China Watch Thread-I

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 27 Mar 2013 00:35

Am collecting links to all the China threads in BRF.

I) News and Discussion of People's Republic of China

II) Understanding the ChineseLets Understand the Chinese

III)China Military watch China Militry Watch

IV) China Economy WatchPRC Economy Watch

V) Understanding the UighersUnderstanding the Uighers

VI) US and PRC relationship and India US PRC relationship and India

VII) US and China in Pakistan US and China in Pakistan

In this thread I also want to collect Indian opinion/assessment of China from all web based publications.

vina · Post by **vina** » 04 Feb 2015 19:53

[ur=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... cial-visit]Argentine President Mocks Chinese Accent Durign Official Visit[/url]

The Argentines are as dumb as a bag of rocks. China is pretty much the only entity that will finance them and then the spit in the face of someone who comes bearing gifts!
She writes

“Did they only come for lice and petloleum,”

replacing the r s with l s.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 07 Feb 2015 17:23

Not sure where else to post this, but the Chinese are at least vigilant against terrorism

udy · Post by **udy** » 07 Feb 2015 18:15

Understanding China - C V Ranganathanan

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 13 Feb 2015 08:38

Harvard Univ has a bunch of free online courses on China (history ancient to contemporary) offered through edX, a total 10 of them. Anyone who wants to know China better, this should be an excellent place to start:

https://www.edx.org/xseries/chinax

panduranghari · Post by **panduranghari** » 15 Feb 2015 13:29

udy wrote:Understanding China - C V Ranganathanan

Computer says no. Please fix the link.

udy · Post by **udy** » 15 Feb 2015 18:59

^^^ The server seems to be down. Hopefully it will come back online.The IISC video archive can be accesed from ECE iisc homepage under the Resources heading on the left side.

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 21 Feb 2015 14:32

The Chinese have a rating agency, much like S&P, and Fitch etc.

Dagong rating agency.

In fact Russia and China have started with their own rating Agency . First ratings will be out in 2015.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/russia-china-s ... rs-1483341

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 25 Feb 2015 12:22

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/23/asia/chin ... index.html
Photographer captures bizarre, intimate scenes of Chinese factory life

think about advancement and industrial infrastructure one hand, and on the other just think about worker freedom one gets in India.

Recently, there was a big discussion from workers of Nokia@Chennai in a Star reality TV channel. The only repentance in their whole life was the shutdown. On the other side of extreme socialistic mind sets, they expected Nokia to provide lifetime job security since that is what they projected at the time of joining.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Feb 2015 20:59

Nightwatch on China's 4 comprehensives]

China: On 24 and 25 February, Chinese state media have extolled President Xi Jinping's expression of his strategy for the next stage of China's development. It is captured in the "Four Comprehensives." One analytical commentary described them as the implementation phase of Xi's "China Dream," promulgated in 2012.

The four comprehensives are:

-comprehensively achieving a moderately prosperous society;

-comprehensively deepening reform;

-comprehensively governing the nation according to the law;

-comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.

Comment: For the sake of clarity in governing a huge population, Chinese leaders regularly articulate their governing philosophy and priorities in slogans that more than a billion people can comprehend and act on. The only recent leader who did not indulge in enumerating the national priorities was Deng Xiaoping, the father of modern Chinese political and economic reform.

For the next few months, Party cadres will be indoctrinating the Party members and the population in general on the local applications of the four comprehensives. This process will be a nationwide, high priority task.

One insightful analysis noted that the four comprehensives represent a compilation of Xi's and the Party's policy statements since 2012, when Xi was elected General Secretary. For example, the point about achieving a moderately prosperous society is integral to Xi's ideas abput the China Dream as" the great revival of the Chinese nation."

Many China watchers will analyze, explicate and parse the four comprehensives in coming weeks. One theme that is sharply outlined is the paramount need for better leadership by the Communist Party and government without corruption. Xi and his advisors identified corruption in the Party and the government as posing the greatest threat to Communist Party rule. Three of the four statements provide evidence that the central leadership continues to hold that conviction.

The guidance is inward focused. Achieving the China Dream requires getting the leadership in order and under discipline, according to this guidance. That implies that the Xi government will continue to place a premium on stability along the borders and in disputed areas.

Xi's government cannot and will not compromise claims to sovereignty anywhere. Nevertheless, the four comprehensives are not a call to assert hegemony. Their achievement requires stability in foreign affairs. Thus, Chinese leaders will continue to seek peaceful solutions to confrontations, whenever they can. They also will intervene in non-military ways to stop adventurism or provocations that could upset regional stability.

Could be a turning inward era beginning.

Also a NaMo moment in PRC of disgust with loot.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 27 Feb 2015 12:20

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/f ... ea-says-us
China 'aggressively' expanding into South China Sea says US
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper tells US senators there is a worrying trend of conflict between China’s neighbours over expansion

A Chinese Coast Guard vessel passes near the Chinese oil rig, Haiyang Shi You 981 in the South China Sea, about 210 km (130 miles) from the coast of Vietnam. The US says it is concerned at China’s aggressive exertion of sovereignty in the sea.

Friday 27 February 2015

China is expanding its outposts in the South China Sea to include stationing for ships and potential airfields as part of its “aggressive” effort to exert sovereignty, the US intelligence chief said Thursday.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on worldwide threats. His comments underscore US concern over land reclamation activities that could fuel tensions between China and its neighbours over disputed islands and reefs.

“Although China is looking for stable ties with the United States it’s more willing to accept bilateral and regional tensions in pursuit of its interests, particularly on maritime sovereignty issues,” Clapper said.

He described China’s claims traced by a so-called nine-dash line a rough boundary covering more than 80 percent of the South China Sea as “exorbitant.”

The US is not a claimant of territory in the South China Sea but does claim a national interest in the peaceful resolution of the disputes in a region crucial for world trade.

