebrate the centenary of the birth of North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung.

In addition, the Korea Ryonbong General Corporation purchased 2 tons of vanadium, which is used in the manufacture of missiles, from a Chinese company in May 2011.

Much of the equipment was shipped to North Korea from the Chinese port of Dalian.

"The UN North Korea Sanctions Committee has frequently asked China for clarification of North Korea's weapons transport through the port of Dalian, but China is said to have been shifting the responsibility to shipping companies of other nations or refusing to answer," says the report.

Sometimes, a bribe of between £40,000 – £60,000 is paid to a customs official to send each 40ft container filled with illegal missile components through Dalian, according to the report. North Korea also conceals its shipments.

"To hide its trade, North Korea has been using all available means, including falsely describing the contents of the shipments, forging the country of origin as China and purchasing the materials in the name of Chinese firms," adds the report.

Personnel from North Korean banks and trading companies regularly meet at Beijing International Airport to deliver large sums of money earned from weapons deals. This happens with the "connivance of Chinese authorities and the customs office," says the report.

China is North Korea's oldest and most committed ally, sending millions of "volunteer" soldiers to fight for the North during the war caused by its invasion of South Korea in 1950.

More recently, Beijing has propped up the bankrupt state with fuel and food supplies, while providing diplomatic support in the Security Council. China's aim is to guarantee the presence of a friendly state on its north-eastern border instead of a united Korean peninsula that might fall into America's orbit.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 09 Jun 2012 09:28

Philip wrote:To be Pak's future ICBM?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/
World News latest

Chinese firms breaking UN embargo on North Korea
a new missile is carried during a mass military parade at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the country's founding father Kim Il Sung

Exclusive: Chinese firms are breaking a United Nations embargo by supplying North Korea with key components for ballistic missiles including launch vehicles, according to evidence provided by an intelligence agency in the region.

Ok. So what's the world's gonna do about it? PRC's behavior seems to be a pass for 'do whatever you want' once you reach a certain size. cross a certain threshold kinda thing. Should give future emerging powers ideas, am sure.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 09 Jun 2012 09:47

Hari Seldon wrote: Ok. So what's the world's gonna do about it? PRC's behavior seems to be a pass for 'do whatever you want' once you reach a certain size. cross a certain threshold kinda thing. Should give future emerging powers ideas, am sure.

China does what the US and European nations and the USSR did to "friends". India is consistently the odd man out and shows "dharmic" behaviour.

Kanishka · Post by **Kanishka** » 14 Jun 2012 07:36

China 'forced abortion photo' sparks outrage

A photo purporting to show a baby whose mother was forced to have an abortion has shocked Chinese internet users.

Feng Jiamei, from Zhenping county in Shaanxi, was allegedly made to undergo the procedure by local officials in the seventh month of pregnancy.

Ms Feng was forced into the abortion as she couldn't pay the fine for having a second child, US-based activists said.

Rights groups say China's one-child policy has meant women being coerced into abortions, which Beijing denies.

"This is what they say the Japanese devils and Nazis did. But it's happening in reality and it is by no means the only case... They [the officials] should be executed," one reader on news website netease.com said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Activist Chen Guangcheng, who was put under virtual house arrest for campaigning against forced abortions, fled China to the US last month.

Wonder what Indian commies have to say about all this ...

sampat · Post by **sampat** » 14 Jun 2012 23:54

Stories from China

http://www.chinasmack.com/

Kanishka · Post by **Kanishka** » 20 Jun 2012 13:38

India raises Dalai Lama security after Chinese 'plot'

Indian security officials are to raise their cordon around the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, after he was told of a Chinese plot to poison him.

Senior police chiefs in charge of his security are looking to buy chemical and poison detectors to foil any plot to assassinate him.

The Dalai Lama revealed reports of a China-backed conspiracy to kill him by Tibetan women posing as devotees seeking his blessing in an interview with The Daily Telegraph last month.

