Neutering & Defanging Chinese Threat (15-11-2017)

ArjunPandit · Post by **ArjunPandit** » 19 Feb 2019 00:22

will china make: Choke instead of coke?

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 19 Feb 2019 08:37

Panda is really desperate to become a "supaal powaa"

20-Year-Old Chinese Man Arrested for Taking Pictures of Navy Base in Florida

https://www.ntd.com/20-year-old-chinese ... 63994.html

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 19 Feb 2019 08:45

Chinese prof in child ***** case also under scrutiny for alleged espionage, say officials

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/chin ... ge-n916176

Excerpts:

shortly before Xie was charged in August, the FBI Houston field office conducted an unprecedented public briefing with leaders of Houston's medical, science, and academic institutions.

In announcing the briefing, the bureau said, "The FBI works closely with private partners and government agencies to ensure that federally funded research grants are guarded and protected against unscrupulous overseas enemies." The press release did not cite a specific case.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 19 Feb 2019 13:57

CNN

Hong Kong (CNN Business)After a tough 2018, global automakers look set for another bruising year.

Data published Monday show that the slowdown in China, the world's biggest car market, is getting worse. And the United States is considering imposing tariffs on imported cars, a move that would hit global brands hard.

Passenger car sales in China slumped by almost 18% in January compared to a year ago, according to China's Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That's the latest ominous sign for global brands such as General Motors (GM) and Volkswagen (VLKAF), which have come to depend on blockbuster sales to Chinese consumers.

Sales in China's auto market turned negative in July last year and the slump has now extended into a seventh month. Annual car sales declined in 2018 for the first time in 20 years.

chola · Post by **chola** » 19 Feb 2019 18:17

^^^ Trump is crushing the Panda’s nuts singlehandedly.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 19 Feb 2019 22:33

but he is also threatening to put high duty on import of luxury euro cars, which will mainly impact germany.

everyone may have to purchase dodge ram and F150 trucks with gun racks by potus decree (free AR15 and 10 mags to go with it compliments of the NRA, the higher spec models may even get a couple javelin missiles as bonus)

Freedom is never free and must be guarded.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 21 Feb 2019 17:41

Former Chinese military chief of staff jailed for life over graft - AFP

A former chief of staff of China's military was sentenced to life in prison, state media said Wednesday, after he was swept up in President Xi Jinping's ongoing anti-graft crackdown.

Appointed to the People's Liberation Army's top post in 2012, Fang Fenghui was convicted of accepting and offering bribes, and having an unclear source of a huge amount of assets, official news agency Xinhua reported.

A military court sentenced Fang to life in prison, stripped him of political rights for life, and ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets, Xinhua said.

Fang was abruptly replaced in August 2017 amid a stand-off with India over a territorial dispute, and just days after he had met the US top brass to discuss North Korea.

The general was transferred to the military prosecution authority on suspicion of bribery in January of last year, state media reported at the time.

Fang was one of two senior generals who did not appear on a list of delegates to the Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress in October 2017, sparking speculation he had run afoul of Xi's anti-corruption campaign.

The other, Zhang Yang, committed suicide in Beijing later that year after being investigated over connections to two graft-tainted former senior military officers.

Xi has pledged to continue the anti-corruption crackdown, which since 2012 has brought down 1.5 million party officials at various levels -- including top military leaders.

Corruption has long been an intractable problem for the country, but many experts argue that the campaign has the hallmarks of a political purge as the Chinese president consolidates his power.

Xi has sought to enhance his control over China's two-million-strong military, the world's largest, reshuffling its leadership and vowing to make it "world-class" by 2050.

The military was ordered to pledge to be "absolutely loyal, honest and reliable to Xi" in new guidelines released by the Central Military Commission in 2017.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 21 Feb 2019 23:04

Why Chinese scientists would rather not talk about their talent awards

https://www.asiaone.com/china/why-chine ... ent-awards

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Feb 2019 04:53

Kati, don't highlight the way you are doing.
I have changed them now.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Feb 2019 20:47

China's opposition to mentioning of terrorism delayed UNSC statement on Pulwama - PTI

China's lone opposition in the 15-member UN Security Council to any mention of terrorism resulted in a delay of nearly one week in issuance of a statement by the powerful body on the dastardly Pulwama terror attack, official sources said here [New Delhi] on Friday.

However, the US assiduously worked as "pen holder" making various adjustments to get the approval by all other members of the Council, the sources told PTI.

While China was trying to water down the UNSC statement on Pulwama, Pakistan worked against issuance of any statement. Pakistan's Permanent representative at the UN Maleeha Lodhi even met the president of Security Council but her efforts did not bear any fruit, they said.

The UN Security Council comprising 15 permanent and non-permanent members on Thursday condemned in the "strongest terms" the "heinous and cowardly" terror attack perpetrated by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) on February 14.

Sharing details of diplomatic wranglings on the matter, the sources said the UNSC statement on Pulwama was to be issued on the evening of February 15 but China repeatedly sought extension of timing.

China requested extension till Feb 18 when 14 member countries were ready to issue it on February 15 itself," they said, adding China broke "silence" procedure two times suggesting multiple amendments aiming to "derail" the effort.

Even after UNSC condemned the Pulwama strike as "terrorism" China continued to oppose any mention of terrorism in the statement, said a person familiar with the diplomatic parleys on the issue at the UN headquarters.

However, notwithstanding hectic Chinese and Pakistani efforts, the UNSC agreed to issue the first statement in its history regarding an attack on Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir, the sources said.

India has mounted a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan in the international community for its support to terror groups and cross border terrorism.

Official sources said the UNSC statement contained specific language proposed by India through its partner countries including naming of JeM, and calling for bringing the perpetrators of the crime to justice.

In the statement, the UNSC also reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security and underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.

The UNSC also urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with India and all other relevant authorities to bring perpetrators of the Pulwama attack to justice.

It also reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 23 Feb 2019 01:17

There is an article in the WSJ about Huawei in India making headway inspite of opposition from the US on security concerns. After Chinese support of TSP on Pulwama attack, Huawei MUST BE BANNED IN INDIA. They can not get the Indian market.