China says its territorial claims have a historical basis and objects to what it consider US meddling.

Sen John McCain, the committee’s Republican chairman, displayed commercial satellite imagery showing expansion of the Chinese-occupied Gaven Reef in the Spratly Islands in the past year.

He said China’s expansion could allow it to employ weaponry, including anti-air and other capabilities.

Clapper said China was still in a construction phase so it was unclear what weaponry or forces it might deploy there.

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He said such Chinese activities in the past year-and-a-half, combined with oil drilling near disputed islands that caused conflict with Vietnam, was a “worrying trend.”

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies last week said Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have over the years modified existing land masses in the South China Sea, and the Philippines is planning to upgrade an airport and pier on an island it occupies.

But among the claimants, China is unusual in how it has been “dramatically changing the size and structure of physical land features,” the think tank said.

China has had a troop and supply garrison at Gaven Reef since 2003, but it began significant construction there last year, building a new artificial island, more than 18 acres in size. The main building on the new island appears to have an anti-aircraft tower, the center said.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 28 Feb 2015 11:00

http://likes.com/weird/why-are-the-chin ... 0fO&page=1

1 What is Gutter Oil?
Some scavengers in China have found a way to make a living producing 'gutter oil', which is recycled fat from various waste sources turned into cooking oil. Some gutter oil producers collect used oil from restaurants, some collect fat from slaughterhouse waste, some even collect blobs of fat that are found floating in the sewer to be converted into cooking oil!

Madhusudhan · Post by **Madhusudhan** » 11 Mar 2015 00:09

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/ ... -my-censor

Very detailed article about how censorship works in China. It goes way deeper than just "banning" something.

DavidD · Post by **DavidD** » 13 Mar 2015 01:09

Madhusudhan wrote:http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/ ... -my-censor

Very detailed article about how censorship works in China. It goes way deeper than just "banning" something.

Long, but very good read. I hope that he and Mr. Zhang's hopes are correct, that "the current political campaign may be a surface storm that, once it passes, will have had little effect on deeper currents."

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 14 Mar 2015 06:21

Please move the post if it does not belong here...

China claims 'right to reincarnate' Dalai Lama

BEIJING (AP) — China's Communist Party is officially atheist, but that has not stopped it from making some impassioned claims on the afterlife.

Some of the strongest language at this week's annual national congress has been reserved for the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader. The fury is over his claim in recent interviews that he may not be reincarnated, ending the Dalai Lama's seven-century lineage. His comments undercut Beijing's plans to pick a China-friendly successor to the Dalai Lama after he dies.

China's stance: The Dalai Lama doesn't control the next life. We do.
.....

habal · Post by **habal** » 14 Mar 2015 17:35

http://sputniknews.com/asia/20150313/1019455778.html

An editorial in the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency blasts the US government for its attempts to steer Britain away from China's new infrastructure investment bank.

"The US has again launched into paranoid hysteria by manifesting its skepticism toward China's creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank."

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 16 Mar 2015 00:24

India has plan form SCS disputes

In recent years, India has started to become increasingly more vocal about what it feels is the correct way for the five main territorial disputants in the South China Sea to resolve their differences. What’s particularly interesting is that the rhetoric coming out of New Delhi seems to be growing more specific and pointed as time goes on. Early on Wednesday, the Manila Times reported that that Indian ambassador to the Philippines, Shri Lalduhthlana Ralte, said that India explicitly supported international law and arbitration in resolving these disputes. “Our view with that such kind of disputes [is that], the claimant countries should observe international law and norms that disputes are to be settled peacefully. We should allow ourselves to be subjected to international law,” Ralte said, according to the report.

The ambassador’s comments bookend a string of policy statements by New Delhi that mostly began in 2013. Back then, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking at the East Asia Summit, noted that “A stable maritime environment is essential to realize our collective regional aspirations.” Keen to make his approval known for multilateral processes in Southeast Asia (which I recently expressed some skepticism about), Singh added: “We welcome the collective commitment by the concerned countries to abide by and implement the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and to work towards the adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea on the basis of consensus. We also welcome the establishment of the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum for developing maritime norms that would reinforce existing international law relating to maritime security.”

Those statements failed to draw much attention. Beijing probably raised its eyebrows at New Delhi’s interest in the South China Sea, but there was little in the prime minister’s statements that suggested a firm backing for a specific resolution mechanism. In early 2014, Shri Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East) of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, pushed the Indian position a bit further into the realm of clarity. “We advocate that the lines, the channels of trade and communication should be kept open and of course the sea, which, according to UN (United Nations) international law of the sea, is common to all the countries that use it. Definitely we are concerned,” he told journalists at the annual ASEAN-India dialogue in New Delhi. “Our position has always been India stands for freedom of navigation on high seas. We would like to ensure that all countries in the region adhere to the international conventions on the law of the sea in this issue,” he clarified.

Enter UNCLOS and “freedom of navigation” into India’s South China Sea vocabulary. Wadhwa’s rhetoric survived India’s change of government in May 2014. When Narendra Modi came into office and eventually traveled to the United States, the United States and India, for the first time, included language on the South China Sea in their joint declaration. In October’s declaration, after Modi’s whirlwind tour of the United States, the South China Sea was an explicit point of focus. As I wrote then, “Under Modi, India is sticking to its guns in terms of repeatedly emphasizing its commitment to the principle of the freedom of navigation and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” Just prior to that visit, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had visited Vietnam, signing a joint statement with his counterpart there including similar language. Additionally, after U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to India in January 2015, the U.S.-India joint declaration again included similar language.