He had been warned the women would have poisons on their clothes or in their hair which would infect him when he laid his hands on them for a blessing.

"They would have said they were sick, to receive a blessing from me, and my hand would have touched them," he said.

jamwal · Post by **jamwal** » 22 Jun 2012 12:25

Something related to Tiananmen Square massacre:
First the full size photo, look at the number of tanks. Almost a full battalion

From this An Ask Me Anything on Reddit by one of AP photographets who was present there:

For me it was the Orwellian silence after the fact. This cataclysmic event had happened, and people couldn't talk about it. When you live in a totalitarian society, you never know which of your friends and neighbors might rat you out.

In other news:
What to make of the Chinese space effort?

Amy Shira Teitel has an excellent summary of the Chinese space program on her blog. It’s a repost from last year, but it covers a lot of the background of where we are. However, she makes a point I think needs discussing:

It could go two ways. Either China will become an ally like modern Russia, or it could become an adversary like the former Soviet Union…But China isn’t really a threat yet, at least not enough of one that NASA would enter into another space race.

I think we need to have a care here. If we take a snapshot of NASA and China, then this may be true. But looking over time, I’m not so sure. China is showing a capability now to do things NASA cannot do: most obviously, launch humans into space. That capability may be back soon, whether through NASA’s own rocket system or commercial ventures like SpaceX. But right now, China has far more momentum than NASA does. In the US we’re arguing over this or that project getting its funding cut, while we make very little progress in crewed exploration. It’s worrisome.

Amy goes on:

That’s one thing China has available to its space program that NASA doesn’t: money.

This is true, but it’s part of a bigger picture; there is something else China’s space program has: political will. The money flows from that. NASA doesn’t have the money because there is little and certainly not effective enough political will in the White House or Congress for it. And what NASA gets is a dwindling budget, and then internal fighting over shrinking funding.

This is not a healthy environment for exploration and the furtherance of humankind.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 23 Jun 2012 07:38

jamwal wrote:What to make of the Chinese space effort?
It could go two ways. Either China will become an ally like modern Russia, or it could become an adversary like the former Soviet Union….

Capability & intent both have to be looked at in order to conclude. China’s Anti Satellite (ASAT) test on January 11, 2007 has raised concerns to Indian and American military and space planners. Various PLA officers and PRC defence analysts have justified China’s ASAT requirements. During 60th anniversary of PLAAF, its former commander Xu Qiuling stated that it will develop force projection ability to outer space too and that only power can protect peace. In c. 2010, PRC conducted a missile test using its ASAT capabilities. This flies in the face of China’s support for PPWT (Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects) which it has officially endorsed in a white paper on national defense titled China’s National Defense in 2010 on March 21, 2011. It said in that white paper “ . . .the Chinese government has advocated from the outset the peaceful use of outer space, and opposes any weaponization of outer space and any arms race in outer space.” Thus, PRC’s approach is to conclude the PPWT thereby denying any advantage to potential adversaries like India which have not started their activities in this sphere while pursuing its own goals in space weapons and build infrastructure before the Treaty comes into effect.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 23 Jun 2012 16:56

Chinese Data Mask Depth of Slowdown, Executives Say

Gilles Sabrie for The New York Times

Coal stockpiled at Qinhuangdao port, one of the largest coal storage areas in China, reached 9.5 million tons this month.
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: June 22, 2012

HONG KONG — As the Chinese economy continues to sputter, prominent corporate executives in China and Western economists say there is evidence that local and provincial officials are falsifying economic statistics to disguise the true depth of the troubles.
Related

Record-setting mountains of excess coal have accumulated at the country’s biggest storage areas because power plants are burning less coal in the face of tumbling electricity demand. But local and provincial government officials have forced plant managers not to report to Beijing the full extent of the slowdown, power sector executives said.