Nishn · Post by **Nishn** » 23 Feb 2019 04:45

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brun ... -1.5028098

Slowly but surely the West awakes to all the long term monkey tricks and plans...and this is the beginning of the push-back

Education minister pulling plug on Chinese education program in schools

Government is terminating Confucius Institute programs in New Brunswick classrooms

Shane Fowler · CBC News · Posted: Feb 21, 2019 4:24 PM AT | Last Updated: February 21

Education Minister Dominic Cardy says he is terminating the operation of the Confucius Institute because of concerns about freedom of education. (Gilles Landry/Radio-Canada)
31 comments
Education Minister Dominic Cardy is getting rid of a Chinese culture and language program operating in schools because of concerns that teachers are blacklisting topics that cast China in a bad light and only teach what the Chinese Communist Party approves.

The non-profit Confucius Institute has been operating in 28 New Brunswick schools, with more than 5,441 students taking part in 2016, according to the organization's website.

It is largely funded by the Chinese government and was introduced to New Brunswick in 2008, when Shawn Graham was the Liberal premier.

At the time, the New Brunswick government said the mandate was to teach and promote Chinese language and culture.

Dominic Cardy said the programs give a "one-dimensional" view of China. 0:54
But Cardy said it's clear to him the program's real mandate is to present a "one-dimensional" view of China and to influence students to only perceive the country in a positive light.

"Their job is to create a friendly, cheerful, face for a government that is responsible for more deaths than nearly any other in the history of our species," Cardy said Thursday.

"And I don't think in an education system that is supposed to be the vehicle that transmits our values to the next generation that showing that we're open to a government that behaves that way is appropriate."

The program hosts teachers from China who have taught Mandarin, history and a variety of cultural practices, including calligraphy and arts in different classes across the province. The 28 anglophone schools include elementary schools and high schools in Fredericton, Oromocto, Bathurst, Saint John, Moncton, Dieppe, Rexton and Richibucto.

According to the Confucius Institute of New Brunswick's website, 5,441 New Brunswick students took part in the program in 2016. (Confucius Institute of New Brunswick website)
Cardy said he has already issued the Confucius Institute a letter of intent to discontinue the program. He hopes to have it gone by June.

He has also already informed Premier Blaine Higgs, as well as cabinet members, of his intent to remove the institute. Cardy is now reviewing the contract between the province and the Confucius Institute so he can terminate it.

"It's something that has concerned me. Not because of any feelings of dislike towards anyone in China, in fact quite the opposite. My concern is we have an institute whose job it is to put a very one-dimensional perspective of China into our schools

The organization has classrooms in 28 anglophone schools, including Fredericton, Moncton, Bathurst, and Saint John. (Confucius Institute of New Brunswick website)
Cardy says he's recently received five complaints from students who attended the Confucius Institute programs. Each told of topics in Chinese history that were off-limits to discussion.

"One of them tried to discuss Taiwan's recognition and the professor told him he was forbidden from having this discussion," said Cardy.

CBC News has requested a copy of the letters, as well as a copy of the letter of intent sent to the Confucius Institute.

CBC News and Radio-Canada also made several attempts to contact the Confucius Institute of New Brunswick. No email or phone calls were returned.

History of controversy
The move by Cardy to remove the Confucius Institute from schools follows similar moves in other jurisdictions. In 2014 the Toronto District School Board voted to remove the institute from their schoolsfollowing protests. McMaster University and the University of Manitoba have also removed the Confucius Institute from their campuses over freedom of education concerns.

Educators haven't been the only people to sound the alarm about the Confucius Institute. Seven years ago, CSIS issued warnings about the program. The agency suspected Confucius Institutes are used as spy satellite offices by China, according to a veteran Canadian operative.

Michel-Juneau Katsuya, a former CSIS Asia-Pacific bureau chief, compared the Confucius Institute to a 'Trojan horse.' (CBC)
In 2012, Michel-Juneau Katsuya , a former CSIS Asia-Pacific bureau chief, compared the Confucius Institute to a "Trojan horse." He said the programs were used by the Chinese government "to carry out intelligence and spying activities."

Defending the program
When Graham brought in the Confucius Institute, his government said it would also be a resource for companies wanting to do business in China.

Despite the criticism now, Graham said the program shouldn't be canned so quickly.

"To abandon the program today, simply by three or four students saying they weren't allowed to talk about Chinese politics, I think the better route would have been to undertake a review of the program," said Graham.

Former premier Shawn Graham says the current government should review the Chinese cultural program before kicking it out. (Gilles Landry/Radio-Canada)
"Make sure the rules are being followed," he said. "Then you can make a better determination as a government how you want to send your first signal to that country."

Graham now owns a consulting business, G&R Holdings, where he works with several Chinese businesses to increase trade between China and Canada's East Coast.

"Does China matter, or does China not matter?" he asked.

"Today, the government of New Brunswick has to do business with China, so we have to be prudent and cautious during these heightened diplomatic times that show we want to respect human rights, and the federal government must continue to push for that."

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 23 Feb 2019 10:59

SSridhar wrote:Kati, don't highlight the way you are doing.
I have changed them now.

wokkay, saar....
Thanks.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 23 Feb 2019 11:12

Former CIA officer indicted for Chinese spying had accomplice

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nation ... ce-n954001

Lilo · Post by **Lilo** » 23 Feb 2019 18:35

Mort Walker wrote:There is an article in the WSJ about Huawei in India making headway inspite of opposition from the US on security concerns. After Chinese support of TSP on Pulwama attack, Huawei MUST BE BANNED IN INDIA. They can not get the Indian market.

Backdoors Keep Appearing In Cisco's Routers
by Lucian Armasu July 19, 2018
...
Over the past few months, not one, not two, but five different backdoors joined the list of security flaws in Cisco routers.
....

NSA techs perform an unauthorized field upgrade to Cisco hardware in these 2010 photos from an NSA document.

India is on the verge of a massive upgrade to 5G comms.
What india needs to do is to balance the demands of US vs China - in terms of India's own needs.

Massa wants "its" routers like those of CISCO with sophisticated NSA level tapping/hacks hardcoded into them.It doesnt want to loose the chance to spy into a Billion plus people by hacking the 5g airwaves.
Chinese comms are a threat because they physically supplant Massa's expected surveillance bonanza in this regard.

In race with Massa , Chinese are only now getting their dopey hacks built into most of their "home branded" stuff - like Huwaei or ZTE or etc.But their stuff is cheap and bang for buck compared to likes of CISCO which are 3 times more costly.