Coming back to the Indian Ambassador to the Philippines’ statement, we may finally catch a glimpse of India’s ultimate position on the South China Sea issue: international arbitration. This shouldn’t come as a major unveiling or Shakespearean denouement — after all, ever since India and Bangladesh resolved a mutual maritime territorial dispute in the summer of 2014 with the intermediation of an international court (a ruling that, incidentally, went in Bangladesh’s favor), observers have noted India’s preference for arbitration. What’s interesting is Ralte’s follow-up comment: “Even if we are [the] stronger country, politically or economically, we should abide by internationally accepted principles.” The implication of that statement should be clear for observers in China.

Still, the ambassador’s statements will mean little until they are repeated by the Indian prime minister in East and Southeast Asian capitals. India’s at the point where it’s expressed a clear preference for how it would like to see events resolved in the South China Sea, joining a chorus of mostly democratic, mostly U.S.-aligned states in opposing Chinese irredentism. I’m not optimistic that, in practice, international arbitration will solve these difficult disputes, but having Asia’s largest democracy back the idea will impose additional costs on Beijing for defecting from what seems to be a widespread regional preference.

Nevertheless Braduel in his magnum opus writes that SE Asia prospered when India swung towards them.
PVNR garu had pushed the pendulum with his "look East" policy. This was a millennium shift. From 711 1192 reallyAD the focus was towards West Asia.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 18 Mar 2015 01:24

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... ng-new-law
Foreign non-government groups in China fear clampdown under new law

BEIJING: Foreign non-government organisations (NGOs) in China are bracing for a crackdown as the government prepares to pass a new law to regulate their activities, which critics fear could curb activism and drive out several groups.

It is unclear how strictly the government will enforce the rules, which a parliament spokeswoman said last week were necessary for national security reasons.

But rights activists say the new law is part of a broader trend under President Xi Jinping's administration to rein in dissent.

The draft law, according to a copy seen by Reuters that was obtained by a foreign NGO, bars foreign NGOs from activities that violate "Chinese society's moral customs" and from setting up branches in China.

Issued by the Legislative Affairs Office of the National People's Congress Standing Committee last December 22, the draft law says foreign NGOs will be regulated by a "business unit", the police and other authorities.

The Ministry of Public Security and provincial public security departments will administer registration of foreign NGOs, it says.

Foreign funding has to come from "legal" sources and NGOs are not allowed to raise money in China, it adds.

"This really worries me a lot," said Shen Tingting of Asia Catalyst. "It shows that the government definitely sees foreign NGOs as anti-government agents."

The National People's Congress did not respond to a request for comment.

The law aims to protect the legal rights and interests of NGOs, Yang Huanning, vice-minister of public security, was quoted by state media as saying.

Foreign NGO workers have met several times since last October to discuss how to respond, said two NGO representatives with direct knowledge of the situation.

They said they feared the law would shut them down because of the difficulty of getting permission for their activities, which could ultimately face rejection.

"The rumour we've heard is the purpose of the law is to get rid of us," said the China director of a foreign NGO, who declined to be named, because of the sensitivity of the topic.

Since last June, foreign NGOs have faced closer scrutiny. State security agents have interviewed them about funding, representatives said. Two foreigners working for NGOs recently had to leave China because they were working on incorrect visas, said three people familiar with the matter.

The sudden departures of Tim Millar, an Irish national from the Rights Practice, a human rights NGO with offices in Britain and the United States, and Jeremie Beja, a French national from China Development Brief, which studies civil society, have unnerved the NGO community.

Nicola Macbean, director of the Rights Practice, confirmed Millar's departure. Beja and China Development Brief did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.

China says it has about 6,000 foreign NGOs. Many train lawyers, judges and Chinese NGOs, and push for a cleaner environment.

China does not have laws regulating all foreign NGOs, but some foreign NGOs can register as representative offices of foundations.

But tough requirements, such as finding a government sponsor and having a substantial amount of capital, have limited registration to a very few foreign groups.

Many Chinese and foreign NGOs in China register as businesses and operate without proper authorisation.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Mar 2015 09:32

Xi Jinping continues to press forward with going after corrupt generals and business warlords

http://news.yahoo.com/fallen-chinese-ge ... 19011.html

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 01 Apr 2015 10:48

Beijing's "Great Wall of Sand" in the Indo-China Sea,destroying coral reefs ,etc., in its attempt to grab the Indo-China Sea for itself.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/m ... ys-us-navy

US Navy: Beijing creating a 'great wall of sand' in South China Sea

Commander of US Pacific fleet says China is building artificial land in disputed waters by pumping sand on to live coral reefs and paving them with concrete

spratly islands mischief reef china
A Chinese flag flies from a structure on the Mischief Reef off the disputed Spratlys archipelago in the South China Sea in 1999. Chinese land reclamation in the area has increased considerably. Photograph: Aaron Favila/AP

Associated Press in Canberra
Tuesday 31 March 2015 18.41 BST Last modified on Tuesday 31 March 2015

China is “creating a great wall of sand” through land reclamation in the South China Sea, causing serious concerns about its territorial intentions, the commander of the US Pacific fleet said on Tuesday.
China 'aggressively' expanding into South China Sea says US

Admiral Harry Harris Jr told a naval conference in Australia that competing territorial claims by several nations in the South China Sea are “increasing regional tensions and the potential for miscalculation”.

“But what’s really drawing a lot of concern in the here and now is the unprecedented land reclamation currently being conducted by China,” he said.

“China is building artificial land by pumping sand on to live coral reefs – some of them submerged – and paving over them with concrete. China has now created over 4 square kilometers (1.5 square miles) of artificial landmass,” he said.

Harris said the region is known for its beautiful natural islands, but “in sharp contrast, China is creating a great wall of sand with dredges and bulldozers over the course of months”.

China claims virtually all of the South China Sea. The Philippines and other countries that have territorial disputes with China in the busy sea have been particularly concerned by the land reclamation projects, which have turned a number of previously submerged reefs in the Spratlys archipelago into artificial islands with buildings, runways and wharves. The islands could be used for military and other facilities to bolster China’s territorial claims.

