Neutering & Defanging Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Singha
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by Singha »

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/maga ... v=top-news

read the comments too, nice article about large chinese ops in namibia
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by SSridhar »

Chinese newspaper's caustic response to an ET article on how Beijing is trapping Asia in debt - Economic Times
Chinese state-owned newspaper Global Times has responded caustically to an article—' China may put South Asia on road to debt trap '—published in The Economic Times.

The article had highlighted that China’s grandiose global connectivity initiative—One Belt One Road (OBOR) or Belt & Road Initiative (linking China with Europe via SE Asia & C Asia through land & sea links)—which is set to receive a formal endorsement at the May 14-15 international meet has the potential of adverse economic implications for countries in South Asia.

The article cited the case of Sri Lanka which has run into a huge debt trap by welcoming Chinese-funded projects. The article argued that the debts are turning into equity and finally ownership for Chinese firms which would not only adversely impact Sri Lankan and Pakistani economies but also create security implications for India due to China’s constant presence in the periphery.

"While India has always come across as being skeptical about China, an article in India's Economic Times on Tuesday went to the extreme of smearing China as a snake in the grass that "may put South Asia on the road to a debt trap"," says the Global Times article.

The article in The Economic Times argued that Colombo was running up huge financial losses owing to high interest rates charged by Chinese lenders for the mega infrastructure projects which will now be part of OBOR. It said the huge sum of over $50 billion for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor could spell doom for an already faltering Pakistani economy.

"For the Hambantota port project, Sri Lanka borrowed $301 million from China with an interest rate of 6.3%, while the interest rates on soft loans from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are only 0.25–3%. Interest rates of India’s Line of Credit to the neighbouring countries are as low as 1%, or even less, in some cases," says the article in The Economic Times.


While the Global Times article has nothing to say on the huge interest rates China charges from smaller countries, it cites growth numbers for those countries: "Figures speak louder than words. GDP growth in countries and regions along the Belt and Road route stood at an average of 4.6 percent last year, fueled by new infrastructure projects, according to statistics from PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this year."

The article claims the increasing Chinese footprint in Asia is for economic development while taking a sly dig at India's security concerns: "All of this essentially points to India's tight nerves about its giant neighbor. In fairness, it makes sense for India to stay awake and alert - according to the ancient Chinese proverb, "life springs from sorrow and calamity, and death comes from ease and pleasure."
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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X-posting from CPEC Thread.

China's OBOR initiative may create political and economic instability in Southeast Asia; India wary - Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, Economic Times
India is closely watching China's growing influence over Southeast Asian countries. Although India has undertaken infrastructure and capacity building projects in these countries over the past three years, under the Narendra Modi government's Act East Policy, experts warn that massive Chinese investments under its 'One Belt, One Road' initiative may create political and economic instability in the region, impacting India.

Chinese investments are aimed at not only regional connectivity but also ideological hegemony, with countries such as Cambodia and Laos increasingly getting drawn into its sphere of influence, said one of the experts, who did not wish to be identified.

Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Myanmar are planning to attend a meeting on OBOR being convened by China on May 14-15. Certain reports suggest that Vietnam's top leader may, however, skip the meet given the lukewarm political relations between the two countries.

China is constructing the North-South Transport Link from Southern China to the Southeast Asian countries. According to the Asian Development Bank, Southeast Asian countries need huge investments in energy supply, transportation, telecommunication, water capacity and sanitation to keep pace with their economic growth and growing populations.

With infrastructure development, especially railway networks, requiring big-ticket investments, China's economic prowess makes its political ambitions achievable, experts from India and Southeast Asia said. However, increased economic relations have not yet translated into a deeper security cooperation between China and many Southeast Asian countries.

According to many Chinese commentators, these countries will take money but not sign up to the political, cultural and security requirements of China's vision of a "community of shared destiny". Singapore, Vietnam and Myanmar are a few such examples.

Singapore emphasises on a rules-based global order amid China's claims in South China Sea region. Tensions are high between Myanmar and China over Chinese funded dam and port projects in the country. Vietnam has had lukewarm political ties with China for decades and China's aggressive moves in South China Sea have sharpened the divide.

Indonesia and Malaysia are increasingly getting uncomfortable over this as well, notwithstanding the fact that China is undertaking several infrastructure related projects in both these countries.


Experts warn that Cambodia may be heading for a Sri Lanka type debt crisis situation. Cambodia, one of China's closest international partners and diplomatic allies, is truly under China's economic and political influence.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen recently described China as Cambodia's "most trustworthy friend". Similarly, Chinese President Xi Jinping described Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni Cambodia "like a brother" when he visited Beijing in June 2016. China is now Cambodia's largest military supplier and provider of development aid and foreign investment, having given nearly $3 billion in loans and grants to the country since 1992.

A 2016 International Monetary Fund report showed that Cambodia's external multilateral public debt is now at $1.6 billion, while its bilateral public debt with China is $3.9 billion. While Cambodia and Sri Lanka are different in terms of their geographic location, demography and nature of strategic relations with China, there are some crucial lessons that Cambodia and other small countries in the region can learn to avoid ending up in Sri Lanka's position.

Cambodia needs to diversify its borrowing sources and consider taking loans from multilateral bodies and countries such as India and Japan, experts said. Cambodia will also need to diversify its foreign policy to include other countries and regional initiatives such as ASEAN and Mekong Ganga Cooperation, experts said.

China's influence in Cambodia is growing in tandem with increasing loans. This is evident in Cambodia's decision to ban the Taiwanese flag from being raised in Cambodia. This could be true for other countries in India's periphery as well including Maldives.

Maldives has leased an island close to Male airport for 50 years at the cost of $4 billion to a Chinese company
, a development that could have adverse strategic implications for India. China has been eyeing opportunities to help build infrastructure in Maldives to expand its footprint in the Indian Ocean Region as part of the One Belt, One Road project.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Kashmir is an India-Pakistan issue, won't meddle in it: China - IANS
China on Thursday said it won't meddle in the Kashmir row between India and Pakistan+ , calling it a bilateral dispute, days after a commentary in a daily indicated that Beijing is ready to resolve the issue because of its "vested interest".

The foreign ministry told IANS that Beijing will not change its position on Jammu and Kashmir because of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor+ (CPEC), which cuts through the disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

"China's position on the issue of Kashmir is clear and consistent. It is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan and shall be properly addressed by India and Pakistan through consultation and negotiation," the ministry said in an email statement.


India has been opposed to third party mediation+ in the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, the northern third of which is held by Pakistan and the southern two thirds by India.

"Building of the CPEC does not affect China's position on this issue. We sincerely hope that India and Pakistan will properly handle differences by increasing communication and dialogue, and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," the ministry said.

"China is willing to make constructive efforts for the improvement of India-Pakistan relations."


On Tuesday, a commentary in the Global Times daily said China was ready to resolve the Kashmir dispute between because it wanted to protect the multi-billion dollar CPEC.

"Given the massive investment that China has made in countries along the One Belt One Road+ , China now has a vested interest in helping resolve regional conflicts including the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan," said the commentary.

"China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, but that doesn't mean Beijing can turn a deaf ear to the demands of Chinese enterprises in protecting their overseas investments," it said.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by SSridhar »

China issues threats and concilliatory statements through different sources to mask its real intentions.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by Gagan »

China has a big time inferiority complex with the US, and wants to grow further economically at any cost.
China is fearful of India, and knows that India was a bigger economy historically since the beginning of human history. It has a fear and competitiveness against india, for which it uses Pakistan as a tool to do the dirty work.

Everything else is Chai Biskoot for them - they are only interested in the prospect of making more money, and appearing honorable too (Chinese government and honorable :rotfl:)
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Dalai Lama not the reason for FM's decision not to attend RIC meet in India: China - PTI
China today dismissed reports that its foreign minister put off his visit to New Delhi last month to attend a RIC meeting to protest India's decision to allow the Dalai Lama to travel to Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part of Southern Tibet.

The meeting of foreign ministers of Russia India and China (RIC) to be held in New Delhi in April was put off as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi declined to attend it.

"About the meeting that was to be held last month, as far as I know the reason is not China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here [Beijing] when asked about Beijing's reported refusal to the attend the trilateral meeting.


He said China pays attention to the trilateral cooperation mechanism under which the three foreign ministers meet annually to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues.

"We have actively participated in the meeting of foreign ministers and also other activities under the framework," Geng said.

"According to my information, the three countries are now talking about the schedule of the next foreign ministers meeting. They are maintaining communication and consultation," he said.

Chinese officials said Wang could not confirm his participation in the meeting due to scheduling problems. {So, that was a Chinese problem in the end, right?}

China last month lodged a diplomatic protest with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which it claims as part of Southern Tibet. The Chinese official media carried a torrent of articles criticising India for permitting the Tibetan spiritual leader to the area. China has also released "standardised" Chinese names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh to butters its claims.

Geng today said China objects to foreign leaders meeting with the Dalai Lama when asked about reports that Beijing has asked US President Donald Trump to not meet the Tibetan spiritual leader like his predecessors.

The Dalai Lama's meetings with Trump's predecessor Barack Obama and former US presidents have drawn protests from China.

Asked whether China has made the specific request to Trump, Geng said that Beijing is firmly opposed to any foreign leaders meeting the Dalai Lama.