So Massa wants to muscle the market for its "Massa certified" routers while threatening India(as well as EU using the poodle to push the Chinese threat) with sanctions related to communications (& intelligence sharing to Nato) incase anyone goes ahead with Chinese routers defying massa.

Threat of snooping by Massa vs Threat of snooping by China
Cost of Massa routers vs Cost of Chinese routers
Penalty of Massa sanctions vs No Penalty here

In this context, India has to optimize above competing variables and settle on a final comm mix.
More so than ever india needs grow out of its current level of manufacturing low level network switches and wired network equipment & has to go up the value chain into wireless. This implies massive private investment & public incentives.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 23 Feb 2019 19:45

I agree there is no free lunch. At this time it would be better to use US 5G equipment over Chinese equipment. That is until India can build it's own wireless telecom infrastructure. The Chinese are just far more evil than unkil at this point in history. That too India is already buying sophisticated surveillance systems from unkil for it’s defense use.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 24 Feb 2019 09:30

Mort Walker wrote:I agree there is no free lunch. At this time it would be better to use US 5G equipment over Chinese equipment. That is until India can build it's own wireless telecom infrastructure. The Chinese are just far more evil than unkil at this point in history. That too India is already buying sophisticated surveillance systems from unkil for it’s defense use.

+1

As an interm measure, Indian companies and govt organizations need to do their part with heavy duty encryption of information moving to and fro.

It should be written into law that ALL companies and govt institutions MUST use encryption without exception. CEOs and owners of companies should be made to sign off that their company is compliant with the rule.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 24 Feb 2019 10:40

China uses DNA tech to spy on people. Yale geneticist and a U.S. biotech helped

https://boingboing.net/2019/02/21/china ... peopl.html

“The Chinese authorities turned to a Massachusetts company and a prominent Yale researcher as they built an enormous system of surveillance and control.”

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 24 Feb 2019 11:36

HOW THE US FORCED CHINA TO QUIT STEALING—USING A CHINESE SPY

A fascinating article, a must read...

https://www.wired.com/story/us-china-cybertheft-su-bin/

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 24 Feb 2019 12:15

Boy, look at the level of intrusion Panda had made.....running a psy-op operation by buying a radio station closer to Washington DC....

Kevin Mallory: The churchgoing patriot who spied for China

Go through the reporting carefully.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46557096

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 25 Feb 2019 07:16

To outwit China at UN, India & France to look beyond JeM chief Masood Azhar - Sachin Parashar, ToI

Looking to build upon the strong UNSC condemnation of the Pulwama attack, France is likely to bring a proposal in the next few days for a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar. However, to give teeth to the diplomatic offensive against the Pakistan-based terror group, India and France are also giving a “cautious” consideration to several other options including bringing similar proposals against Azhar’s brother Abdul Rauf Asghar, an accused in the Pathankot attack, and some other individuals associated with JeM.

The government is preparing dossiers backed by solid evidence for a UN ban on not just Azhar but also Asghar and other acknowledged JeM terrorists, official sources said. It remains to be seen though if the names of Asghar and others are included in the proposal for inclusion of Azhar in the UNSC 1267 sanctions list or a ban is sought on them in separate resolutions. Efforts at the UN to designate other JeM commanders as international terrorists could help India raise the ante on China which has in the past vetoed a ban on Azhar claiming that there was not enough evidence against him.

The last time China blocked a ban on Azhar, in 2017, India responded by saying such “selective approaches” and “double standards” would undermine the international resolve to combat terrorism. By all accounts, China is again likely to take the same position on Azhar. Beijing, though, could risk some embarrassment if it chooses to do the same with proposals for banning Asghar and other commanders of JeM which remains a UN-designated terrorist organisation. Asghar was not just involved in the planning and execution of the Pathankot attack but, perhaps even more actively than his brother, has in the recent past urged and mobilised people to carry out attacks in India.

On ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’, he was quoted as having said he was looking to terrorise India. Ibrahim Athar, another brother of Azhar, and Shahid Latif, who too is an accused in the Pathankot attack, are other Jaish terrorists whose names might be considered for UN ban. France is leading the effort for the ban with help from some other European countries. Sources here said that probably having sensed the move, Pakistan has started reaching out to its own friends and allies to stall the French initiative.

abhik · Post by **abhik** » 25 Feb 2019 10:01

... preparing dossiers ...

TKiran · Post by **TKiran** » 25 Feb 2019 12:04

http://www.indiatoday.in/amp/india/stor ... 2019-01-09

Suspected Pakistan spy arrested in Arunachal Pradesh
Nirmal Rai was arrested near Kibithu by a military intelligence unit. Confidential documents and several pictures of Army installations and bridges were found on his phone.

Manjeet Singh Negi
New Delhi
January 9, 2019 UPDATED: January 9, 2019 12:47 IST
Suspected Pakistan spy arrested in Arunachal Pradesh
Nirmal Rai was handed over to the police and booked under the Official Secrets Act and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code.
HIGHLIGHTS
Rai's handler was Pakistani man in Dubai
He passed on sensitive information to his handler
Rai lived in Tinsukhia district in Assam
A suspected Pakistani spy has been arrested from a border village in Arunachal Pradesh, sources said.

The man, Nirmal Rai, lived in Tinsukhia district in Assam. He was working with the Army as a porter in Kibithu and Dichu villages.

A military intelligence unit arrested him near Kibithu. He'd been under the scanner for some time, and the Army acted on a tip-off.

Rai was handed over to the police and booked under the Official Secrets Act and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code. Confidential documents and several pictures of Army installations and bridges were found on his phone.

Nirmal Rai.
The investigation so far has revealed that Nirmal Rai was in touch with an Indonesian woman living in Dubai and a Pakistani man -- also from the emirate -- involved with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Islamabad's spy agency.

The man, who recruited Rai, got in touch with him in Dubai, where he was working at a burger shop.

The ISI agent taught Rai to take pictures and also pass on information; he became his handler.

The investigation has revealed that Rai passed on sensitive information about the location and deployment of Army profiles, weapon profiles and artillery in Kibithu to his handler.

Though it's old news, it highlights that China is using Pakistan Terrorism resources to push Indian army away as far back as possible.

We can't really blame China, as Pakistan and ISI and Terrorism factories in Pakistan are highlighted, not China directly. Recent violence in Arunachal Pradesh is an indication that there are sleeper cells in Arunachal Pradesh.