Harris said the pace of China’s construction of artificial islands “raises serious questions about Chinese intentions”.

He said the United States continues to urge all claimants to conform to the 2002 China-Asean Declaration of Conduct, in which the parties committed to “exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability”.

“How China proceeds will be a key indicator of whether the region is heading toward confrontation or cooperation,” he said.

The US says it has a national interest in the peaceful resolution of the disputes in a region crucial for world trade. China says its territorial claims have a historical basis and objects to what it considers US meddling.

Harris said the United States is on track to reposition 60% of its navy to the Pacific fleet by 2020.

“By maintaining a capable and credible forward presence in the region, we’re able to improve our ability to maintain stability and security,” he said. “If any crisis does break out, we’re better positioned to quickly respond.”

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 02 Apr 2015 05:10

The New Yorker magazine has an extensive new biography of Xi Jinping:
Born Red

member_28638 · Post by **member_28638** » 03 Apr 2015 15:08

AIIB: A morality play for India

Author: M.K. Bhadrakumar March 28, 2015 3 Comments

Asia Times

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Belt and Road Initiative, US' pivot to Asia

China’s foreign policy fired all eight cylinders on Saturday. There has been a stampede of countries wanting to be founder members of the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIIB) – South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Russia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Georgia and so on. Even Taiwan – if only Beijing could find a way to admit an entity that it considers a part of China. Monday is the deadline for aspiring applicants.

Clearly, the United States’ “pivot” to Asia is in trouble, big trouble, and without the pivot, there is uncertainty how a steady erosion in America’s standing in Asia can be averted. The U.S. has been badly exposed as being at odds with the prevailing sentiment in the Asian region. The AIIB has busted a hole into the US’ “pivot” strategy through which even the Indian elephant can pass. A Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement with the obsessive idea of “containment” of China seems more problematic than ever.

What has happened is seen as a policy failure on the part of the Barack Obama administration and a manifestation of the dysfunctional American political system whereby the Congress could stall for 4 years already the quota reform measure for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would have pacified China by granting it a greater voice in the fund. But then, there is much more to it. China is aiming at something much bigger, much more profound in scope and objectives.

China is changing the balance of power in Asia itself. A historic power shift is under way. The document released in Beijing on Saturday on the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ is breathtakingly ambitious in scope. If half of what it says could be realized, China will have already risen as a great power on the world stage exclusively on terms it set and negotiates for itself.

The stark alternatives sketched by pundits, drawn from European history and World War I as regards the dialectic involving the rise of great powers and the resistance to it by established powers, do not seem to be applicable to the Asian drama. Simply put, the European parallels are grossly inappropriate for contemporary Asia. China’s Asian neighbors are learning to live with China, are willing to engage with it while also preserving their relations with the U.S. China is comfortable with the idea, too. In strategic terms, China is leaving the U.S. hardly any wriggle room but to take a second good look at Beijing’s standing offer to create a ‘new type of relationship’ between the two big powers.

The ‘Vision’ document titled “Vision And Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” details the action plan whereby China hopes to change the world political and economic landscape through participating in the development of countries along its proposed Silk Routes. In a nutshell, geo-economics is forcing geopolitics to the margins. By volunteering to share its prosperity with its Asian neighbors, Beijing rubbishes the petard of “assertive” China, which the U.S. has hoisted on the Asian landscape as the raison d’etre of its “pivot” strategy. The document released on Saturday says:

“The Silk Road Economic Belt focuses on bringing together China, Central Asia, Russia and Europe (the Baltic); linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central Asia and West Asia; and connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean. The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is designed to go from China’s coast to Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean in one route, and from China’s coast through the South China Sea to the South Pacific in the other.

“On land, the Initiative will focus on jointly building a new Eurasian Land Bridge and developing China-Mongolia-Russia, China-Central Asia-West Asia and China-Indochina Peninsula economic corridors.”

The Chinese initiative aims at promoting policy coordination with its partners, facilitating connectivity and investment and trade, financial integration (through building a currency stability system in Asia, for example).

On Saturday, President Xi Jinping inaugurated the annual Boao Forum and in his opening address too, China’s soft power took the centre stage. Xi harped on the need of an Asian community that eschews zero-sum mentality and cold-war mindset. Xi offered that China is willing to sign treaties of good-neighborliness and friendship and cooperation with all its neighbors. “What China needs most is a harmonious and stable domestic environment and a peaceful and tranquil international environment,” Xi said. He committed China to accommodate “the interests of others while pursuing own interests”.

In his speech, Xi presented the Chinese market as the driver of growth for the Asian economies. He outlined that China will import more than $10 trillion worth goods in the coming five-year period and proposes to make investments abroad in excess of $500 billion. Xi visualized that in excess of 500 million Chinese tourists will be making outbound visits during this period.

The Chinese thinking on the AIIB has evolved and it is far too simplistic to view it as a pincer aimed at the heart of the Bretton Woods system or in a spirit of competition with Washington. Clearly, China does not want to destroy the existing international financial system but instead seeks a greater say in its running and management and if that doesn’t happen, China will go its own way. In fact, Xi said China will promote a system of regional financial cooperation, explore a platform for exchanges and cooperation among Asian financial institutions and advance complementary and coordinated development between the AIIB and such multilateral financial institutions as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

In the new matrix, China proposes to give full play to the AIIB and the Silk Road Fund by blending them with the sovereign wealth funds of countries along the Belt and Road and by encouraging commercial equity investment funds and private funds to participate in the key Silk Routes projects. The IMF has already shown interest in collaborating with the AIIB.