"The 14th Dalai Lama is not a simple religious figure, but has long engaged in anti-China separatist activities. He is a political exile.We firmly oppose any foreign countries allow him to visit them or any foreign official having any official exchange with him," he said.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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China's presence creating anxiety in Indian Ocean Region: US - Indrani Bagchi, ToI
Terming the Indian Ocean as a "sea of stability", the US on Friday publicly questioned the intent of China's OBOR (One Belt One Road) initiative in the maritime domain.

Admiral Scott Swift, US Pacific Fleet commander, who met civilian and military leadership of India, said Chinese ships were doing an OBOR tour - "right now there are more questions than answers. China has increased its presence in the Indian Ocean." He said his discussions with Indian officials covered what India and US could do to provide stability in the region. Chinese actions, he said, were adding to a sense of "anxiety" in the region. Uncertainty over the consequences and a lack of clarity about the goals of China's OBOR programme is being raised "in every country I visit," he said.


Although the chief of US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris had, earlier this year, spoken about a future of joint patrols and joint tracking of Chinese submarines if India signed on to the remaining foundational agreements, these ambitions now appear to be less publicly articulated. Swift instead spoke about "pass-ex" and the upcoming Malabar exercises.

Scheduled for July in Bay of Bengal, Malabar has attracted extra attention this year because of Australia's public request to join. But Swift said this would only happen "step by step" a clear indication that neither the US nor India wants to raise Chinese hackles further by turning the Japan-India-US trilateral exercise into the "quad". Swift clarified that P8s and ASW (anti-submarine warfare) would be part of the exercise this year, an acknowledgment of China's submarine capabilities. He admitted China's naval capacities were rising quickly.

But compared to the "instability" in the South and East China Sea he said Indian Ocean's stability stemmed from the fact that as the larger power, India abided by the UNCLOS ruling to settle the maritime boundary with Bangladesh, despite losing some territory, thereby adding to regional stability. That is missing in the South China Sea.

While India and the US have a working group on carrier technology and building, Swift indicated the progress was slow. He said there was an issue with "capacities" linking the shortage of interlocutors on the decommissioning of their own carrier, the USS Enterprise.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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China to further tighten its internet controls
China will further tighten its internet regulations with a pledge on Sunday to strengthen controls over search engines and online news portals, the latest step in President Xi Jinping's push to maintain strict Communist Party control over content.
The plan comes on top of existing tight internet controls, which includes the blocking of popular foreign websites such as Google and Facebook.
Speaking more broadly about the country's cultural sector, the plan calls for efforts to reinforce and improve "positive propaganda"."Strengthen and improve supervision over public opinion," it added.The plan also calls for more effort to be put into promoting China's point of view and cultural soft power globally, though without giving details.
Pakistan is going to piggy bank on the Chinese Internet and Satellite System, ( per Paki media reports ) once the high speed internet cables from the north to the south are complete under the so-called CPEC . So , internet and social media control, which is currently giving a headache to the Paki authorities, will be tamed - the Chinese way :mrgreen:
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Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by Peregrine »

X Posted on the STFUP Thread

Here's how India can make light of any threat posed by hostile neighbours like China and Pakistan

In the uncertain world we live in, the 24-by-7 media tends to highlight the threats posed by India's unfriendly neighbours ganging up at a time when our strategic allies are preoccupied with their own problems. Beyond a point, no nation can control what other countries are doing or planning. The solution to these problems lies within. A country with a resilient economy, a strong level of defence-preparedness and a sound polity with a robust thrust on civil liberties would inevitably be taken more seriously by the outside world.

There are challenges for a country like India which is the world's most populous democracy. In a democratic process, it has, for instance, taken much longer to introduce even the most needed economic reforms like a nation-wide GST (Goods and Services Tax). The process can also be complicated if there are elections at different times and in different parts of the country throughout the five-year tenure of a national government. For instance, this year's Budget speech was delivered after assembly elections were notified in India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh. Hence, care had to be taken to ensure that there were no references in the Budget speech to UP.

The obvious solution would be to move to a system where elections are held simultaneously for Parliament and the state assemblies but that would require consensus among all political parties. Prime Minister Modi has gone on record that simultaneous elections would facilitate good governance. At present, assembly elections are being held almost throughout the entire five-year cycle of the national government. A sustained process of timely reforms would go a long way in consolidating India's position as the fastest-growing economy in the world.

In terms of defence-preparedness, India does not at present have a full-time minister in charge of this vital portfolio. May 26 will be the third anniversary of the day the NDA government assumed office. Manohar Parrikar was sworn-in as defence minister on November 9, 2014, and continued to hold that portfolio until March 13, 2017, when he resigned and returned to Goa as chief minister. The Union finance minister Mr Arun Jaitley was asked to look after defence from May 26, 2014 to November 9, 2014, a period of five months and 14 days. Once Parrikar returned to Goa, Mr Jaitley has again been asked to look after defence. If he continues to look after defence until May 26, 2017, for the second time (two months and 13 days since Parrikar returned to Goa), it will, in effect, mean that India has had/is having a part-time defence minister for almost eight of the 36 months since the NDA assumed office on May 26, 2014. In percentile terms, that would mean that India has had a part-time defence minister for 22% of the NDA government's tenure between May 26, 2014, and the third anniversary on May 26.

The question is not one of Mr Jaitley's competence to handle two very sensitive portfolios. The longer defence is being looked after on a part-time basis, the more questions will be asked whether there is an acute paucity of ministerial talent in the BJP-led NDA. In other democratic countries like the USA, defence is taken very seriously and President Obama made it abundantly clear that he did not see this from a partisan perspective when he asked his predecessor's choice of Defense Secretary Robert Gates to continue. And Obama hailed from the Democratic Party unlike his predecessor George W Bush who was a Republican and chose the former CIA director (and member of the Iraq Study Group Robert Gates) as his defense secretary. Likewise, President Trump has appointed the retired general James Mattis to be the Defense Secretary. General Mattis was earlier in charge of both the Joint Forces Command and the Central Command and oversaw the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mattis is the second general officer to serve as the US Secretary of Defense after George C Marshall. In a profile published in the recent May 1/May 8 issue of Time magazine, Robert Gates rates Mattis on par with General Marshall in terms of strategic vision, appreciation of America's national interests, integrity, and commitment to protecting the USA and caring for the men and women in uniform.

In India, there are any number of retired generals, admirals and air marshals with the expertise to be appointed as the country's Minister for Defence. The Congress legacy of always having a civilian as Defence Minister has excluded all those with the required expertise from holding the portfolio of Defence Minister. In the 70 years since Independence, it has been proved beyond all doubt that India is not Pakistan where the military keeps overthrowing the elected governments.

In his policy announcements, Prime Minister Modi has demonstrated time and again that he can think out of the box and disregard convention when it is in the national interest. The need for expertise at the top of the defence ministry can be realized when we see the speed at which China is launching its indigenous range of aircraft-carriers to patrol not just the Pacific but the Indian Ocean as compared with India whose home-grown INS Vikrant is, according to media reports, expected to be fully combat-ready only by 2023. India has also lagged behind in the development of its submarine fleet and anti-submarine armaments. Even the two newest submarines are, according to media reports, cruising the seas without torpedoes!

Finally, a robust thrust on civil liberties in India would mean immediate action being taken against all those who threaten peace and harmony. For instance, while cow-slaughter is banned under the Constitution, Prime Minister Modi had, in August 2016, unequivocally condemned self-styled gau-rakshaks for taking the law into their own hands and brutally assaulting Dalits and others. There have been recent instances where even those transporting cattle on the highways have been brutally assaulted and sometimes killed. A firm response by the police to any future recurrence of vigilante action would go a long way in promoting peace and harmony which is the bedrock of every civilized society.

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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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India 'overly interpreting' Beijing's military buildup: Global Times - PTI

A spate of articles everyday about India in Chinese newspapers, sometimes pleading, sometimes threatening and at other times patronisingly advising; China is indeed caught in a cleft.
India must not "exaggerate" concerns on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or "overly interpret" Beijing's military development, a state-run Chinese daily said today, days after the Indian Army chief suggested New Delhi carry out counter-encirclement of its "future adversaries".
The article in Global Times, a ruling Communist Party publication, said India worries that China was intentionally meddling in India-Pakistan disputes, "utilising the CPEC (which runs through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) to grant legitimacy to Islamabad's control over the disputed region."

"India is viewing Beijing and Islamabad as potential threats and is suspicious of Beijing's One Belt and One Road+ initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor+ (CPEC)," it said, adding that "India is exaggerating the situation".

"Beijing respects New Delhi's sovereignty concerns, and is willing to mediate in India-Pakistan disputes, on the condition that it accords to the wishes of both India and Pakistan," it said. {Now, this is more nuanced articulation of Chinese mediation. It goes one step ahead laying down a condition. It wants to use the CPEC as a fait accompli for it to have the right to mediate}


The remarks in the Chinese daily came after Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat last week said India must have close ties with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan considering the security matrix.

He said such a strategy will create a two-pronged dilemma for Pakistan, and also help tackle issues with the other difficult neighbour China, suggesting New Delhi should "carry out counter-encirclement for our future adversaries."

Referring to his remarks, the article said China advocates peaceful development and it "has and will never seek hegemony in the region." {Oh, yeah?}

China's defence budget will rise by about seven per cent this year, the lowest since 2010 and Beijing's military development is "part of its national construction, and New Delhi should not overly interpret it," it said.

The Indian media suggests that China's military expenditure for 2017, about 1.3 per cent of the GDP, is three times higher than that of India. "Frankly speaking, even if New Delhi's military spending is boosted to the same level, India still lags behind its northern neighbour in its military capability. For instance, India's development of aircraft carrier is very slow despite its early start," it said.