Peregrine · Post by **Peregrine** » 25 Feb 2019 17:11

Entrepreneurs wary about future of China are leaving it behind - NYT News Service

NEW DELHI: Chen Tianyong, a Chinese real estate developer in Shanghai, boarded a flight to Malta last month with no plans to return anytime soon.

After landing, Chen, a former judge and lawyer, shared on social media a 28-page article explaining himself. “Why I Left China,” read the headline, “An Entrepreneur’s Farewell Admonition.”

“China’s economy is like a giant ship heading to the precipice,” Chen wrote. “Without fundamental changes, it’s inevitable that the ship will be wrecked and the passengers will die.”

“My friends,” he urged, “if you can leave, please make arrangements as early as possible.”

It is unclear how many people saw the article before it disappeared from China’s heavily censored internet. But Chen said publicly what many business people in China are saying privately: China’s leadership has mismanaged the world’s second-largest economy, and China’s entrepreneur class is losing confidence in the country’s future.

For more than a generation, China has been fueled by optimism that, despite its problems, tomorrow will be better than today. Now, the prevailing view is best summed up by an online meme made popular by Wang Xing, the founder and chief executive of Meituan Dianping, the online delivery and takeout company. The year 2019, goes the meme, may be the worst year in this decade, but it will be the best year in the next decade.

China’s economy is slowing, and the trade war with the United States has pinched growth. But many entrepreneurs are more broadly worried that China won’t pursue the economic and political liberalisation it needs. On the contrary, since Xi Jinping took control of the Communist Party in 2012, the party has increased its dominance in every aspect of Chinese society.

Few are predicting a crash, but worries over China’s long-term prospects are growing. Pessimism is so high, in fact, some business people are comparing China’s potential future to another country that some business that some people are comparing China’s potential future to another country where the government seized control of the economy and didn’t ease up : Venezuela.

Only one-third of China’s rich people say they are very confident in the country’s economic prospects, according to a recent survey of 465 wealthy individuals by Hurun, a Shanghai based research firm. Two years ago, nearly two-thirds said they were very confident. Those who have no confidence at all rose to 14 per cent, more than double the level of 2018. Nearly half said they were considering migrating to a foreign country or had already started the process.

“China is facing a lot of internal and external challenges now,” said Fred Hu, founder of the investment firm Primavera Capital Group and former head of Goldman Sachs’s Greater China business. “We need to realize that all of our achievements in the past 40 years were the results of opening up and economic reform, not because of any unique China development model.”

Hu’s comments are diplomatic. In private, some business people are talking in angrier and more fearful ways. They asked for anonymity, of course. In today’s tightly controlled environment in China, even the economy — once considered a safe subject — has become dangerous to talk about.

“The most important cause of their pessimism is bad policy and bad leadership,” said Minxin Pei, a professor at Claremont McKenna College in California who is in frequent contact with business figures. “It’s clear to the private business people that the moment the government doesn’t need them, it’ll slaughter them like pigs. This is not a government that respects the law. It can change on a dime.”

Many members of the business elite are unhappy that the leadership’s economic policies favour state-owned enterprises even though the private sector drives growth. They are angry that the party is trying to put a Mao-era ideological straitjacket on an economy driven by private enterprises and young consumers. They are upset that the party eliminated term limits last year, raising the prospect that Xi could become president for life.

Many business people feel increasingly insecure, especially as some entrepreneurs are “disappeared” by the government to assist in the anti-corruption campaigns.

“In the eyes of some senior officials, even people like Jack Ma and Pony Ma are just small-time businessmen,” Chen said in an interview, referring to the founders of Alibaba and Tencent, two of China’s biggest private enterprises.

Xi appears to be aware of the unease. Beijing has postponed new rules that would raise business taxes to pay for social benefits and has eased its monetary and fiscal policies.

Still, the party’s priorities appear to be elsewhere. In his December speech commemorating 40 years of China’s opening, Xi argued that his recipe of guided growth under strong Communist Party control must not waver. In another important speech to the party’s top officials last month, Xi identified seven major risks for national security, with politics and ideology topping the list, and he called for tighter control of young people and the internet.

China’s power structure lacks a way to counterbalance this trend. A few young hedge fund managers told me over dinner in Hong Kong that the trade war with President Donald Trump could be a blessing in disguise because it might force Beijing to undertake structural reforms to reach a deal. Only Trump can save China, it is often said at private gatherings, only half-jokingly.

“The trade war is a bad thing to begin with,” said Hu of Primavera Capital. “But if the final resolutions lead to renewed efforts by China to undertake broad structural reforms, it will be a win-win situation for the US, China and the world.”

The relationship between the business elite and the party wasn’t always like this. Some business people cheered Xi when he came to power, his anti-corruption crackdown signaling to them that he was building a rules-based society. But disillusioned executives told me that tighter government control means more bureaucrats have a say in business matters, and corruption simply takes different forms.

Can it be stopped? Some business people are pessimistic. Chen, the real estate developer, says the solution is to leave.

It’s impossible to say how many people agree. Even those who have left China may still run businesses there, making them reluctant to speak out. Plus, the country still has many optimists who say this rough patch won’t last.

But many of China’s rich have been voting with their feet. The number of Chinese people moving to the United States on investor visas has surged in recent years. Of the 1 million foreign students in the United States, one-third are from China.

Now 53, Chen decided in early 2013 that he had better start looking at places outside mainland China. The trigger was a widely circulated party directive that urged an offensive against liberal political ideas and values. “It was a very terrifying signal,” he said.

He first secured permanent resident status in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, but concerns about its autonomy have grown since Beijing responded fiercely to prodemocracy protests there in 2014. He applied for the investor visa to the United States, but the wait time was too long.

He then bought more than a dozen apartments in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and urged his relatives and close friends to do the same. He called it his Noah’s Ark plan, to prepare for the destructive flood that China might experience. But his Malaysia visa was valid for only 10 years.

Chen said he had finally settled on Malta because it was warm, beautiful and a member of the European Union, which meant he would be able to travel to other countries in the bloc.