The AIIB membership drive has underscored the importance of the European states as Asia’s partner during a period when the region is passing through a major transition. On the one hand, the participation of the European countries ensures that China is obliged to mould the AIIB as an institution of the highest standard in transparency and efficiency. Indeed, the European countries’ participation in the AIIB helps shape its rules but on the other hand, it also offsets US opposition. Put differently, on the bigger plane of the global power dynamic, it also strengthens the Europe-Asia side of the US-Europe-Asia strategic and economic triangle, which dominates the world’s economy and politics today.

From an Indian perspective, Saturday triggered depressing thoughts of despondency.To be sure, the so-called US-India Joint Strategic Vision Statement for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region signed during the visit by President Obama to Delhi hardly two months ago has been rendered irrelevant and archaic. Clearly, India, which, notwithstanding its profession of devotion to the ‘Asian Century’, is unable to figure out whether China’s rise is a good thing or not, has been taken for granted by Beijing as a partner in the Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing has left India with no choice but to tag along lest it gets stranded on the Silk Road.

China seems one hundred percent sure that Delhi cannot sustain its zero-sum mindset, when Asian countries all around it – big and small – find it attractive to partake of the Chinese initiative, which they see as inclusive, non-prescriptive, based on market rules and in a ‘win-win’ spirit of mutual benefit out of common development. China’s extraordinary ability in the geopolitical sphere makes Indian diplomacy look provincial and out of touch with the Asian and global realities.

http://atimes.com/2015/03/aiib-a-morali ... for-india/

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 15 Apr 2015 11:43

http://www.businessinsider.in/Chinas-st ... 914297.cms

China's strategy for establishing naval superiority in Asia is not going to make its neighbors happy
Armin Rosen0Apr 14, 2015,

China's strategy for establishing naval superiority in Asia is not going to make its neighbors happy
Armin Rosen0Apr 14, 2015,

Sailors stand at attention during a welcoming ceremony for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing January 14, 2008.

China is playing a careful yet potentially dangerous strategic game in its immediate region.

On the one hand, Beijing wants to show that it's arrived as Asia's dominant superpower, and is putting its neighbors on notice by establishing military footholds in the South China Sea and even the Indian Ocean.

At the same time, China's leaders are an inherently cautious bunch who are strongly disinclined from taking downside-heavy geo-strategic risks. Its leaders want to prepare the region for the reality of Chinese hegemony, but without triggering crises that could prove fatal to China's internal stability or international prestige.

So China wants to expand its power in a way that leaves its neighbors unwilling to take it on. But that means building up a military presence in Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines and India's strategic backyard and even their claimed territorial waters. And these are countries deeply suspicious of Beijing's intentions to begin with.

A new report from the US Office of Naval Intelligence explains how China plans to use its navy in accomplishing this goal. Naval power is crucial to China's plans, as Beijing wants to exploit natural resources, protect shipping lanes, legitimize its vast maritime claims and counter growing Indian, Japanese, and American military power in the region - all without sparking an uncontrollable political or military escalation.

The answer is a modernized navy with the ability to operate outside of China's coastal waters.

"Over the long term, Beijing aspires to sustain naval missions far from China's shores," the report concludes. China's People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA(N)) wants a "greater percentage of the force consisting of ... modern combatants capable of blue water operations," so that the PLA(N) can have an "increasing capability to undertake missions far from China."

In 1987, a top PLA(N) commander was already talking about "offshore defense" - the idea that a powerful enough Chinese navy could enforce a stable regional security environment on Chinese terms, but without China having to provoke costly or risky conflicts.

The report includes this map, which gives an idea of how China hopes that a long-range navy can help protect its strategic "layers." (CDCM stands for Coastal Defense Cruise Missile, while an ASBM is an anti-ship ballistic missile)

The inner yellow layer covers Chinese coastal defense forces, the orange line includes all disputed, resource-rich areas in the South China and East China seas; and the red line extends into critical shipping lanes and the Indian Ocean basin.

Overall, the PLA(N) is "evolving to meet a wide range of missions including conflict with Taiwan, enforcement of maritime claims, protection of economic interests, as well as counterpiracy and humanitarian missions."

And as part of these modernization efforts, it's developing weapons designed to reach qualitative parity with the region's other powerful navies. China realizes it can't just build a half-dozen super carriers to counter the US's presence in Asia (at least not any time soon). But it can develop anti-ship missiles with the ability to take down a carrier in a firefight and to quickly cover China's quantitative gap with the US - a possibility that's already worrying US military planners.

The ONI report also visualizes China's increasing anti-ship missile range. The HHQ is a type of Chinese-produced surface-to-air missile; as the report notes, China is building 6 HHQ-9-equipped destroyers with plans for additional vessels that can carry an "extended-range variant" of the HHQ-9.

China seeks to project naval power into both the Pacific and the Indian Oceans so that Japan, the Philippines, the US, and other emerging regional powers will have no choice but to accept problematic Chinese policies, like de-facto annexation of disputed islands and oil and natural gas fields in the South China and East China seas.

But there's no way China can eliminate all of its geo-strategic risk. There may be no way China can enhance its military presence into its neighbors backyards without taking on substantial risk.

The ONI report concludes that China wants its military to be even more present in its region than it already is. That will never be comforting to Beijing's neighbors, many of whom, like India, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan, are involved in ongoing territorial disputes with Beijing.

China may not want open conflict - but that doesn't mean its naval policy won't make conflict significantly more likely.

PS:The latest breaking news that Pak has leased out Gwadar to China for 40 years is a major destabilising factor of great danger to India,which will now have a Chinese nuclear sub base at the entrance of the Gulf,from where it will have achieved its grand strategy of encircling India entirely,on land and sea.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2015 21:33

http://www.oneindia.com/international/i ... 17642.html
India, China exploring possibilities of 'Buddhist circuit'

Beijing, Apr 15: India and China are exploring possibilities of establishing a 'Buddhist circuit' along with Sri Lanka and Nepal for Chinese travellers which could be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit here next month.