China has one refurbished aircraft carrier and recently launched a homemade carrier, which was expected to take a few years to operationalise. A third carrier is reportedly under construction.

The official media again urged India to join the ambition Chinese project to link China with Eurasia through the Belt and Road (B&R) initiative amid concern here about New Delhi's apparent silence over participation in this week's B&R summit.

The article said "instead of being overly concerned about China's rise, New Delhi should consider taking an early role in B&R initiative. China's infrastructural initiative will not only bring economic benefits, but also fulfil India's ambition to be an influential economic power in the region."
It urged India to abandon its "suspicions" and adopt a pragmatic attitude towards China's and Pakistan's development.


The B&R initiative includes a maze of road, rail and port projects in a number of countries to connect mainland China to markets in Asia and Europe.

While the CPEC is highlighted as the "flagship project" of the initiative, it also includes the Bangladesh-China- India-Myanmar (BCIM), New Eurasian Land Bridge, China- Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

At least 28 heads of state and government, including the prime ministers of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have confirmed their participation in the summit Beijing is projecting as a global acceptance of the initiative.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by arun »

Our former Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, wisely counsels that we should not attend BARF :lol: aka the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

Kanwal Sibal says that “BARF is an occasion for us {India} to puncture its {P.R.China} self-image as the next indispensable country by not accepting a form of kowtow by attending”.

The concluding excerpt of the article follows:
India is the second biggest country in Asia, in most ways China’s actual or potential peer. We have already developed strategic capabilities to deter China. The economic gap between India and China will close in the years ahead. India will not be isolated if it does not attend BARF, as the Chinese claim. The prize of the Indian market is much more important for China than that of the smaller countries straddling the BRI. We can deal with China bilaterally on the economic front without having to join it in promoting its leadership ambitions in Asia at our expense.

Given China’s provocations on several strategic fronts, BARF is an occasion for us to puncture its self-image as the next indispensable country by not accepting a form of kowtow by attending.
Daily Mail via Daily O:

India should not attend China's Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Ports Authority concerned over Hambantota - Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu
It is not just New Delhi or Washington that is worried about Colombo’s proposed deal to sell a deep-sea port in Hambantota to a Chinese company. Sri Lanka’s ports authority has “fundamental concerns” over the proposed deal, its Chairman Dammika Ranatunga said.

While the Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) appreciates the importance of foreign investment, it would only “go by the book”, Mr. Ranatunga told The Hindu . “We took a careful look at the [draft] agreement — it violated the SLPA Act, and the terms were not conducive to us,” he said, adding that even after 10 revised drafts of the agreement, factoring in some of SLPA’s observations, many concerns remained.

Contentious clauses

Last week, the SLPA raised the matter again with a ministerial committee overseeing the agreement, flagging key clauses that reportedly ignored the Authority’s observations. The chairman’s remarks come ahead of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s scheduled visit to Beijing.

Mr. Wickremesinghe is keen on signing the agreement and the latest version of the concession may come up for discussion at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, political sources told The Hindu .

“Just because someone puts a billion dollars in front of you it doesn’t mean you give everything away,” said Mr. Ranatunga, brother of Ports Minister and former cricket Arjuna Ranatunga. Critics have in the past questioned his qualification to be appointed chairman.

After signing a framework agreement with the Sri Lankan government in December 2016, the state-run China Merchants Port Holdings was expected to pay $1.12 billion for a 99-year lease, on an 80% stake in the Hambantota port. The port, built with Chinese loans in 2010, was part of Beijing’s plans to create a Silk Route across Asia. Finalised and completed when ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in power, the port was termed a “white elephant” by his successor government that came to power in 2015.

Government politicians negotiated a new deal and pitched it to the public as one aiming to reduce the burden of the $8 billion-debt Sri Lanka owes China.

However, observing that the proposed deal gave sweeping powers to the Chinese company to handle operations near the port, Mr. Ranatunga asked: “What does that mean? Can that be a military base,” pointing to Chinese investment in African countries that had sparked “similar concerns”.

Colombo and Beijing also agreed to develop a 15,000-acre industrial zone near the port, and Beijing is now willing to sign the port deal, only if land for the industrial zone is made available. However, locals have been resisting the project.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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China urges U.S. to isolate Dalai Lama - Atul Aneja, The Hindu
China on Wednesday urged the United States to isolate the Dalai Lama following a meeting in Dharamsala between a congressional delegation and the Tibetan spirtual leader.

“We urge the relevant Congressmen of the U.S. to properly deal with the Tibetan related issues and stop all kinds of contacts with the Dalai Lama and take immediate measures to remove the negative impact,”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

On Tuesday, the delegation led by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi visited the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in India.

The meeting took place amid signs that warming ties between Washington and Beijing, following a meeting last month between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, could cool Washington’s enthusiasm to engage with the Dalai Lama.

In a strongly worded statement, Mr.Geng said that the meeting in Dharamsala “has sent a very wrong signal to the outside world about supporting Tibetan independence and violated the U.S. government’s commitment to not support Tibet’s independence. We are firmly opposed to that and has lodged solemn representation with the American side.”

Mr. Geng stressed that the 14th Dalai Lama is a political exile. “who has long been engaged in anti-China separatist activities in foreign countries under the pretext of religion.” He described the Dalai Lama as the head of the “Tibetan independence group”.

Earlier, a Reuters report quoted Lobsang Sangay, head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, as saying that a visit of the Dalai Lama to the U.S. was being planned but Washington would not be part of the itinerary.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by Prem »

PM Modi to leave for Sri Lanka tomorrow on 2-day visit

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/art ... aign=cppst
Modi is visiting the country primarily to attend the biggest Buddhist festival 'Vesak Day' as its chief guest, but his schedule includes a visit to Kandy and interaction with a group of Tamil people in the upcountry region, seen as an effort to reach out to the community. In the upcountry region, Modi will dedicate a hospital built with financial assistance of Rs 150 crore by India. It will be his second visit to Sri Lanka since becoming the prime minister. ndia has been pressing Sri Lanka for devolution of power to the Tamils as part of the reconciliation process. Briefing reporters on Modi's visit, Joint Secretary (Indian Ocean Region) in the External Affairs Ministry, Sanjay Panda said no structured talks have been scheduled, but Modi will be interacting with the Sri Lankan leaders
( PRC will not be allowed to own Buddhism or it's leadership. Sri Lanka should invite HH Dalai lama also or let PM Modi take him along on same flight)
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by malushahi »

Nancy Pelosi
@NancyPelosi
To some in China, an autonomous, authentic Tibet is inconceivable. To our bipartisan delegation, it is inevitable. @DalaiLama
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Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by Peregrine »

X Posted on Chinese Watch Thread

'Beijing must take India's growth seriously', says China's state media

NEW DELHI: China's state-controlled press, which usually disparages India's growth story, today published an article saying Beijing can't afford to get too complacent, especially if "India copies China", because the South Asian nation will then "gain the attention of world capital".

Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party's newspaper on international affairs, went so far as to say "there are growing signs that India is succeeding in attracting more and more investment" and that is something China should "take seriously". Another factor in India's favour is its demographic. "As China's demographic dividend diminishes, India, with half of its population below the age of 25, is poised to take advantage," it said. And it singled out the solar energy sector in India as pretty much without competition "in supporting investors."

Today's article is based largely on a report by a private Beijing think tank called 'Anbound'; Global Times has bolstered that report with an Ernst & Young analysis. Much of the article is based on Anbound answering this question: "If India decided to copy China, what impact would it have and what should China do? "

China should be worried, very worried, Global Times wrote, citing Anbound's answer.

"If India intentionally creates a competitive situation in front of global investors, it will pose a challenge for China. Because generally speaking, India does have the conditions to copy China's economic growth model thanks to its vast size and market, low labor costs and large population, which are all similar to China's conditions. In fact, based on the EY (Ernst & Young) report, global investors are currently undecided," Global Times wrote.

Still, the newspaper said India is "succeeding" in getting investors' attention at least, and here it cited the country's solar energy sector.

"Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi hopes to boost the usage of clean energy over fossil fuels by building massive solar parks and is targeting $100 billion in investment in solar energy in the next five years, with the backing of loans from the World Bank. No other country could compete with India in supporting investors in the solar economy," Global Times wrote.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Sri Lanka refuses permission for Chinese submarine to dock at Colombo port: Sources - Reuters
Sri Lanka has rejected China's request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month, two senior government officials said on Thursday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in the island nation.

Sri Lanka last allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in the capital of Colombo in October 2014, a move that triggered fierce opposition from India, which worries about growing Chinese activity in a country it has long viewed as part of its area of influence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday for a two-day official visit+ .

A senior Sri Lankan government official said China's request to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month had been rejected. He said Sri Lanka was "unlikely" to agree to China's request to dock the submarine at any time, given India's concerns. The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The second official, at the defence ministry, also said China's request to dock this month had been rejected but that a decision on a further docking had been postponed.

"It might happen later," the second official said, adding that China had requested approval to use the port around May 16 "sometime back".

A source close to the Chinese embassy in Colombo confirmed that China had requested permission for the submarine visit but was still awaiting a response.
Sri Lanka is no pushover in diplomacy, especially when it comes to dealing with us. They are just postponing the docking. Having fallen into the pocket of the Chinese, they just have no leverage and are bereft of many options. As the 'second official' said, it will happen 'later', may be in the last week of this month.