For the entrepreneur class, he said, leaving China is the best way to resist Communist rule. Once people leave, they will manage to take at least some assets with them despite the strict capital controls the government has imposed in recent years. They can come back when the circumstances change, Chen said, much like many overseas Chinese did in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Chen is learning English and exploring his interest in religion. He still has some businesses in China, but doesn’t need to tend to them in person. He said he had never really considered changing his citizenship because life was tough for first-generation immigrants. He only wanted to find a safe place for his family, he said, to protect against a worst-case
scenario that he believes will materialize unless there’s a miracle.

“I didn’t expect my article would be circulated so widely,” he said. “For the time being, it might be best that I stay out of China.”

Cheers

ricky_v · Post by **ricky_v** » 01 Mar 2019 16:02

https://www.chathamhouse.org/publicatio ... ate-armies
Informative article.

Beijing Security Service and Hua Xin Zhong An Security Service, two of the first security enterprises to spring up, offered basic security provision for clients operating in mainland China, with limited interests in Africa. By 2010, a new breed of security firm had emerged offering highly trained special operations forces to protect Chinese personnel in state-owned Chinese oil and gas companies or banks working in such places as Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan. These included Shandong Huawei Security Group, the first Chinese security firm to open an overseas office, and DeWe Security Service, a firm operating in 37 countries that played a vital role in evacuations from African war zones. Boutique security firms such as Ding Tai An Yuan Security have found new markets addressing specific security challenges unique to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Over the past 15 years, the Chinese private security industry has modernized the services offered to clients, who remain mostly Chinese. Until 2014, these firms were all funded and manned by Chinese nationals. The emergence of Frontier Services Group (FSG) has seen a radical change. Headed by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL and founder of Blackwater, this Hong Kong-based company is the first Chinese-funded, American-operated private security group. The organization, previously known as DVN (Holdings) Limited, was originally an aviation and logistics company providing additional security and training services. Its corporate structure is unique in China. Many of its senior management, including Prince as chairman, are non-Chinese – specifically retired American military specialists. With Chinese backing, Prince stated that he could ‘pursue [his] vision for Africa and globally in a transparent manner and with the most respected partners’. Indeed, many of his firm’s clients are Chinese private companies or state-owned enterprises with interests in infrastructure, oil and gas, and mining in Africa.

From the beginning, FSG has made efforts to distinguish itself from Blackwater, the private military company now renamed Academi, whose reputation was tarnished by the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. FSG has enjoyed success with logistical projects in Africa and has hired legal advisers and auditors to provide transparent annual reports for public scrutiny. In 2016, FSG became a service provider for companies participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, and began setting up offices in Myanmar, Laos and Pakistan. Future offices are planned for Thailand, Cambodia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

In late 2017, FSG revealed an expanded range of services – including an offer to the Afghan government of the use of its aircraft for close-support combat operations. In 2018, Prince offered the US government use of his private contractors to bring the 17-year Afghan conflict to an end. His proposal argued that traditional troop deployments could be substituted by 6,000 contractors and 2,000 US Special Forces, cutting the annual cost of the war from $68 billion to $5.5 billion.

chola · Post by **chola** » 01 Mar 2019 17:23

Trump is crushing Cheen (they will capitulate soon in the coming week.)

Commies can restrict news inside the PRC but they can’t do that in their surrogates in the Western bloc. A big one is South Korea which is a massive conduit of Western tech into Cheen and has mightily profited and advanced because of this rather two-faced arrangement.

Now they are being flatten alongside their chini big brothers.

https://m.pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2019&no=125290

Korea’s Feb exports down 11% on yr on sluggish chip demand

2019.03.01 15:26:52 | 2019.03.01 15:47:16

South Korea’s exports has been in downturn for the past three months due to reduced chip demand and sluggish demand from China under unrelenting trade war with the United States.

The country’s exports in February totaled $39.56 billion, down 11.1 percent from a year ago and steeper than the 5.8 percent fall in January, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Friday. The last time exports declined for three months in a row was in May-July 2016.

The fall in outbound shipments was largely attributable to the downtrend in semiconductors that sustained double-digit growth last year.

Exports of semiconductors plunged 24.8 percent from a year earlier amid slow demand and reduced orders. Softer chip prices also were a big reason for the slowdown. The price of 8-gigabyte DDR4 DRAM memory chips averaged at $5.9 in February, off 36.8 percent from the same month of last year’s $9.3, according to the ministry.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Mar 2019 14:21

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/canada- ... us-2001508

canada starts process of extraditing the huawei lady to USA

SriKumar · Post by **SriKumar** » 02 Mar 2019 19:46

Wow. US is turning up the pressure.
That China could do nothing so far is a major loss of face.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Mar 2019 09:36

Hypersonics Are Speeding up Great Power Competition - Lyle J. Goldstein, The National Interest

Almost every day now, the New York Times comes out with a new front page article about China. The Middle Kingdom is simultaneously plundering the developing world, oppressing internal minorities, and hacking American companies. The Chinese economy is said to be in dire straits due to vast mismanagement , and the country is generally portrayed as on the brink of total meltdown. The editorial staff is fascinated by China’s shortcomings and appears to be intent on stoking the “New Cold War” by painting Beijing as the capital of the new “Evil Empire.” Such a torrent of reproach may have the impact of making the American public burn red hot with Sino-phobic zeal or alternatively causing its readership to chortle derisively at China’s pathetic plight. Yet the paper “of record” is remarkably oblivious to the actual nature of the shifting military balance in the Asia-Pacific.

Is it not highly irresponsible of journalists to promote grave tensions between Washington and Beijing without any knowledge of the ghastly consequences that might well flow from those frictions? Any student of U.S. history knows that the scourge of “yellow journalism” played a major role in setting off the Spanish-American War just over a century ago (giving America possession of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, Hawaii and Cuba in the rather unseemly process). The consequences of a war between China and America would, after all, look nothing like Washington’s long-forgotten adventure with Madrid, and might instead mark the end of life on Earth. Keeping that stark fact in mind, one wonders why the New York Times has never bothered to look into China’s rapid development of hypersonic weaponry.

At a minimum, there should be an acknowledgment in that paper and similarly influential media that China is deploying or on the cusp of deploying a hypersonic weapon ( DF-17), joining Russia in possessing that novel capability. It is worth emphasizing that, despite ample research in this area, the United States is yet to field any equivalent military capability. It may be true that “Hypersonic threats do not require hypersonic responses,” but the argument that these weapons are not significant is not persuasive. This article seeks to make a small contribution against this evident paucity of focus in China defense coverage by summarizing a couple of recent pieces from the Chinese defense press. It is no exaggeration to say that the Chinese-language defense press publishes hundreds of articles (and likely more) per year on the subject of hypersonic weapons development, so there is really no excuse for ignorance on this matter.