"We are exploring the possibility of Buddhist circuit with Indian officials," Huang Xilian, Deputy Director General of Asian Affairs in the Chinese Foreign Ministry told Indian media here on Wednesday.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 16 Apr 2015 14:48

Since PRC Economy - New Reflections : Dec 15 2011 Thread is locked, posting here.

Published on Apr 16, 2015
By William Pesek
Why China's Numbers Are Worse Than They Seem: Bloomberg View

First, banks and companies may be borrowed out. In the first three months of 2015, capital expenditures by companies eased for a fourth straight quarter, according to the latest survey of more than 2,000 firms by New York-based China Beige Book International (the figure has now reached its lowest level in at least four years). In an interview with Bloomberg Television and a Wall Street Journal op-ed, President Leland Miller attributes the chill to overborrowing, overcapacity and a growing fear that China's debt reckoning is approaching.

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 17 Apr 2015 11:39

China May Gain Control of South China Sea, U.S. Navy Says

China’s island building program in the South China Sea may result in it gaining control of some of the world’s most important waterways, the U.S.’s most senior military commander for Asia said.

“If this activity continues at pace, is that it -- those would give them de facto control” of the maritime territory they claim, Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, told the U.S. Senate. Locklear said China could install long-range detection radars, base warships and warplanes on the islands, potentially giving it the ability to enforce an air defense identification zone.

Satellite photos this month showed images of Chinese dredgers at work at Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, a feature also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan. President Barack Obama said April 10 that the U.S. is concerned that China is using its “muscle and power” to dominate smaller countries in the region.

Locklear said the pace of China’s building program was “astonishing” and added that the islands would improve China’s ability to locate a maritime security force in the waters that would be larger than the combined coast guards of the Southeast Asian countries.

China claims about four-fifths of the South China Sea, home to some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, under a so-called nine-dash line drawn on a 1940s map. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also claim territory in the waters.
Minimum Defense

China says it has a right to carry out construction work on its sovereign territory in the South China Sea.

“It certainly complicates the security environment,” said Locklear. Efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to work with China to develop a code of conduct in the South China Sea haven’t “produced very much at all.”

Locklear said the U.S. has reinvigorated its alliance with the Philippines and is looking at helping its government improve its minimum defense.

To help improve security in the region, the U.S. had also developed partnerships with nations that it wouldn’t have considered possible over the past two decades, he said, citing Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Locklear said the increasing number and technical sophistication of the submarines in the Indo-Pacific was changing the dynamic of how the U.S. navy operates in the area. He estimated that of the 300 submarines in the world that aren’t U.S. vessels, 200 are in the Indo-Pacific, which he said was the “most militarized part of the world.”

Locklear said Asian nations are building their submarine capabilities because they understand the vessels afford them the ability to deny access to enemies, as well as their value as a deterrent.

Conflict with China isn’t inevitable, he said.

“A China with a military that would come forward as a net provider of security, rather than a net user of security would be beneficial to not only the region, but would be beneficial to us,” he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -navy-says

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 17 Apr 2015 11:43

China's first runway in Spratlys under construction

http://www.janes.com/article/50714/chin ... nstruction

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 18 Apr 2015 01:33

Henry M. Paulson, Michael Carroll, "Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower"
ISBN: 1455504211 | 2015 |

DEALING WITH CHINA takes the reader behind closed doors to witness the creation and evolution and future of China's state-controlled capitalism.

Hank Paulson has dealt with China unlike any other foreigner. As head of Goldman Sachs, Paulson had a pivotal role in opening up China to private enterprise. Then, as Treasury secretary, he created the Strategic Economic Dialogue with what is now the world's second-largest economy. He negotiated with China on needed economic reforms, while safeguarding the teetering U.S. financial system. Over his career, Paulson has worked with scores of top Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping, China's most powerful man in decades.

In DEALING WITH CHINA, Paulson draws on his unprecedented access to modern China's political and business elite, including its three most recent heads of state, to answer several key questions:

•How did China become an economic superpower so quickly?
•How does business really get done there?
•What are the best ways for Western business and political leaders to work with, compete with, and benefit from China?
•How can the U.S. negotiate with and influence China given its authoritarian rule, its massive environmental concerns, and its huge population's unrelenting demands for economic growth and security?

Written in the same anecdote-rich, page-turning style as Paulson's bestselling memoir, On the Brink, DEALING WITH CHINA is certain to become the classic and definitive examination of how to engage China's leaders as they build their economic superpower.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 18 Apr 2015 01:47

RajeshA wrote:Since PRC Economy - New Reflections : Dec 15 2011 Thread is locked, posting here.
...................

thread is locked because it crossed 100 pages. anytime a thread is locked at or beyond 100 pages feel free to open a new one, no need to ask.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 20 Apr 2015 22:57

Details of agreements signed during Xi's visit to Pakistan
Irfan Haider — Updated about 4 hours ago

ISLAMABAD: Fifty one Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between Pakistan and China during President Xi's watershed visit to Islamabad to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Details of MoUs

Joint Statement between the People’s Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on establishing the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.

Minutes of the 4th JCC of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Exchange of Notes of feasibility study of the Demonstration Project of the DTMB between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Exchange of notes on provision of Anti-Narcotics Equipment between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Exchange of notes on provision of Law Enforcement Equipment between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Exchange of Notes on Feasibility Study of Gwadar Hospital between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

MOU on provision of Chinese Governmental concessional Loan for second phase up-gradation of Karakorum Highway (Havelian to Thakot) between Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

MOU on provision of Chinese Governmental concessional Loan for Karachi-Lahore Motorway (Multan to Sukkur) between Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

MOU on provision of Chinese Governmental concessional Loan for Gwadar port East Bay Expressway Project between Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

MOU on provision of Chinese Governmental concessional Loan for Gwadar International Airport between Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Protocol on Banking Services to Agreement on Trade in Services between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Government of the People’s Republic of China.