The Chinese wanted to send a message to India by docking a Type-091 Han boat at Colombo like in c. 1992 when it conducted its first megaton nuclear test during the first ever Head of State visit to China by an Indian President, R.Venkatraman. That has been stopped.

Truly, India is facing a tough challenge in India's own backwaters.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Peregrine wrote:X Posted on Chinese Watch Thread

'Beijing must take India's growth seriously', says China's state media

..............{Rest Snipped}..............

Text of the article titled “China should take competition from India seriously” that appeared in the Peoples Republic of China Communist Party and Government controll mouthpiece, Global Times:
China should take competition from India seriously

Source:Global Times Published: 2017/5/10 22:28:39

China should be wary of Indian competition

China and India are two neighboring countries with the largest populations in the world, an unusual geographical phenomenon. With a population of 1.38 billion, China's GDP grew 6.7 percent to more than $10 trillion in 2016, while the Indian Central Statistics Office estimated India's GDP growth for the full fiscal 2016-17 at 7.1 per cent.

While Indian GDP may lag far behind, the country remains a potential emerging market that has high attractiveness for global capital. A survey by Ernst & Young (EY) ranked India as the most attractive investment destination in the world. Among 500 executives from multinational companies involved in the survey, 60 percent considered India one of the top three investment destinations in 2015. The country's vast domestic market, low labor costs and skilled labor market are its most attractive features. As China's demographic dividend diminishes, India, with half of its population below the age of 25, is poised to take advantage.

An increasing number of Chinese companies have invested in India in recent years, covering such sectors as hardware, software and marketing. Smartphone manufacturers like Vivo, OPPO and Lenovo have already entered the Indian market; while mobile tools like SHAREit, UC Browser, Cheetah Mobile and APUS have also been downloaded by vast amounts of users. It is noteworthy that Chinese companies' investment in India has shifted from simply marketing to research and development (R&D). For instance, Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies Co invested $170 million to open an R&D facility in Bengaluru, and announced its plan to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" campaign.

Just as what happened with China in the past, the changes that are taking place in India may also point to great potential for development. With a large population of young people, which is not only the labor force but also a potential consumer group, India has the possibility of seeing explosive economic growth in the future. Therefore, we must pay close attention to the development of this unfamiliar neighbor.

One of our researchers raised a question: If India decided to copy China, what impact would it have and what should China do? By copying China, India may also develop an Internet economy and boost its infrastructure construction, along with investment-driven growth. In other words, India may turn itself into China 2.0, and let global investors decide whether to invest in China or India.

In our opinion, if India intentionally creates a competitive situation in front of global investors, it will pose a challenge for China. Because generally speaking, India does have the conditions to copy China's economic growth model thanks to its vast size and market, low labor costs and large population, which are all similar to China's conditions. In fact, based on the EY report, global investors are currently undecided.

Moreover, there are growing signs that India is succeeding in attracting more and more investment, which China should take seriously.

The Indian government appears confident about attracting investment. At present, India is committed to solar energy development, which attracts a large number of foreign investors. Prime Minister Modi hopes to boost the usage of clean energy over fossil fuels by building massive solar parks and is targeting $100 billion in investment in solar energy in the next five years, with the backing of loans from the World Bank. No other country could compete with India in supporting investors in the solar economy.

It should be pointed out that China has not conducted enough studies on India. From the perspective of think tanks, China cannot wait until India grows into an apparently promising competitor before discussing how to deal with the situation.

As such, China should develop a more effective growth strategy for the new era or it may become an unfortunate bystander watching India's success.

China needs to ponder and study the rise of the Indian economy carefully. With a young population, it is entirely possible for the emerging market economy to become China 2.0 to gain the attention of world capital.

The article was compiled based on a report by Beijing-based private strategic think tank Anbound.

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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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India closely tracking Chinese submarine, which is likely to head for Karachi after Colombo snub - Rajat Pandit, ToI
India is keeping close tabs on the Chinese submarine currently prowling in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), which is now likely to head for Karachi after being refused permission to dock at Colombo, even as it has dispatched four warships on an overseas deployment to south-east Asia and southern Indian Ocean.

The Yuan-class conventional submarine was "picked up" by Indian Navy's Poseidon-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft as soon as it crossed the Malacca Strait on April 19-20 as part of the 26th anti-piracy taskforce of the People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN).

PLAN has been regularly sending its nuclear and diesel-electric submarines to the IOR since December 2013 to extend its strategic reach in the region. "The pretext is anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden. But what role can submarines play against pirates and their dhows?" said a defence ministry source.

The Navy has tracked seven Chinese submarines in the IOR till now, with the first being a Shang-class nuclear attack submarine (SSN) from December 2013 to February 2014. "Two Chinese submarines, a nuclear one alternating with a diesel-electric one, are coming for three months each to the IOR every year. They usually come through the Malacca Strait, where they have to surface due to shallow depth, and exit through the Sunda Strait," he added.

They have included the Song and Yuan-class conventional submarines and the Shang and Han SSNs, with the PLAN yet to deploy its new Jin-class advanced nuclear submarines to the region so far. India, of course, lags far behind China in the underwater combat arena, with just 13 old diesel-electric and two nuclear submarines. China, in contrast, has well over 50 submarines.

China has also systematically forged extensive maritime links with several IOR nations, and is now even establishing its first overseas naval facility at Djibouti. Though China's primary aim may be protection of its trade and energy sea routes, India has reason to be wary of PLAN's expeditionary forays in the region.

India, on its part, is slowly but steadily stepping up military ties with Asean countries as well naval deployments to the Far East to strategically counter all this. Stealth frigates INS Sahyadari and INS Shivalik, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kamorta and tanker Jyoti, for instance, are part of the ongoing deployment to south-east Asia in pursuance of the "Act East" policy.

The induction of eight P-8I aircraft, under a $2.1 billion deal inked with the US in 2009, has also helped the Navy keep an "intelligent hawk-eye" over the IOR region. Another four P-8Is, packed with sensors and weapons for anti-submarine warfare, will join the force from July 2019 onwards at a cost of $1.1 billion.

Anti-submarine warfare will also be a major thrust area during the forthcoming Malabar exercise among India, the US and Japan in the Bay of Bengal in July, as was earlier reported by TOI.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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X-post from the OBOR thread

India to skip One Belt One Road meet in bid to keep ‘PoK road’ open
Resolute in its opposition to China's 'One Belt One Road', India will be a significant absentee at the OBOR conference which opens in Beijing on Sunday.

Despite Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi's assertion and virtual threats by its diplomats to "isolate" India, Modi government has refused to budge, with only a handful of academics to attend the forum.

India believes participation would have weakened its case on sovereignty over Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir because it would be tantamount to accepting the Chinese and Pakistani position on the region being "northern Pakistan". India has been protesting the China-Pakistan stand since 1963.

Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui, addressing a think tank in Delhi last week, said, "China and India had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes from bilateral relations before.

Historically, we have had close cooperation along the Silk Road. Why shouldn't we support this kind of cooperation today?" Suggestions by Chinese diplomats are on similar lines: India did not object when the Karakoram highway was built, or when other China-Pakistan projects happened.

But New Delhi has refused to budge from its stand. In April, India lodged a protest when a vocational university in Suzhou signed an agreement with Gilgit-Baltistan to set up a CPEC centre. In March, India took objection when China launched yidaiyilu.gov.cn ('yidaiyilu' is OBOR in Chinese), a website where Gilgit-Baltistan was shown as part of Pakistan, a position that even Islamabad's constitution does not endorse.

India also protested when the "chief minister" of Gilgit-Baltistan visited Xinjiang and when Chinese media reported joint patrols in PoK.

The first Indian demarche was served to then vice foreign minister Geng Biao in July, 1961, in which India's envoy to China G Parthasarathi, on his last day, said, "Pakistan has no borders with China...We know about your dispatching sentinels to border areas, but if it goes beyond that, if you state that you are willing to consider negotiating borders with Pakistan, there will be sharp reaction on India's part. India cannot be blamed for the consequences that occur."

In 1969, India protested against Chinese assistance to Pakistan to build the Karakoram highway in a demarche on June 25, "Chinese assistance to Pakistan to construct highways in portion of Indian territory under the illegal occupation of Pakistan is a fresh step taken by China to further aggravate Sino-Indian relations. The consequences are to be borne entirely by them."

In 1983, India once again flagged issues when the Khunjerab Pass was opened to civilian traffic, saying neither China nor Pakistan had any locus standi on this part of India.

These protests continued when the pass was opened to tourists in 1986 and in 1993 when Pakistan and Xinjinag signed an MoU on border trade.

The then external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee gave an earful to Yang Jiechi in September 2008 about Pervez Musharraf 's pact with China on building roads in PoK and railway line across the Khunjerab Pass.

India also objected in 2010 when reports surfaced about China sending 11,000 troops to Gilgit-Baltistan.

After 2014, Modi has asked China to respect a "One-India" policy. Two aspects stand out. First, India has not stopped protesting, and second China has not paid heed to India's objections.

China's approach is exactly the same as it is in the South China Sea — ignore protests and continue to change the ground reality bit by bit.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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India's longest bridge to be inaugurated near China border - PTI
India's longest river bridge, capable of withstanding the weight of a 60-tonne battle tank, will be inaugurated in Assam close to the border with China on May 26 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With the inauguration of the 9.15-km-long Dhola-Sadiya bridge over the Brahmaputra river, the prime minister will kick start the celebrations of the NDA government's three years in office from this eastern-most part of Assam.