The first Chinese article to examine is a piece from the Chinese Navy’s official magazine Navy Today [当代海军] from late 2018 (October). While its focus is on the new Russian Kinzhal [匕首] air-launched hypersonic weapon, the piece is potentially revealing regarding China’s ambition to employ hypersonic weapons within the context of naval warfare. Indeed, the headline suggests a certain admiration for Moscow’s determination to wield such weapons against U.S. Navy aircraft carrier groups. The Chinese Navy analyst notes that Russian naval aviation was looking to upgrade since current strike weapons could “only” attain speeds of Mach 3, “affording the US Navy 12-15 seconds of time to prepare the defense [留给美海军12至15分种的防御准备时间].” Kinzhal is assessed to provide Russian strike aviation with a Mach 10 weapon out to a range of 2000km. It is noted that certain Russian aircraft (e.g., the Mig-29 and Su-57) are likely not able to heft this weapon at the requisite launch speeds. But, in addition to the Mig-31 used in the Russian tests of Kinzhal, this analysis suggests that the Russian Tu-22M3 bomber will be capable of slinging four of these missiles. The Chinese analysis concludes that the U.S. Navy carrier group’s standard F-18 interceptors will be “outsticked” by the combination of Tu-22 together with the Kinzhal weapon. Similarly, this article suggests that Kinzhal will not be stopped by either SM-6 missile interceptors or close-in weapons systems, noting that the fire control radar simply does not have adequate time to acquire the target. Even if one Kinzhal cannot sink a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the Chinese Navy author assesses, the carrier would “undoubtedly lose combat capability [失去战斗力是毫无问题的].”

And it’s quite clear, moreover, that Beijing is working toward a similar capability if it does not already exist. Indeed, a late fall 2018 issue (no. 18) of Modern Ships [现代舰船] reporting on one of China’s most recent successful hypersonic tests, concluded that China’s development process with hypersonics now enables Beijing to plan for, not only long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, but also hypersonics launched from submarines and bombers. These weapons would include both nuclear and “conventional warheads for sea attack [对海攻击常规斗部].” According to this analysis, such weapons will enable ranges well beyond what was previously conceivable. Most critically, this Chinese analysis notes that hypersonic weapons will allow for literally “change-fire-area attack [变射面打击].” That is to say that a warhead “‘riding’ the shock wave [‘骑’在激波]” can not only hit a vast domain of targets, but will also be “much harder to intercept [更难拦截].” The vehicle test platform photo was widely exhibited in the Chinese press, and its parameters were also published openly. Yet, there was hardly any coverage in the major Western news outlets, which remain infinitely more interested in the activities of Confucius Institutes on American campuses than Chinese weaponry innovations that could kill thousands of young Americans in seconds on the modern battlefield.

Upon news of this test, one Chinese commentator is quoted as offering: “… the day that such a thing is used is likely when humanity has already embarked on the contest of the apocalypse [这东西使用的那天,人类大概已经过上未日生存游戏了].” It’s actually somewhat reassuring to conceptualize these weapons in that way, of course. They are so terrible that they could never be used, right? Maybe.

Unfortunately, there is the troubling side branch of nuclear strategy that dwells on the so-called “ stability instability paradox .” In a word, that means that nuclear powers might still fight nasty conventional wars that come just up to the line of nuclear conflict (even though nobody knows where that line actually is). Such circumstances raise the troubling possibility that China and Russia are exploring capabilities that go well beyond the much-discussed “gray zone,” but rather seek to dominate in the potentially decisive middle rungs of military conflict.

Such steps will keep U.S. strategists plenty busy in the coming decades, but also suggest the need for new paradigms in arms control to reign in this high-tech military competition that is gaining momentum each day in the “New Cold War.” Journalists, including especially colleagues at the New York Times, should reflect on their own responsibility for raising great power tensions to exceedingly high levels without reporting the other side of the story in a balanced way. Most importantly, Washington decision-makers need to exercise studied restraint in a variety of tense situations, for example with respect to both Ukraine and also Taiwan. Both scenarios could quite easily detonate a third world war in the anxious era of hypersonic weaponry.

Lyle J. Goldstein is research professor in the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the Naval War College. The founding director of CMSI and author of dozens of articles on Chinese security policy, he focuses on Chinese undersea warfare. The opinions of the author are entirely his own and do not reflect the official assessments of the U.S. Navy or any other agency of the U.S. government.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Mar 2019 18:04

China steps up diplomacy to ease India-Pakistan tensions - Atul Aneja, The Hindu

China has stepped up its diplomacy to ease tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama attack by sending its special envoy to Islamabad.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Wednesday that Vice-Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou was already in Islamabad to establish an “enabling atmosphere” that would help Pakistan to cooperate with “other parties”.

Mr. Lu said Mr. Kong’s mission was to “promote dialogue” between India and Pakistan by persuading both sides to exercise flexibility. “I hope the two sides can show some goodwill, embrace each other halfway, properly resolve their differences through dialogue. China will play a constructive role to promote dialogue between them.”

India has made it plain that it would start a dialogue only if Pakistan takes visible and verifiable steps to eliminate terrorism that targets India from its soil. “In fact, Pakistan has been making efforts and exercised policies to combat terrorism. We think we should encourage this,” Mr. Lu said.

Crackdown on terror

On Tuesday, Pakistan arrested 44 members of proscribed organisations, including Hamad Azhar, the son of Masood Azhar, the head of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has claimed responsibility of the February 14 Pulwama attack that killed at least 40 CRPF personnel.

Without referring to the Kashmir issue, Mr. Lu said that both ‘symptom” and “root cause” of terrorism should be addressed.

Asked to comment on the understanding reached between the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC) during their February 27 meeting in Wuzhen, the spokesperson said: “As to counter terrorism issue in the trilateral meeting, I shall say a key point is that terrorism is a complex issue. We should address the symptom and the root causes of terrorism that is the premise for what was proposed by Foreign Ministers of the three countries.”