MOU on provision of Material for Tackling Climate Change between National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China and Ministry of Finance (EAD) of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Framework Agreement on Cooperation on Major Communications Infrastructure Project between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

MOU on Cooperation between NDRC of the People’s Republic of China and ministry of Planning Development and Reform of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

MOU on Pro Bono Projects in the Port of Gwadar Region between Ministry for Planning, Development and Reform of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

MOU on establishment of China-Pakistan Joint Cotton Bio-Tech Laboratory between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Framework Agreement between the National Railway Administration, Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Railways, Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Joint Feasibility Study for up-gradation of ML1 and Establishment of Havelain Dry port of Pakistan Railways.

Protocol on the Establishment of China-Pakistan Joint Marine Research Center between State Oceanic Administration of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

MOU on cooperation between the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Films and Television of China and Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage of Pakistan.

Triple Party Agreement between China Central Television and PTV and Pakistan Television Foundation on the re-broadcasting of CCTV-NEWS/CCTV -9 Documentary in Pakistan.

Protocol on establishment of Sister Cities Relationship between Chengdu city Sichuan Province of PRC and Lahore City.

Protocol on establishment of Sister Cities Relationshipbetween Zhuhai City, Guangdong province of the People’s Republic of China and Gwadar city, Balochistan of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Protocol on establishment of Sister Cities Relationship between Karamay City, XianjianUgur, autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China and Gwadar city, Balochistan of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Framework Agreement between NEA and MoPNRon Gwadar-Nawabshah LNG Terminal and Pipeline Project.

Commercial Contract on Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project.

Agreement on financing for Lahore Orange line Metro Train project.

MOU on financing for KKH up-gradation Phase-2 (Havelian to Takot), KLM, Gwadar East Bay Expressway, Gwadar International Airport Projects.

Financing Agreement relating to the 870 MW Hydro-Electric Suki Kinari Hydropower Project between EXIM Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited and SK Hydro (Private) Limited.

Financing Cooperation Agreement between the EXIM Bank of China and Port Qasim Electric Power Company (Private) Limited (on Port Qasim 2x660MW Coal-fired Power Plant).

Framework Facility Agreement for 720MW Karot Hydropower Project between China Development Bank Corporation, EXIM Bank of China and Karot Power Company (Private) Limited.

Term Sheet of the facility for Zonergy 9x100 MW solar project in Punjab between China Development Bank Corporation, EXIM Bank of China and Zonergy Company limited.

Drawdown Agreement on Jhimpir wind Power project between UEP Wind power (Private) Limited as Borrower and China Development Bank Corporation as lender.

Terms and Conditions in favor of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company for Thar Block II 3.8Mt/a mining Project, Sindh province, Pakistan Arranged by China Development Bank Corporation.

Terms and Conditions in favor of Engro Powergen Thar (Private) Limited, Sindh province, Pakistan for Thar Block II 2x330MW Coal Fired Power Project Arranged by China Development Bank Corporation.

Framework Agreement of Financing Cooperation in Implementing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor between China Development Corporation and HBL.

MOU with respect to Cooperation between WAPDA and CTG.

MOU among PPIB, CTG, and Silk Road Fund on Development of Private Hydro Power Projects.

Facility operating Agreement for Dawood Wind Power project between ICBC and PCC of China and HDPPL.

Framework Agreement for Promoting Chinese Investments and industrial Parks Developments in Pakistan between ICBC and HBL on financial services corporation.

The financing term sheet agreement for Thar Block –I between ICBC, SSRL.

Energy Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement between Punjab Province of Pakistan and China Huaneng Group.

Framework Agreement on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Energy Project Cooperation between Ministry of Water & Power and China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (SINOSURE).

Cooperation Agreement between Sino-Sindh Resources (Pvt.) Ltd and Shanghai Electric Group for Thar Coalfield Block I Coal-Power integrated Project in Pakistan.

Cooperation Agreement for Matiyari-Lahore and Matyari (Port Qasim)-Faisalabad Transmission and Transformation Project between National Transmission Distribution Company (NTDC) and National Grid of China.

IA on Port Qasim Coal fired Power Plant between Power China and GoP.

Facility Agreement for the Sahiwal Coal-fired Power Plant Project between industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Huaneng Shandong Electricity limited and Shandong Ruyi Group.

Cooperation Agreement on Hubco Coal-fired Power Plant Project between CPIH and Hubco Power Company.

Facilitation Agreement on Salt Range Coal-fired Power Project between CMEC and Punjab Government.

MOU between NUML Pakistan and Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi China for Cooperation on Higher Education.

Agreement on collaboration on establishment of NUML International Center of education (NICE) between NUML Pakistan and Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi, China.

The following projects were inaugurated in an unveiling ceremony.
Unveiling of plaques

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Lahore Branch.

Energization of 100 MW solar power plants at Quad-i-Azam solar park, Bahawalpur.

FM 98 Dosti Channel studio PBC-CRI, Islamabad.

Demonstration project of DTMB Broadcasting in Pakistan.

China Cultural center Pakistan.

China-Pakistan Joint Research Center for small hydropower, Islamabad.

China-pakistan cross-border optical fiber cable system project.

Metro rail transit system on the Orange Line in Lahore.

Inauguration of the following power projects was jointly done by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Xi Jinping via video link at Prime Minister Office.
Ground breaking of power projects

Karot 720 MW Hydropower project.

Dawood 50 MW Wind-power project.

Sachal 50 MW Wind-power project.

Zonergy 900 MW solar project.