The bridge is seen as an attempt by India to shore up its defence requirements along the Sino-Indian border particularly in the Northeast besides providing easy access to the people of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam with air and rail connectivity.

It is 3.55 km longer than the Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai, making it the longest bridge in India.

"The prime minister will dedicate the strategically important bridge to the nation on May 26. It will bolster the road connectivity in the Northeast as the bridge will be used by people of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh besides defence forces extensively," Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told PTI.

The construction of the bridge began in 2011 at a project cost of Rs 950 crore. The design is such that the bridge can withstand the movement of military tanks.

"Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have huge strategic value to the country. Since the bridge is located close to our border with China, it will help quick movement of military troops and artillery in times of conflict," Sonowal said.

The bridge is located 540-km away from Assam capital Dispur and 300 km away from Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar. The aerial distance to the Chinese border is less than 100 km.

After Kaliabhomora bridge near Tezpur, there is no bridge over the Brahmaputra for the next 375 km upstream till Dhola, where the new bridge is constructed. Currently, all the transport between the two banks of the river are being carried out through water only.

The bridge, when opened for the public, will cut down the travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh by as much as four hours.

As there is no civilian airport in Arunachal Pradesh, this bridge will help people of the state to reach the nearest rail head in Tinsukia and the airport in Dibrugarh easily.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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China’s appetite leaves nets empty - Andrew Jacobs, The Hindu
Once upon a time, the seas teemed with mackerel, squid and sardines, and life was good. But now, on opposite sides of the globe, sun-creased fishermen lament as they reel in their nearly empty nets.

“Your net would be so full of fish, you could barely heave it onto the boat,” said Mamadou So, 52, a fisherman in Senegal, gesturing to the meagre assortment of tiny fish flapping in his wooden canoe.

A world away in eastern China, Zhu Delong, 75, also shook his head as his net dredged up a disappointing array of pinkie-size shrimp and fledgling yellow croakers. “When I was a kid, you could cast a line out your back door and hook huge yellow croakers,” he said. “Now the sea is empty.”

Overfishing is depleting oceans across the globe, with 90% of the world’s fisheries fully exploited or facing collapse, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. From Russian king crab fishermen in the west Bering Sea to Mexican ships that poach red snapper off the coast of Florida, unsustainable fishing practices threaten the well-being of millions of people in the developing world who depend on the sea for income and food, experts say.

But China, with its enormous population, growing wealth to buy seafood and the world’s largest fleet of deep-sea fishing vessels, is having an outsize effect.

Exploiting farther seas

Having depleted the seas close to home, Chinese fishermen are sailing farther to exploit the waters of other countries, their journeys often subsidised by a government more concerned with domestic unemployment and food security than the health of the world’s oceans and the countries that depend on them.

Increasingly, China’s growing armada of distant-water fishing vessels is heading to the waters of West Africa, drawn by corruption and weak enforcement by local governments. West Africa, experts say, now provides the vast majority of the fish caught by China’s distant-water fleet. And by some estimates, as many as two-thirds of those boats engage in fishing that contravenes international or national laws.

China’s distant-water fishing fleet has grown to nearly 2,600 vessels (the U.S. has fewer than one-tenth as many), with 400 boats coming into service between 2014 and 2016 alone.

Most of the Chinese ships are so large that they scoop up as many fish in one week as Senegalese boats catch in a year, costing West African economies $2 billion per year, according to a new study published by the journal Frontiers in Marine Science .


Government subsidies

Many of the Chinese boat owners rely on government money to build vessels and fuel their journeys to Senegal, a month-long trip from crowded ports in China.

Overall, government subsidies to the fishing industry reached nearly $22 billion between 2011 and 2015, nearly triple the amount spent during the previous four years, according to Zhang Hongzhou, a research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

That figure, he said, does not include the tens of millions in subsidies and tax breaks that coastal Chinese cities and provinces provide to support local fishing companies.

“Chinese fleets are all over the world now, and without these subsidies, the industry just wouldn’t be sustainable,” said Li Shuo, a global policy adviser at Greenpeace East Asia. “For Senegal and other countries of West Africa, the impact has been devastating.”

In Senegal, an impoverished nation of 14 million, fishing stocks are plummeting.

“We are facing an unprecedented crisis,” said Alassane Samba, a former director of Senegal’s oceanic research institute. “If things keep going the way they are, people will have to eat jellyfish to survive.”


When it comes to global fishing operations, China is the indisputable king of the sea. It is the world’s biggest seafood exporter, and its population accounts for more than one-third of all fish consumption, a figure growing by 6% a year.

The nation’s fishing industry employs more than 14 million people
, up from 5 million in 1979, with 30 million others relying on fish for their livelihoods.

“The truth is, traditional fishing grounds in Chinese waters exist in name only,” said Zhang of Nanyang University. “For China’s leaders, ensuring a steady supply of aquatic products is not just about good economics but social stability and political legitimacy.”

Maritime disputes

But as they press toward other countries, Chinese fishermen have become entangled in a growing number of maritime disputes.

Indonesia has impounded scores of Chinese boats caught poaching in its waters, and in March last year, Argentine authorities sank a Chinese vessel that tried to ram a coast guard boat.

Dyhia Belhabib, a fisheries expert trying to quantify illegal fishing along the African coast, said Chinese boats were among the worst offenders; in West Africa, they report just 8% of their catch, compared with 29% for European-flagged vessels, she said.

According to her estimates, Chinese boats steal 40,000 tons of fish per year from Senegalese waters, an amount worth roughly $28 million.

Beijing has become sensitive to accusations that its huge fishing fleet is helping push fish stocks to the brink of collapse.

The government says it is aggressively reducing fuel subsidies — by 2019 they will have been cut by 60%
, according to a fishery official — and pending legislation would require all distant-water vessels manufactured in China to register with the government, enabling better monitoring.NYT
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by jayasimha »

NON-NAVAL DIMENSIONS
OF CHINESE SEA POWER: AN ANALYSIS

About the Author
Captain Jilet Koshy is an alumnus of Naval Academy Goa and was
commissioned into the India Navy on 01 Jan 94.

https://www.indiannavy.nic.in/sites/def ... cle_14.pdf
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Pushing back against China's One Belt One Road, India, Japan build strategic 'Great Wall' - DIPANJAN ROY CHAUDHURY, ET BUREAU
India and Japan are together embarking upon multiple infrastructure projects across Africa, Iran, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia in what could be viewed as pushback against China’s massive, unilateral infrastructure initiatives under the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project connecting it with Europe and Africa.

India has conspicuously stayed away from the so-called New Silk Road, launched with much fanfare by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, because of strategic and security concerns.

While in East Africa, Delhi and Tokyo are planning to fund infrastructure and capacity building projects, Japan is expected to join the Indian foray into the expansion of Iran’s Chabahar port and the adjoining special economic zone. In eastern Sri Lanka, the two countries are expected to jointly expand the strategically located Trincomalee port. They are also likely to join hands to develop Dawei port along the Thai-Myanmar border.

India and Japan are holding a separate session on May 24 with stakeholders from Africa on the sidelines of the Africa Development Bank meeting in Ahmedabad to discuss joint projects on capacity building and infrastructure.

Japan's state minister of finance will lead the country’s delegation at the meet.

The India-Japanese initiatives are part of the Freedom Corridor that stretches from the Asia-Pacific to Africa.

It is aimed at stabilising the region amid Chinese designs on it
that have led to discomfiture in certain capitals, noted an expert on the issue of international connectivity projects.

The corridor was announced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during counterpart Narendra Modi's trip to Tokyo last November for the annual summit of the two nations. The issue of collaborations also figured in discussions that finance minister Arun Jaitley had during his recent trip to Japan.

India and Japan have launched their own infrastructure development projects to balance China’s influence in the region. The central features of this are Japan’s Partnership for Quality Infrastructure (PQI) besides collaborations in northeast India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. PQI is an initiative for advancing Japan’s expertise in infrastructure development, especially against the backdrop of increasing competition to build economic corridors. The initiative was launched by Abe in May 2015.

DEEPENING TIES


“India and Japan’s deepening economic partnership has been prompted by a recognition of China’s efforts to enhance its influence by funding development projects in its neighborhood,” Darshana Baruah of Carnegie India wrote in a recent paper. “China plans to build a corridor of infrastructure projects across both land and sea routes connecting Southeast Asia to Europe… As China extends its influence and reach throughout Asia, Japan and India naturally are seeking to do the same. The recent upturn in economic engagement between India and Japan is founded on the twin pillars of development assistance and infrastructure development to enhance domestic and regional connectivity.”

Both the continental and maritime routes of OBOR are of strategic concern for India and therefore there are security-related reasons for New Delhi to pursue closer cooperation with Tokyo in response to Beijing’s expansionary moves.

Japan’s use of official development assistance as a tool of economic statecraft seems to be directed toward reinforcing its dominance as an aid donor while counterbalancing China’s expansion,” Baruah further explained in her paper entitled Toward Strategic Economic Cooperation between India and Japan.

“China’s increasing military and political assertiveness in Japan’s immediate security environment is a key driver of this change.”

By expanding their bilateral relationship to include joint infrastructure development across Asia and Africa, Abe and Modi are looking to leverage Japan’s economic and India’s strategic outreach beyond South Asia to the broader Indian-Pacific Ocean region.