Asked to comment on China’s stand on the resolution proposed in the UNSC 1267 committee to list Azhar as a global terrorist, Mr. Lu said China would take a “conducive decision” to resolve the differences. “China will have discussion with relevant bodies” as listing of terrorists “is a very serious issue”, he said.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 08 Mar 2019 00:52

https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/11 ... 4134068225

"Artificial" Magnitude 2.1 Earthquake Detected In North Korea
While it's too early to say whether this was the result of what would be the country's seventh nuclear test, it's worth noting that two of the North's previous launches generated earthquakes with magnitudes 2.1 and 3.4, respectively. Though experts have also warned that previous tests may have created instability created by past test launches (or maybe even the country's underground nuclear testing facility has finally completely collapsed).

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Mar 2019 08:26

Chinese FM talks friendship but favours Pakistan - Saibal Dasgupta, ToI

Chinese state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi talked on Friday about close links between China and India, like the “Yangtze and Ganges”, but made it clear that “iron brother” Pakistan would continue to be a special ally for China.

Wang also caused mild surprise by indicating that China had mediated to resolve the tensions between India and Pakistan. This claim does not fit into India’s usual refusal to allow any country to mediate in this conflict. On the other hand, Pakistan has been keen to invite a third party to mediate.

China has all along advised both countries to exercise restraint, prevent an escalation and resolve their differences through dialogue, he said.

“In the meantime, the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity should fully respected. China followed these principles in its mediation and played a constructive role in defusing the tension,” he said.

Wang’s statements are crucial because they indicate what China has been telling other countries during diplomatic interactions with other countries. Indian diplomats are trying to explain that Pakistan is the aggressor using terrorists against India.

“China will work with India to comprehensively strengthen sectoral cooperation and people-to-people ties which are of vital importance in the current context so that our friendship and cooperation will forge ahead like the Yangtze and Ganges, giving strong and sustained impetus to our relationship,” he said.

He did not mention the crux of India’s complaint, which is cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and resulting in a military conflict between the two countries.

“China hopes Pakistan and India will transform the crisis into opportunity and meet each other halfway,” Wang said.

He expressed faith in the efficacy of the “Wuhan spirit” of bonhomie during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan last year.

“The historic meeting between Xi and Modi at Wuhan has created a new model of high-level interactions between our two countries, deepened the trust between our leaders and set the direction for our future relations,” Wang said.

Indian observers have of late begun questioning the value of the “Wuhan spirit” because they feel China is extending indirect support to Pakistan in the conflict by refusing to get Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, declared a global terrorist at the United Nations Security Council.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 09 Mar 2019 09:06

SSridhar wrote:Chinese FM talks friendship but favours Pakistan - Saibal Dasgupta, ToI
Chinese state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi talked on Friday about close links between China and India, like the “Yangtze and Ganges”, but made it clear that “iron brother” Pakistan would continue to be a special ally for China.

Wang also caused mild surprise by indicating that China had mediated to resolve the tensions between India and Pakistan. This claim does not fit into India’s usual refusal to allow any country to mediate in this conflict. On the other hand, Pakistan has been keen to invite a third party to mediate.

China has all along advised both countries to exercise restraint, prevent an escalation and resolve their differences through dialogue, he said.

“In the meantime, the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity should fully respected. China followed these principles in its mediation and played a constructive role in defusing the tension,” he said.

Wang’s statements are crucial because they indicate what China has been telling other countries during diplomatic interactions with other countries. Indian diplomats are trying to explain that Pakistan is the aggressor using terrorists against India.

“China will work with India to comprehensively strengthen sectoral cooperation and people-to-people ties which are of vital importance in the current context so that our friendship and cooperation will forge ahead like the Yangtze and Ganges, giving strong and sustained impetus to our relationship,” he said.

He did not mention the crux of India’s complaint, which is cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and resulting in a military conflict between the two countries.

“China hopes Pakistan and India will transform the crisis into opportunity and meet each other halfway,” Wang said.

He expressed faith in the efficacy of the “Wuhan spirit” of bonhomie during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan last year.

“The historic meeting between Xi and Modi at Wuhan has created a new model of high-level interactions between our two countries, deepened the trust between our leaders and set the direction for our future relations,” Wang said.

Indian observers have of late begun questioning the value of the “Wuhan spirit” because they feel China is extending indirect support to Pakistan in the conflict by refusing to get Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, declared a global terrorist at the United Nations Security Council.

x posting from another thread...

CPEC + pakilund trumps wuhan,

which, incidentally, was pure psyops against modi by forcing him to meet xi peng on his home turf, in the portrayed role of a supplicant and almost like an erring student summoned to the principal's office for a dressing down.

They were asserting themselves after the humongous loss of face at doklam.

CPEC concerns making China apprehensive about supporting ban on Masood Azhar: Report

CPEC concerns making China apprehensive about supporting ban on Masood Azhar: Report

This is the fourth time that a proposal has been moved to brand Masood Azhar a global terrorist. The previous three attempts have been blocked by China

OPINDIA STAFF
MARCH 8, 2019

China apprehensive about changing minds on Masood Azhar's terror designation

The People’s Republic of China, which has repeatedly blocked India’s efforts to designate Masood Azhar a terrorist, is reportedly apprehensive about changing its mind, as it thinks it will make the multi-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) prone to attacks by Jaish-e-Mohammed.

According to an Economic Times report, China is thinking about changing its stand on Masood Azhar and not use the veto to prevent him from getting listed as a terrorist on March 13th when the proposal moved by France and supported by other UNSC permanent members under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267 goes under consideration.

For this, it is reported that it will have to exert pressure on Pakistan to tie down security guarantees regarding CPEC. China’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou’s visit to Pakistan, this month, is also said to be have been done in this regard.

The $62 billion CPEC project, part of China’s giant programme Belt and Road Initiative, intends to construct modern infrastructures in Pakistan, including highway and railway networks, energy projects, to bolster the country’s economic backbone. According to reports, around 10,000 Chinese nationals are working on the project. Last week, China also sent socio-economic development experts to Pakistan to gear up projects in areas like education and water.

The corridor passes through Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and also Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where Balakot is present. It is considered a hotbed of activities of JeM and was recently hit by air strikes conducted by India.

China, reportedly, has acquired a large amount of land near Balakot and the Karakoram Highway that connects Pakistan with China through POK also crosses Mansehra making them prone to JeM’s terror activities.