Electricity production and consumption have been considered a telltale sign of a wide variety of economic activity. They are widely viewed by foreign investors and even some Chinese officials as the gold standard for measuring what is really happening in the country’s economy, because the gathering and reporting of data in China is not considered as reliable as it is in many countries.

Indeed, officials in some cities and provinces are also overstating economic output, corporate revenue, corporate profits and tax receipts, the corporate executives and economists said. The officials do so by urging businesses to keep separate sets of books, showing improving business results and tax payments that do not exist.

The executives and economists roughly estimated that the effect of the inaccurate statistics was to falsely inflate a variety of economic indicators by 1 or 2 percentage points. That may be enough to make very bad economic news look merely bad. The executives and economists requested anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their relationship with the Chinese authorities, on whom they depend for data and business deals.

The National Bureau of Statistics, the government agency in Beijing that compiles most of the country’s economic statistics, denied that economic data had been overstated.“This is not rooted in evidence,” an agency spokeswoman said.

Some still express confidence in the official statistics. Mark Mobius, the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, cited the reported electricity figures when he expressed skepticism that the Chinese economy had real difficulties. “I don’t think the economic activity is that bad — just look at the electricity production,” he said.

But an economist with ties to the agency said that officials had begun making inquiries after detecting signs that electricity numbers may have been overstated.

Questions about the quality and accuracy of Chinese economic data are longstanding, but the concerns now being raised are unusual. This year is the first time since 1989 that a sharp economic slowdown has coincided with the once-a-decade changeover in the country’s top leadership.

Officials at all levels of government are under pressure to report good economic results to Beijing as they wait for promotions, demotions and transfers to cascade down from Beijing. So narrower and seemingly more obscure measures of economic activity are being falsified, according to the executives and economists.

“The government officials don’t want to see the negative,” so they tell power managers to report usage declines as zero change, said a chief executive in the power sector.

Another top corporate executive in China with access to electricity grid data from two provinces in east-central China that are centers of heavy industry, Shandong and Jiangsu, said that electricity consumption in both provinces had dropped more than 10 percent in May from a year earlier. Electricity consumption has also fallen in parts of western China. Yet, the economist with ties to the statistical agency said that cities and provinces across the country had reported flat or only slightly rising electricity consumption.

Rohan Kendall, senior analyst for Asian coal at Wood Mackenzie, the global energy consulting firm, said coal stockpiled at Qinhuangdao port reached 9.5 million tons this month, as coal arrives on trains faster than needed by power plants in southern China. That surpasses the previous record of 9.3 million tons, set in November 2008, near the bottom of the global financial downturn.

The next three largest coal storage areas in China — in Tianjin, Caofeidian and Lianyungang — are also at record levels, an executive in China said.

Many Chinese economic indicators already show a slowdown this spring, with fixed-asset investment growing at its weakest pace in May since 2001. The annual growth rate for industrial production has edged below 10 percent, while electricity generation was up only 3.2 percent in May from a year earlier and up only 1.5 percent in April.

The question is whether the actual slowdown is even worse. Skewed government data would help explain why prices for commodities like oil, coal and copper fell heavily this spring even though official Chinese statistics show a more modest deceleration in economic activity.

Manipulation of official statistics would also provide a clue why some wholesalers of consumer goods and construction materials say sales are now as dismal as in early 2009.

Keeping accurate statistics for internal use by policy makers while releasing less grim figures to the public and financial markets may also help explain why China’s central bank suddenly and unexpectedly cut interest rates earlier this month.

Studies by Goldman Sachs and other institutions over the years have strongly suggested that Chinese statisticians smooth out the quarterly growth figures, underreporting growth during boom years and overstating growth during economic downturns.

And Chinese officials have raised questions in the past about the reliability of Chinese economic statistics. An American diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks shows that Li Keqiang, widely expected to become premier of China this autumn, said in 2007 that he regarded China’s broad measures of economic growth as “ ‘man-made’ and therefore unreliable.”