“Africa is the next big destination. India-Japan partnership will unlock Africa's true economic potential,” said Prabir De, India’s foremost connectivity expert and chair of the India-Asean Centre in noted thinktank RIS. “Mekong-India Economic Corridor (MIEC) connecting Kenya-Tanzania-Mozambique (KTM) growth zone through Jawaharlal Nehru and Kochi ports will open up new vistas of Africa-Asia connectivity.”
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Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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China quietly releases draft of tough new intelligence law

BEIJING: China on Tuesday quietly released the first public draft of an intelligence law giving authorities powers to monitor suspects, raid premises, and seize vehicles and devices while investigating domestic and foreign individuals and groups.

President Xi Jinping has overseen a raft of legislation to bolster national security against threats from both within and outside China.

The government gained new powers with a national security law passed in 2014, followed by a raft of measures on counter-terrorism, the management of foreign non-government bodies and cyber security, among other subjects.

On Tuesday, a top law-making body, the standing committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), released a draft version of the National Intelligence Law on its website, inviting responses from the public until June 14.

"State intelligence work should ... provide support to guard against and dispel state security threats (and) protect major national interests," the document said, without giving a timeframe for passage of the law.

National interests listed in the document include state power, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Intelligence work needs to be performed both within and outside China, and foreign groups and individuals who damage national security must be investigated, it added.

If passed, the law will give authorities new legal grounds to monitor and investigate foreign and domestic individuals and bodies, in order to protect national security, it said.

The draft showed authorities will also be able to propose customs and border inspections or "quarantines", as well as "administrative detention" of up to 15 days for those who obstruct their work, or leak related state secrets.

China's ministry of state security could not be reached for comment.

State media, and the parliament website's own home page, made no mention of the draft, unlike two other pieces of legislation also made public on Tuesday.

China already has broad laws on state secrets and security but the new law will allow intelligence officials to enter "restricted access areas" and use "technological reconnaissance measures" when required, the document said.
It gave no details of what such areas or measures might be.

Vehicles, communication devices and even real estate, such as buildings, can be used or seized by authorities during intelligence gathering efforts, it said, adding that the owners should be compensated.

It also allows intelligence operatives to "set up relevant sites, equipment or facilities," if necessary.

Western governments have spoken out against China's security measures, as defining its national interests too broadly, and warning they could be used to target dissent.

China says the laws are appropriate for its national security concerns.

In March, NPC head Zhang Dejiang said the new law would be finalised this year.

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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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China installs rocket launchers on disputed South China Sea island: Report - Reuters
China has installed rocket launchers on a disputed reef in the South China Sea+ to ward off Vietnamese military combat divers, according to a state-run newspaper, offering new details on China's ongoing military build-up.

China has said military construction on the islands it controls in the South China Sea will be limited to necessary defensive requirements, and that it can do what it likes on its own territory+ .


The United States has criticized+ what it has called China's militarization of its maritime outposts and stressed the need for freedom of navigation by conducting periodic air and naval patrols near them that have angered Beijing.

The state-run Defense Times newspaper, in a Tuesday report on its WeChat account, said Norinco CS/AR-1 55mm anti-frogman rocket launcher defense systems with the capability to discover, identify and attack enemy combat divers had been installed on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands.

Fiery Cross Reef is administered by China but also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

The report did not say when the defense system was installed, but said it was part of a response that began in May 2014, when Vietnamese divers installed large numbers of fishing nets in the Paracel Islands.

China has conducted extensive land reclamation work at Fiery Cross Reef, including building an airport, one of several Chinese-controlled features in the South China Sea where China has carried out such work.

More than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped through the South China Sea every year. Besides China's territorial claims in the area, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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China invokes Panchsheel - Atul Aneja, The Hindu
China on Thursday re-invoked the doctrine of Panchsheel — or the five principles of peaceful co-existence — as the template for addressing India’s concerns over the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Belt and Road Initiative.

In response to a question, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, citing remarks by President Xi Jinping at the recently concluded Belt and Road Forum, said the five principles of peaceful cooperation along the Belt and Road should be the basis for addressing India’s concerns.


India had decided to skip the summit hosted by China on grounds that the economic corridor infringed New Delhi’s sovereignty as it passed through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Ms. Hua stressed that “we would like to follow the five principles of coexistence in developing friendly relations with other countries, including our efforts in promoting regional connectivity”.

She added: “I am sure you would have noticed that during the Belt and Road Forum, President Xi also said that we would follow the principle of peaceful coexistence to promote friendly cooperation along the Belt and Road. So I think in this way the concerns from the Indian side must be addressed.

Mutual respect

The five principles include “mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

Ms. Hua reiterated that the CPEC did not contradict the “five principles” as China has not changed its original position on the territorial status of Kashmir.

Regarding the status of Kashmir, she reiterated that “as we said before, it is an issue between India and Pakistan and the Belt and Road Initiative will not change China’s position on the Kashmir issue”.

Earlier this month, in an address to a New Delhi think tank, Chinese Ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui had said China “supported a settlement through bilateral negotiation in line with the Shimla Agreement”.


Enhanced friendship

In his keynote address at the summit, President Xi highlighted that China “will enhance friendship and cooperation with all countries in the world on the Belt and Road Initiative.

Panchsheel lists mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence, as the touchstones for international conduct.

Mr. Xi had stressed that China had “no intention to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, export our own social system or model of development, or impose our own will on others”.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Chinese jets intercept US radiation-sniffing plane over East China Sea, US says - Straits Times
Two Chinese SU-30 aircraft carried out what the US military described on Thursday (May 18) as an “unprofessional” intercept of a US aircraft designed to detect radiation while it was flying in international airspace over the East China Sea.

“The issue is being addressed with China through appropriate diplomatic and military channels,” said Air Force spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Lori Hodge.

Hodge said the US characterisation of the incident was based on initial reports from the US aircrew aboard the WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft “due to the maneuvers by the Chinese pilot, as well as the speeds and proximity of both aircraft.”

“Distances always have a bearing on how we characterise interactions,”
Hodge said, adding a US military investigation into the intercept was underway.

She said the WC-135 was carrying out a routine mission at the time and was operating in accordance with international law.

China is deeply suspicious of any U.S. military activity in the resource-rich South China Sea. On Feb 8, a US Navy P-3 spy plane and a Chinese military aircraft came close to each other over the South China Sea in an incident the Navy saw as unsafe but also inadvertent.

Reuters reported at the time that the aircraft came within 1,000 feet (305 meters) of each other in the vicinity of the Scarborough Shoal, between the Philippines and the Chinese mainland.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Malaysia's balancing act between Asean and Beijing - Leslie Lopez, Straits Times
The Philippines, and sometimes Vietnam, are often the focus in debates over China's designs on and claims over the South China Sea.

But a pattern is emerging that points to Malaysia as the budding linchpin in Beijing's strategy to dominate the South China Sea and trade among Asean.

In the past week, Malaysia's economic ties with China, which now range from property investments to infrastructure development, have shifted into the realm of geopolitics and security.

This change in tack surfaced during talks between Prime Minister Najib Razak and President Xi Jinping last week in Beijing, where both leaders pledged to explore a clutch of initiatives that could be formalised at their next meeting set to take place later this year in Malaysia.


The wish list, according to Malaysian government officials, includes:
  • Ensuring China's lead role in developing the high-speed rail project that would not just involve linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore but also a commitment to build a connection to Bangkok.
  • A dedicated oil pipeline to service China's energy needs that would cut across peninsular Malaysia, running from Bagan Datuk on the coast of Perak in the Strait of Malacca to Bachok, the coastal town in the east-coast Kelantan state that faces the South China Sea.
  • Joint explorations between China's state oil companies and Malaysia's national oil giant Petronas to exploit resources in overlapping territories in the South China Sea.
  • And the development of a regional counterterrorism centre that would feature radar surveillance capabilities provided by China in the Johor state that neighbours Singapore.
All are sensitive wishes and the passage of these proposals is by no means assured, given the domestic and regional challenges Kuala Lumpur is likely to face. Nevertheless, these ambitious plans underscore China's desire to control the South China Sea and build leverage over the Malacca Strait.

There are a number of reasons behind China's current focus on Malaysia.

China already has virtual control over the Mekong, the region's most important inland waterway. Despite opposition from local fishermen in Thailand and Laos, Beijing is barrelling ahead with plans to dynamite a series of rapids and river islands to allow for the passage of 500-ton cargo ships.

The next step is to develop fresh infrastructure for land and sea to spread its influence in the 10-nation archipelagic Asean, which Beijing considers as its southern hinterland.

That's where Malaysia - which occupies one of the most strategic positions along the Strait of Malacca and South China Sea trade routes that carry over US$5.3 trillion (S$7.4 trillion) worth of global trade annually - fits in.

China is spearheading a number of port projects on the east and west coasts of peninsular Malaysia that will be connected by a RM55 billion (S$17.7 billion) rail link to create a land bridge that could significantly alter trade routes on the busy Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea that currently go via Singapore.


This proposed 620km electrified line will snake its way from Tumpat, which is located near Malaysia's north-eastern border with Thailand, down the coast to Kuantan Port, a stretch that houses Malaysia's main oil and gas facilities, before cutting through the mountainous central region to Port Klang, Malaysia's largest port fronting the Strait of Malacca.

Apart from infrastructure development, Chinese state-government companies and private interests are constructing steel plants, and manufacturing facilities producing locomotive and rolling stock for railway ventures and textiles, intended for export to the Asean markets and beyond.