India has been persistent in its approach to declare Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. In 2009, India had moved a proposal to ban Azhar. In 2016 again, India moved a similar proposal with the P3 nations: The United States, the United Kingdom, and France in the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee. The P3 nations had moved the same proposal in 2017, too. However, all proposals brought no fruit for India, as all of them were blocked by veto-wielding China. Even after the Pulwama attack last month, China has shown no difference in its position.

Peregrine · Post by **Peregrine** » 10 Mar 2019 02:02

China's GDP Growth Pace Was Inflated for Nine Years, Study Finds

China over-reported its economic growth between 2008 and 2016 by an average of 1.7 percentage points, according to a recent study by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Chicago.

The discrepancy came from local governments who are rewarded for meeting growth and investment targets, the authors say in a draft paper published by the Brookings Institution. The Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics, knowing such manipulation well, has been adjusting the local numbers but hasn’t done so sufficiently since 2008, authors Wei Chen, Xilu Chen, Chang-Tai Hsieh and Zheng Song wrote.

From the conference paper "A Forensic Examination of China’s National Accounts"

“Local statistics increasingly misrepresent the true numbers after 2008, but there was no corresponding change in the adjustment made by the NBS,” they wrote. They instead use numbers such as tax revenue, satellite night lights, electricity consumption, railway cargo flow, exports and imports -- less likely to be fudged, to predict the actual gross domestic product of the world’s second largest economy.

The revised numbers “indicate that the slowdown in Chinese growth since 2008 is more severe than suggested by the official statistics,” they wrote.

China’s NBS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

China’s GDP has long been criticized for either over- or under-estimating growth, or for smoothing out the fluctuations in real economic activities. Local authorities, eager to achieve economic growth goals so as to improve their own chances of promotion, used to report regional GDP figures that when summed would be more than 10 percent larger than the official national figure.

In recent years, the national authority has cracked down on fudging statistics by collecting data directly from firms, naming and shaming officials as well as setting up a specific inspection arm. The head of the statistics bureau claimed last year that the problems were all in the past, and from 2019, it will start to compute GDP for the 31 domestic regions.

Tom Orlik, chief economist for Bloomberg Economics and author of "Understanding China’s Economic Indicators" says he is “cautious” about the paper’s conclusions.

The NBS has made "determined efforts" to squeeze out the impact of local exaggeration since the 1990s, and the argument that local officials have overstated investment is hard to square with the well-known narrative that China’s capital spending rose too much, he wrote. The authors base their estimate of the “true” rate of GDP on tax revenue, but that may have reflected a larger services sector, and should not be taken as more accurate than other official indicators, according to Orlik.

What Bloomberg’s Economist Says

The broader point, once we slip loose of the anchor of the official GDP data, we’re floating in an ocean of uncertainty... As China plays an expanded role in the global economy and in global markets, that’s a problem. - Chief economist for Bloomberg Economics Tom Orlik

Click here to view Bloomberg Economics’ comment

Cheers

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 12 Mar 2019 12:26

^ Referring to the same study but with a provocative headline

China’s economy might be nearly a seventh smaller than reported

FOR A COUNTRY that is regularly accused of manipulating its statistics, China is remarkably diligent about collecting them. The government has dispatched two million boffins to visit companies, stores and even street stalls in the first few months of this year, as part of a new national economic census. Ads plastered on billboards implore people to co-operate. In a flashy promotional video on its website, the national statistics bureau warns that any fabrication of data is against the law.

A new paper, by Chang-Tai Hsieh of the University of Chicago and three co-authors from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, finds that industrial output and investment have been consistently embellished. As a result, they argue that China overstated real GDP growth by two percentage points on average every year from 2008 to 2016. Over time that adds up: official figures for 2016 would have exaggerated the size of the economy by 16%, or more than $1.5trn.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 13 Mar 2019 05:16

Chinese navy’s 70th birthday parade set to showcase country’s rising sea power - South China Morning Post

Chinese navy’s 70th birthday parade set to showcase country’s rising sea power

Next month’s nautical spectacle will allow country to show off its most advanced warships to an international audienceMore than a dozen foreign navies are expected to join in, including the United States

China will hold a naval parade next month to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army Navy and will invite more than a dozen foreign navies to participate.

The parade will take place on April 23 in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Qingdao in Shandong province, Ren Zhiqiang, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence, said on Thursday.

Ren did not provide further details, but military analysts said the exercise would give the navy the opportunity to display its rapidly growing strength and show how that has increased in the past 12 months.

In April last year a naval review in the South China Sea featured a total of 48 vessels and 76 planes, including China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, its Type 094A and 095 nuclear submarines, 052D guided missile destroyers and J-15 fighter jets.

The experts expect that next month’s event will provide a showcase for several new and more powerful vessels including its home-grown aircraft carrier Type 001A, the Type 055 – Asia’s most powerful destroyer – and several nuclear submarines.

“The fact that China is holding the naval parade just one year after the South China Sea review shows the great importance [the leadership] attaches to the development of China’s maritime interests, the navy and its expansion,” navy expert Li Jie said.

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 13 Mar 2019 10:43

Slightly dated, but worth reading:

China’s Non-Traditional Espionage Against the United States: The Threat and Potential Policy Responses

https://www.cnas.org/publications/congr ... -responses

Kati · Post by **Kati** » 13 Mar 2019 11:18

^^^

The above article explains Huawei CFO's arrest in Canada, and being extradited to the US.

dnivas · Post by **dnivas** » 14 Mar 2019 00:58

China blocks Indian bid again
Masood Azhar as global terrorist: China blocks bid at U.N., yet again

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... epage=true

In yet another setback to India’s bid to designate Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed’s chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, China on March 13 put a technical hold on a proposal in the U.N. Security Council to ban him following the Pulwama terror attack.

How can India sink a dagger into China's back and at the same time use sweet hyperbole.
Tibet/ taiwan / Import Taxes.. what levers can we effectively use?

Skanda · Post by **Skanda** » 14 Mar 2019 02:27

dnivas wrote:China blocks Indian bid again
Masood Azhar as global terrorist: China blocks bid at U.N., yet again

Allowing Azhar to be designated as a terrorist would have further boosted Modi's stature among India's populace. China doesnt want that. Why cant we just put another 10000 pounder on this guy and solve this charade once for all.