Mr. Li told an American diplomat that he looked instead to three indicators that he described as less likely to be fudged: electricity consumption, volume of rail cargo and the disbursement of bank loans.

Jonathan Sinton, a China energy specialist at the International Energy Agency, said he had not heard of false data in China’s electricity sector, and he doubted it would be feasible at the five biggest electricity generation companies that together produce half of China’s electricity.

“If there is a problem, it is going to be located in the smaller producers,” he said, cautioning that even these producers would eventually have to submit accurate information to reconcile fuel, electricity and financial accounts.

Stephen Green, a China economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said that the Chinese economy was still likely to recover this autumn as extra bank lending started to stimulate spending.

But a survey of Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers, released on Thursday by HSBC and Markit and conducted independently of the government, gave the second-gloomiest reading for their businesses since March 2009. Only November of last year was worse, when many small and medium-size businesses faced a brief but severe credit squeeze.

member_23626 · Post by **member_23626** » 26 Jun 2012 08:42

Extremely sorry if it is OT, mods may delete this post if found unnecessary

member_23626 · Post by **member_23626** » 26 Jun 2012 09:01

The link report gives some interesting information:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjVVNJHr ... ature=plcp

Taiwan media reported that since Bo Xilai's dismissal, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) infighting has intensified.And those military linked secret bank accounts are migrating out of China. Taiwan is their chosen destination.Analysts said that since CCP officials have realized that the CCP's downfall is imminent, they are preparing their escape route.

Please read the description provided in the video to read the entire story... it's too long and I think posting it in full is not required

member_23626 · Post by **member_23626** » 26 Jun 2012 09:13

NTDTV report on the real education level of CCP officials

[youtube]7-BjDGVAnLo&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

Another interesting one.. (I hope MODS won't mind for posting too many videos but these provide some interesting insight into the Chinese system by Chinese reporters themselves without any apparent "lipstick-powdering" of facts)

One of the 0% papers of 2012 College Entrance Exam in Guangdong is "The attachment of Virgins". Reflecting on the social ills, the author listed the social events in the 10+ years of brainwashing by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from primary school to college.The article also included the authorities' control of speech,internet blockade, school bus accidents,the Red Cross event and officials raping young girls,which was characterized as prostituting young girls, etc.
In the article, the author wrote in the dialogue that the CCP is so evil, if I were given another opportunity to be born again, I certainly would not choose this place.The article also ridiculed that CCP officials blame all serious social incidents on the "temporary workers". It also ridiculed CCP's "false, big and empty" propagandas.However, this writing was scored 0%.

[youtube]BpqwV6nXIDs&feature=plcp[/youtube]

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 28 Jun 2012 08:12

Rat World: The subterranean dwellings of Beijing.

Tale of the Dragon Lady: The long, sordid history behind China's blame-the-woman syndrome.

member_20036 · Post by **member_20036** » 30 Jun 2012 19:48

Accident: Tianjin E190 near Hotan on Jun 29th 2012, foiled hijack

A Tianjin Airlines Embraer ERJ-190, registration B-3171 performing flightGS-7554 from Hotan to Urumqi (China) with 92 passengers and 9 crew, was climbing out of Hotan about 6 minutes into the flight when 6 passengers wearing staff uniforms attempted to intrude the cockpit in an attempt to hijack the aircraft. Cabin crew, air marshals and passengers subdued the attackers, the aircraft returned to Hotan for a safe landing about 16 minutes after departure. Security personnel arrested the would be hijackers. The lead flight attendant, two air marshals and 7 passengers received minor injuries in the fight with the hijackers.
China's Civil Aviation Authority reported 92 passengers and 9 crew on board of the aircraft when 6 gangsters attempted to intrude the cockpit in order to hijack aircraft, crew and passengers however intervened and subdued the hijackers. Public security organs are currently investigating the occurrence.
The airline reported 92 passengers and 9 crew were on board when 6 criminals attempted to violently intrude the cockpit. The attackers were subdued in combined efforts ofcabin crew and passengers, crew and passengers received minor injuries in the fight. An investigation is under way.
Local Authorities reported the six hijackers, who were wearing airline staff uniforms, were identified to be Uighur men, their motives are under investigation.
http://www.avherald.com/h?article=451e452c&opt=0