China's growing presence in Malaysia is stoking domestic unease.

There are suggestions that the leaning towards China is a direct result of the fallout from the debacle at state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a brainchild of Datuk Seri Najib that is at the centre of a global money- laundering probe in several countries, including the US and Singapore.

China has not only ignored the international tarring of the Najib administration over the financial scandal, but has also stepped up to the plate to take over assets linked to 1MDB as part of a plan to help the state-owned entity deal with its mountain of debt.

Confidants of the Premier privately acknowledge the 1MDB link but they note that the China tilt is also part of a wider strategy by the Najib administration to deal with Malaysia's growing economic challenges.

A one-time regional manufacturing powerhouse, Malaysia is being buffeted by competition for limited foreign direct investment from other more competitive regional economic destinations, such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Lower revenues from oil and commodity exports have forced the government to make the difficult policy choices of slashing subsidies and imposing a goods and services tax that have led to sharp spikes in the cost of living.

By grafting on to China, Malaysia is hoping to generate new growth drivers that will help turn it into a key player in the wider Asean economic community.

The clutch of initiatives President Xi and Mr Najib discussed during the Beijing session last week spotlights the desire to deepen economic links between the two countries.

But what will grab more attention is how these ambitions are heavily laced with security and geopolitical drivers.

In particular, the proposal for a regional counterterrorism centre that will feature radar surveillance capabilities proposed by China may be too much for Malaysia's closest neighbours who want to ensure freedom in the movement of trade in the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea.

How Mr Najib balances his country's deep embrace of China with Malaysia's long-term relationships within Asean will be closely followed in the coming months.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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India-Singapore naval drill shouldn't hurt others: China - ToI
China on Friday said it is not against the joint naval exercise+ by India and Singapore in the South China Sea as long as it doesn't "hurt" its interest.

"We have no problem, if such exercises and cooperation are for the benefits of regional peace and stability," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said when asked for China's response by Indian media at a daily briefing in Beijing.

"We have a very open attitude to normal exchanges between various countries," she said when asked for China's reaction to the joint naval exercise of India and Singapore.

China claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea (SCS), including islands more than 800 miles from the Chinese mainland, despite objections from neighbours such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.

"We just hope that when the relevant countries conduct such exchanges and cooperation, they should bear in mind such activities should not hurt the interests of other countries or have any negative impact to regional peace and stability," Hua said outlining Beijing's sensitivities.

Navies of India and Singapore yesterday began a seven- day-long mega maritime exercise in the SCS which has been witnessing a growing Chinese assertiveness.

Four warships of the Indian Navy and long range anti- submarine warfare aircraft P-8l are participating in the SIMBEX (Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise), which is aimed at increasing interoperability between the two navies.


Held since 1994, it is the 24th edition of the annual exercise between the two countries.

Beijing expresses strong opposition whenever US naval ships pass through the area, even though it maintains there is no threat to freedom of navigation.

India along with the US and many other countries have been vocal about freedom of navigation in the area as foreign trade worth over a trillion dollar move through the SCS.

China in the past has opposed India taking part in the oil exploration in the SCS at the invitation of Vietnam.

India has earlier taken part in the Malabar naval exercises with Japan and the US in the East China Sea.

In the recent months, tension over the SCS abated after new Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte scaled down Manila's emphasis on its SCS claims even after it won an international tribunal award last year.

The tribunal struck down China's expansive claims over the area based on historical hold. China had rejected the verdict. After his election, Duterte opted for peace with China in favour of Chinese investments.

China and ASEAN members yesterday approved the framework of the SCS Code of Conduct (COC), a crucial step towards peacefully resolving territorial disputes in the area.

The 14th Senior Officials' Meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, held yesterday in Guizhou province's Guiyang city, reviewed and approved the COC framework draft.

A Chinese foreign ministry press release said yesterday that all the parties have agreed to peacefully resolve the SCS disputes through negotiations and dialogue.

They also agreed to work through their differences under the framework of regional regulations.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by Philip »

The Yanquis are outraged at a Chinese fighter doing an upside down intercept of a US "sniffer" aircraft,saying it was highly "unprofessional".
But then the Chinese are the most famous practitioners of the wordl's oldest profession ! So what are the Yanquis whingeing about?
Take this old sailor's ditty from SHanghai,some say Hong Kong.It shows you that the Chinese welcome Yanqui sailors far more than the Briits!

Me no likee Blitish sailor
Me no like you men of war
Me no likee Blitish sailor
Yankee pay one dollar more

Yankee call me honey darlin'
Blitish call me f*cking whore
Me no likee Blitish sailor
Yankee won't you come ashore?

Yankee tap upon my window
Blitish bleak the f*cking door
Me no likee Blitish sailor
Yankee won't you come ashore?

Yankee bling me sweet led loses
Blitish bling me sweet f*ck all
Me no likee Blitish sailor
Yankee won't you come ashore?

Yankee f*ck me on the sofa
Blitish f*ck me on the floor
Me no likee Blitish sailor
Yankee won't you come ashore?

Yankee always wear Flench letter
Blitish sailor wear f*ck all
Me no likee Blitish sailor
Yankee won't you come ashore?

Yankee sailor f*ck and finish
Blitish f*ck for evermore.
Me no likee Blitish sailor
Yankee won't you come ashore?!
Last edited by Philip on 19 May 2017 19:35, edited 1 time in total.
Philip
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by Philip »

Why should the US get upset about its "snigffer" plane? If it wants to sniff at the Chinese,the Chinese aircraft
simply provided the opportunity of allowing the US bird to "sniff" up its bung hole!
:rotfl:
And what's so "unprofessional" about it too? The Chinese are famous for practising the world's "oldest profession" with finesse! The pilot just wanted the US bird to get a good look at its rear orifices!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 44026.html
US condemns China after jet flies upside-down above American 'nuclear sniffer' plane over East China Sea
Actions of Chinese aircraft 'unprofessional', say US military


Niamh McIntyre
A Sukhoi SU-30 jet fighter similar to the ones used by the Chinese air force EPA
Two Chinese jets fighters conducted an “unprofessional” intercept of US aircraft over the East China Sea, according to military sources.

The ‘nuclear sniffer’ plane was sent to monitor radiation levels in the area, in accordance with international law, and regularly completes missions in North East Asia, according to Air Force spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Lori Hodge.

In the past, the planes have been used to gather evidence of possible nuclear tests by North Korea.

READ MORE
China to send people to live on asteroids *(yes, we also know that China has sent many "moon men" to the ball of cheese too!) :rotfl:
China installs rocket launchers on disputed South China Sea island
US and China reach deal on access for beef and financial services
On Wednesday, the two Chinese jets came within 150 feet of the sniffer plane, according to US Air Force, and one flew upside down directly above the American plane.

"While we are still investigating the incident, initial reports from the US air crew characterised the intercept as unprofessional,” Lieutenant Colonel Hodge told CNN.

“The issue is being addressed with China through appropriate diplomatic and military channels,"

Rex Tillerson calls China's actions in the South China Sea 'illegal'
The incident was the second stand-off between US and Chinese military in seas surrounding China this year.

In February, a US Navy spy plane and a Chinese military aircraft came within 1,000 feet of each other over the South China Sea. At the time, US officials US officials called an “unsafe” close encounter over the South China Sea in February.

In 2001 a Chinese jet collided with a US Navy surveillance aircraft off Hainan Island, killing the Chinese pilot and leading Washington to cut military relations with China after that episode.

There are long-running territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas.

Both China and Japan claim 200 miles from their coast as an Exclusive Economic Zone (a sea zone prescribed by the United Nations), but the East China Sea is just 360 miles long.
e
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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India reneging on promise by conducting naval drills in South China Sea: China - PTI
India which is conducting major naval drills with Singapore in the disputed South China Sea has "reneged" on its promise not to provoke China on the sensitive issue, a Chinese military expert said today.

Judging from the deployment of anti-submarine weapons, the purpose of the drills is clearly aimed at impacting China's submarines in the India Ocean, which India regards as a "threat" to its influence in the area, Song Zhongping, a military expert who used to serve in the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force was quoted as saying by the state-run Global Times.

"India had promised not to take sides and provoke China on the South China Sea disputes. But the country is reneging on its promise by conducting such major drills in the area," Song said.


Navies of India and Singapore last Thursday began a seven-day-long mega maritime exercise in the SCS which has been witnessing a growing Chinese assertiveness.

The drill code-named "SIMBEX" (Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise) aims to enhance interoperability between the two navies.

China had said that if such exchanges and cooperation is for the benefit of regional peace and security, then it has no opposition to the drills.

"We just hope that when the relevant countries conduct such exchanges and cooperation, they should bear in mind such activities should not hurt the interests of other countries or have any negative impact to regional peace and stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on May 19.

Song also said the high-level of cooperation between India and Japan, including the "Freedom Corridor" that connects Asia-Pacific to Africa, can also be seen as pushback against China's Belt and Road initiative.

The close bilateral cooperation is the previous Obama administration's legacy, in which Japan and India were meant to keep China at bay, both politically and militarily, Qian Feng, an expert at the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies, was quoted by the report.

Qian also stressed that India's recent operations in Southeast Asia are a political investment. India could use its influence in ASEAN countries as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China, once ties between China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries get strained over South China Sea disputes, he said.