Jhimpir 100 MW Wind-power project.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 20 Apr 2015 23:00

Joint Pakistan-China think tank launched

According to a press statement issued by the Islamabad office of Pakistan China Institute, the newly-formed think tank “Research and Development International (RANDI)”, will have two co-chairpersons; Madame Zhao Baige, former minister and currently member of parliament and vice chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, and Senator Mushahid Hussain.

Till I saw this news I coudn't understand why #RANDI is trending and why Rana Ayyub is fuming.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 21 Apr 2015 17:45

China set for first state-owned firm Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co Ltd's default on bond - Reuters, Economic Times

China looks set to see its first default by a state-owned firm after Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co Ltd said it had not raised enough funds to make a bond interest payment due on Tuesday.

"The probability of making the payment has become highly uncertain," a notice posted by the company on the website of China's bond clearinghouse stated earlier on Tuesday

A default by the power company will also make it the third listed Chinese firm to publicly default on an interest payment to bond investors on an onshore issue, adding to evidence that Beijing is slowly withdrawing its sovereign guarantee of low-quality bonds, even if the state is part owner.

"If Tianwei ultimately ends up defaulting, there's hope it might destroy the ironclad guarantee reputation of central government-owned issuers," wrote analysts at China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co in a research note.

But they added that the low grade of Tianwei and the other defaulters limits the market impact of any defaults

The news comes shortly after a full default on both principal and interest by Cloud Live Technologies earlier this month, and a more recent offshore default by Kaisa Group , the first Chinese developer to default on dollar bonds. Investors are now eyeing developer Glorious Property Holdings, whose bond payment comes due on Saturday.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 23 Apr 2015 07:12

Born Red: How Xi Jinping, an unremarkable provincial administrator, became China’s most authoritarian leader since Mao.

Ms. Nirupama Rao says that this is must read.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 23 Apr 2015 21:47

it really is. wealth of info.

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 26 Apr 2015 12:51

Philippines Urges ASEAN to Stop China in South China Sea

The Philippines on Sunday urged the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take immediate steps to halt land reclamation by China in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, warning that failure to do so will see Beijing take "de facto control" of the area.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers that if China's construction of artificial islands on reefs claimed by other countries is allowed to be completed, then Beijing will impose its claim over more than 85 percent of the sea.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wir ... a-30590987

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 01 May 2015 23:15

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... m=referral
Beijing pulls up PLA over India's swift rescue operations

n a rare comparison of India's military with the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the world's largest, Chinese defence spokesman Geng Yansheng was on Thursday confronted with the question at a briefing as to why the military did not use planes to airlift stranded Chinese when India had done so to ferry its nationals. There is considerable annoyance in China over the slow process of airlifting of Chinese tourists as well as workers employed in various Beijing-funded projects in Nepal as the task was given to a number of civilian airlines. There were also reports of some airline companies demanding heavy fares, but they were subsequently denied. Besides airlifting thousands of its citizens, the Indian Air Force also transported about 170 foreign nationals from 15 countries to India. Several others were also transported through special buses from across the border to Bihar.Defending the move to use civilian aircraft, Geng said "Whether to use military aircraft to transport people from a disaster area — this is to be decided by various factors."

Pulikeshi · Post by **Pulikeshi** » 03 May 2015 03:28

General Zhu has these predictions - very though provoking and gives an insight into Chinese thinking:
22 mins or so...

Unification of Korean Peninsula
Normalization of Japan
Nuclearization of Japan
Withdrawl of US forces from Asia
Syncing of HK & Taiwan

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 May 2015 09:39

India relaxes border trade norms with China - PTI, Business Line

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China, India today relaxed the border trade by raising the transaction value of consignments between the two countries.

“For border trade between India and China, the CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) value per consignment is being increased from Rs. 1,00,000 to Rs. 2,00,000 in case of Nathula, while for Gunji and Namgaya Shipkila, the existing CIF value limit of Rs. 25,000 is being enhanced to Rs. 1,00,000,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.

Traders at the border areas primarily import carpets, readymade garments, blankets, shoes, jackets and quilts and export mostly vegetable oil, rice, processed food, canned food, textiles and copper items.

Modi is scheduled to undertake a three-nation tour of China, Mongolia and South Korea this month.

pratik · Post by **pratik** » 06 May 2015 06:16

Intesting Analysis on China Growth story.

http://www.afrsmartinvestor.com.au/p/ma ... kaNeBvoFNO

This article clearly articulates how states and corporate world manipulate the numbers and world keep believing in it.

One can only hide the truth temporarily but eventually it will come out for sure.

wig · Post by **wig** » 06 May 2015 18:03

China is forcing Muslim shop owners to sell alcohol and cigarettes to 'weaken' Islam

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 28410.html
excerpts

Chinese authorities have ordered Muslim shopkeepers and restaurant owners in a village in its troubled Xinjiang region to sell alcohol and cigarettes, and promote them in “eye-catching displays,” in an attempt to undermine Islam’s hold on local residents, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported. Establishments that failed to comply were threatened with closure and their owners with prosecution.

Facing widespread discontent over its repressive rule in the mainly Muslim province of Xinjiang, and mounting violence in the past two years, China has launched a series of “strike hard” campaigns to weaken the hold of Islam in the western region. Government employees and children have been barred from attending mosques or observing the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. In many places, women have been barred from wearing face-covering veils, and men discouraged from growing long beards.

In the village of Aktash in southern Xinjiang, Communist Party official Adil Sulayman, told RFA that many local shopkeepers had stopped selling alcohol and cigarettes from 2012 “because they fear public scorn,” while many locals had decided to abstain from drinking and smoking.

The Koran calls the use of “intoxicants” sinful, while some Muslim religious leaders have also forbidden smoking.

Sulayman said authorities in Xinjiang viewed ethnic Uighurs who did not smoke as adhering to “a form of religious extremism.” They issued the order to counter growing religious sentiment that was “affecting stability,” he said.