AdityaM · Post by **AdityaM** » 30 Jun 2012 21:39

China mourns death of doctor Kotnis's wife

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 01 Jul 2012 01:12

Prasan wrote:Accident: Tianjin E190 near Hotan on Jun 29th 2012, foiled hijack
.. when 6 passengers wearing staff uniforms attempted to intrude the cockpit in an attempt to hijack the aircraft. .. the would be hijackers. .. The lead flight attendant, two air marshals and 7 passengers received minor injuries in the fight with the hijackers..
..aircraft when 6 gangsters attempted to intrude the cockpit in order to hijack
..when 6 criminals attempted to violently intrude the cockpit. The
..
Local Authorities reported the six hijackers, who were wearing airline staff uniforms, were identified to be Uighur men, their motives are under investigation.
http://www.avherald.com/h?article=451e452c&opt=0

play of words or Chinese are showing secularism already? Apparently the Chinese have slowly accepted the terminologies to appease.

jamwal · Post by **jamwal** » 02 Jul 2012 23:50

Cannibal attack

A drunk bus driver pounced on a woman and chewed her face in the latest horrific ‘cannibal attack’.

The victim, named locally as Du, was driving past a bus station in China when the crazed man ran out into the road and stood in front of her car, blocking her way.

The man, named locally as Dong, then allegedly climbed onto the bonnet of Du’s car and started hitting the windscreen as the terrified woman screamed for help.

When she got out of the car and tried to escape, Dong – who is believed to have been drinking heavily during lunch- leapt on top of her and wrestled her to the ground.

The bus driver then allegedly started chewing Du’s face, biting her nose and lips, leaving her covered in blood, according to local reports in China.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 06 Jul 2012 15:04

http://www.rediff.com/business/report/u ... 120706.htm

The United States has filed a complaint against China at the World Trade Organisation over the nearly $3 billion of antidumping and countervailing duties that Beijing [ Images ] levies on US automobile exports, saying that such duties abuse trade laws.

member_23626 · Post by **member_23626** » 12 Jul 2012 23:25

So much for One-Gleat-China

Roperia · Post by **Roperia** » 13 Jul 2012 11:27

China’s growth falls to three-year low of 7.6% | The Hindu

This is all getting really bad - decelerating Indian and Chinese economies, imploding European Union and a sluggish US economy.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 13 Jul 2012 11:33

war is always available as a guaranteed option to divert attention, ramp up demand temporarily, physically destroy overcapacity, reduce the gender imbalance a tad and so on and on. Ridiculous line of thinking, I know, but I wouldn't presume to know how the cheenis think...

arun · Post by **arun** » 14 Jul 2012 09:16

P.R. China’s attempt to intimidate the Philippines falls flat on its face

:

Embarrassment as Chinese frigate runs aground

arun · Post by **arun** » 14 Jul 2012 09:23

Guardian article on the P.R. Chinese frigate grounding itself while in the act of intimidating the Philippines questions the quality of the seamanship of the PLAN:

Rory Medcalf, director of the international security programme at the Lowy Institute, said it was surprising to see the Chinese using naval vessels to patrol the disputed area.

"This raises lots of questions … They have been relying primarily on civilian forces," he said. "That does mean sooner or later we will see confrontational incidents involving naval vessels rather than civilian agencies.

"Secondly, it raises concerns about the quality of seamanship. If this had been a near-run with a ship from another country, it could have ended badly, with political implications."

From here:

Chinese frigate runs aground in disputed part of South China Sea