He also referred to reports that India and Japan are working on infrastructure projects, including the expansion of Iran's Chabahar port and Sri Lanka's Trincomalee port, and the development of the Dawei port along the Thai-Myanmar border.


India did not send an official delegation to China to attend last week's 'Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation' in Beijing in view of its concerns over the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area.
China says all these things with a straight face, that is the fun part.

What promise is China talking about? If China imagines things, will it be the responsibility of India to remove them? What about China's unkept promises? China cannot put on a fake face of injured innocence.

If a joint India-Singapore exercise is 'taking sides and provoking China in the Indo-China Sea disputes', then, is it accusing Singapore also of provocation in collusion with India? (Last November, China seized nine Terrex ICVs of the Singapore Armed Forces trans-shipping through the Hong Kong port on way back from Taiwan after a joint exercise)

If China says that Indian Ocean is not India's Ocean, then wht is it objecting to when a naval exercise is conducted in international waters in Indo-China Sea?

Where does China think that the Republic of Singapore Navy should go to conduct its exercises?

If China objects to ASW exercises in ICS, then what about China sending its submarines for anti piracy operations? How are these submarines going to catch the skiffs? Isn't docking at Colombo 'provocative'? Isn't China supplying weapons or providing diplomatic support to Pakistan against India provocative?
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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Jaitley takes a swipe at China's approach to Africa - Vikas Dhoot, The Hindu
Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday took an indirect swipe at China's approach to investments in resource-rich Africa and said that India, now one of the most important investors in the continent, doesn't believe in imposing conditions on African nations.

Stressing that India's sustained engagement with Africa, which has had a fresh impetus under the Narendra Modi government's watch, is already making an impact on the continent, Mr Jaitley said that emerging economies like India are not only proving to be a critical source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for African nations, but also a vital export market.

"Our partnership model is different... Being an emerging economy ourselves, we understand that a prescriptive model of partnership does not work. Therefore, the cornerstone of our co-operation is voluntary partnership... demand-driven and devoid of any conditionalities," Mr Jaitley said.

"We do not impose and leave it to our partners to decide what is best for them. We believe this is the most effective way of building partnerships," the finance minister said at a session on India-Africa co-operation hosted by CII here [Gandhinagar] in the run-up to the African Development Bank's (AFDB) annual meeting.

As per the Bank's Economic Outloook report for 2016, India's share in announced greenfield projects grew from 3.3% between 2003 and 2008, to 6.1% between 2009 to 2015.

"During the same time, China's share fell from 4.9% to 3.2%. India is amongst the most important emerging investors in Africa. In terms of greenfield projects, India was the fourth largest investor with 45 projects in 2015, after the US, UK and the UAE," Mr Jaitley said.

With exports to the U.S. and Europe flagging in recent years, BRICS nations and emerging economies have become more important for Africa, he said.

"In 2009, only 24% of Africa's exports went to emerging countries. In 2014, the BRICS including India, and other emerging economies accounted for half of the Africa's total exports to the world," the minister said, calling for a wide-ranging partnership with Africa as some of its strengths such as a large young workforce are similar to India.

"We need to create jobs to take advantage of this demographic dividend. The AFDB president's agenda is not very different from our own policy priorities," Mr Jaitley said.

"India is a bright spot on the world economy and Africa is not far behind. In 2015, Africa was the second fastest growing region in the world after East Asia. If we can translate the aspirations of one third of humanity into reality, it could no doubt do wonders and shape the future of the world," the finance minister said.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by ramana »

From National Interest

Article by Vivek Prahaladan

How China War shaped Indian military

Lots of interesting details and how numbers were come up with.



Long Telegram reveals China factor in India decision to go nuclear

This was discussed sparsely in the deterrence thread....
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by manju »

http://defenceupdate.in/indian-fighter- ... l-pradesh/

Indian Fighter Jet Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Missing in Arunachal Pradesh
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

Post by Prem »

http://www.voanews.com/a/vietnam-takes- ... ign=buffer

Vietnam Takes Asia Lead in Figuring Out Trump Policy on South China Sea
TAIPEI — Vietnam's prime minister will be hoping for answers for Southeast Asia about the future role of the United States in helping the region resist Chinese expansion in a widely disputed sea.Next week Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is expected to become the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House since Trump took office in January. Trade and maritime claims in the disputed South China Sea are expected to be high on the agenda.Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, who ran a much-hyped “pivot to Asia” policy, had helped Southeast Asian countries with defense against Beijing. But it is not yet clear what direction the Trump administration will take.“Being the first Southeast Asian leader to visit Washington, the Vietnamese prime minister will want to explore U.S. plans and goals for engagement with the larger Southeast Asian region,” said Murray Hiebert, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.
“Vietnam will also want to understand U.S. policy and strategy toward the South China Sea and China’s activities there, particularly at a time when Washington is looking to Beijing to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs,” Hiebert said.Obama last year lifted an embargo on lethal arms sales to Vietnam, stepped up joint naval exercises with the Philippines in 2014 and kept China on alert with the passage of U.S. vessels inside China’s maritime claim, all angering Beijing, which resented the U.S. role in a sea where Washington has no sovereignty claim but insists on freedom of navigation.“They don’t really need to say it, but it’s very important that the (Southeast Asian) region is seeing that U.S. is still engaged,” said Frederick Burke, partner with the international law firm Baker & McKenzie in Ho Chi Minh City.Vietnam wants stronger U.S. backing to offset a growing yet uncomfortable trade and economic relationship with old foe China, experts believe.To reduce Washington’s influence, China is talking one-on-one with Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, about managing their disputes. Beijing sometimes offers the other countries aid and investment, such as promoting a surge in Chinese tourists in Vietnam.Last week China and a 10-member group of Southeast Asian nations agreed to the draft framework of a code of conduct aimed at preventing mishaps in the sea. China had stalled for more than half a decade before giving its approval to move forward.“All the Southeast Asian states tend to play a hedging strategy with great powers,” said Brian Eyler, Southeast Asia program director with Washington-based think tank the Stimson Center.“No one state is too interested in getting too far into China’s or the U.S. or another great power’s sphere of influence," he said. "There are too many lessons of history that show that’s the wrong road to go.”Analysts believe Nguyen is also all but certain as well to ask Trump’s administration about its pledge in January to negotiate a two-way free trade deal that would replace the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Vietnam stood to gain as a member of the tariff-cutting agreement because it depends largely on exports.
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Re: Managing Chinese Threat (09-08-2014)

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China will pursue active foreign policy in Asia Pacific: US intel chief - PTI
Expressing concern over China's massive military build-up, a top US intelligence official has told lawmakers that the Communist nation will continue to pursue an "active" foreign policy, especially in the Asia Pacific region, to expand its strategic and economic influence.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told members of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on Worldwide threats yesterday that China viewed a strong military as a "critical element" in advancing its interest.


"China will continue to pursue an active foreign policy, especially within the Asia-Pacific region. Highlighted by a firm stance on competing territorial claims in the East China Sea and South China Sea, relations with Taiwan and its pursuit of economic engagement across East Asia," Coats said.

"China, which views a strong military as a critical element in advancing its interest, will also pursue efforts aimed at fulfilling its ambitious One Belt, One Road Initiative to expand China's strategic influence and economic role across Asia through infrastructure projects," Coats said in his testimony.

Echoing Coats, Lt Gen Vincent Stewart, Director, Defence Intelligence Agency said China was in the third decade of an unprecedented military modernisation programme involving weapon systems, doctrine tactics, training space and cyber operations.

"It now stands firmly in the category is a near pure US competitor. New bases are being built in the South China Sea, and evidence suggests that these outposts will be used for military purposes," he said.

A key component of China strategy for regional contingency is planning for potential US intervention in a conflict in the region, Stewart said.

"It's Navy remains on a course for 350 ships by the year 2020 and anti-Axis aerial denial capabilities continue to improve," he said.

Stewart said China was improving the PLA's capability to fight short-duration, high-intensity regional conflicts by undertaking a long-term, comprehensive military modernisation programme.

In 2016, the PLA increased its preparations for contingencies along China's periphery, including conflicts in the East and South China Seas, at the same time that planning for a Taiwan contingency continued to drive military modernisation efforts, he said.

"The PLA is implementing massive structural reforms designed to improve leadership, administration, and command of joint operations across the force by 2020," he said, adding that changes include re-balancing the forces to raise the relative importance of the Navy and Air Force and establishing a theatre joint command system for the five theatres of operation.

Recent military reforms in China created the Strategic Support Force, designed to consolidate the PLA's cyber, space, and electronic warfare capabilities, he noted.

Stewart said the US anticipated that China will continue its robust defence spending growth for the foreseeable future.

In March 2017, China announced a seven per cent inflation-adjusted increase in the annual military budget, bringing it to USD 148.4 billion, continuing more than two decades of annual defence spending increases, he said.

"China is developing capabilities to dissuade, deter, or if ordered, defeat possible third-party intervention during a large-scale theatre campaign, such as a Taiwan contingency," Stewart said.

"China's military modernisation plan includes the development of capabilities to attack at long ranges adversaries that might deploy or operate within the western Pacific Ocean in the air, maritime, undersea, space, electromagnetic, and information domains," he said.

He said China had fielded CSS-5 anti-ship ballistic missiles specifically designed to hold adversary aircraft carriers at risk 1,500 kilometres off its coast.

In 2016, Chinese official media confirmed China's intent to go forward with mid-course missile defence capabilities on both land and sea assets, reflecting work on ballistic missile defence dating back several decades, he added.
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