Bharat Rakshak

At least 400 people have been killed and 8,000 injured after a strong earthquake struck northwestern China. Many others were left trapped in collapsed mud-built homes.

The magnitude 6.9 tremor shook the county of Yushu in the remote Qinghai province this morning and was followed by a series of large aftershocks that destroyed low-rise brick and mud buildings.

Troops stationed nearby were digging with their bare hands through the rubble in search of survivors, state television showed.

They were hampered by a lack of equipment in the rural prefecture. Additional rescue teams were en route to the remote county, which is in mountains near the border between Qinghai and Tibet.

Despite two big quakes since 2008 on Tibetan plateau, China building 6 dams on Brahmaputra's middle reaches, with first coming up at Zangmu.

China's dominant position in the production of rare earth minerals has long-reaching implications for the U.S. Department of Defense, according to a recent government report.

The report from the Government Accountability Office was commissioned by Congress amid growing concerns that China's potential reduction on the supply of much-needed rare earth minerals could impact critical military uses.

China has secured 97 percent of the production of these minerals, which are used in nearly every electronic device, cell phones, computer hard drives and guided missiles.

By 2012, to unravel India, Beijing is likely to para-drop a division of its Special Forces inside the Siliguri Corridor to sever the Northeast.

There will be simultaneous attacks in other parts of the border and linkup with the Special Forces holding the Siliguri Corridor will be effected. All these will take place under the nuclear overhang.

In concert, Islamabad will activate the second front to unhook Kashmir by making offensive moves across the IB in the plains and the desert to divide Indian reaction capability. Meanwhile the fifth columnists supporting these external forces will unleash mayhem inside.

Two key question for New Delhi:
1. Will India go nuclear if its territorial integrity is threatened? France’s stated policy is that it will use the nuclear option, if Germany is attacked. Germany is not likely to face a nuclear adversary, yet France will use nuclear option if it is attacked. India faces threat from two nuclear powers in its vicinity. Will India shift its stated position of second strike to first strike, if the territorial integrity of the Union is under threat?

2. Will New Delhi have the gumption to order the Navy to retaliate and stop the flow of cargo in the Indian Ocean being freighted to China? Or will it order the Air Force to conduct offensive and decisive strategic strikes inside Tibet?

In blunt terms Mr. Nehru told the Chinese Premier on April 19 that his immediate task would be to restore among the Indian people the feeling of good faith and friendship that has been rudely shaken by recent events on the border. Mr. Nehru was welcoming Mr. Chou En-lai at Palam airport on arrival this afternoon from Rangoon. Mr. Nehru's serious concern over the present situation could not have passed unnoticed by Mr. Chou En-lai. For the first time in his political career, Mr. Nehru read out a prepared Hindi speech and it was translated into Chinese by an Indian official. Mr. Nehru chose his words carefully and deliberately. More than being polite and unambiguously frank Mr. Nehru's speech revealed a keen sense of personal anguish and disappointment at the recent happenings. Mr. Nehru recalled the warmth of welcome which greeted Mr. Chou En-lai on two previous occasions when he visited India and the bond of friendship forged between the two countries by the conclusion of the Panch Sheel agreement. He put the blame squarely on the Chinese for what had happened subsequently.

Tibetan monks ordered to leave China's quake zone

By ALEXA OLESEN (AP) – 5 hours ago

BEIJING — Earthquake survivors say the Tibetan monks helped first, bringing food, pitching tents and digging through rubble after disaster hit far western China a week ago, killing and injuring thousands.

Now the Buddhist monks who responded first are being pushed out of the disaster area and off of state media — apparently sidelined by Beijing's unease with their heroism and influence.

Monasteries were given verbal orders this week to recall their monks. Amid hours of coverage for China's national day of mourning on Wednesday, no monks were visible in the official proceedings.

It was a jarring omission in light of their contributions to the weeklong rescue and relief effort following the quake, which killed 2,064 people and injured more than 12,000 others.

Tsebtrim, an ethnic Tibetan who works as a translator in Yushu, the county in Qinghai province hit hardest by the April 14 quake, was among thousands left homeless. He recalls heading to the horse racing grounds shortly after the earthquake with hundreds of others who heard it would be a safe place if the local dam broke.

"There were these monks from Sichuan's Ganzi who had put up all these tents, 100 tents, in just a couple of hours and they provided drinks and food," said Tsebtrim, 31, who like many Tibetans has one name. "That night, a lot of people didn't have a place to stay so I am really glad those monks showed up."

In the days that followed, Tsebtrim saw monks digging through rubble for survivors or bodies, first alone and then with Chinese soldiers. He also saw them handing out food and medicine.

"It really impressed me a lot," he said during an interview from Yushu, where he is helping run an aid station.

Chinese military officials said this week nearly all the roughly 12,000 soldiers who rushed to the quake area struggled with altitude sickness and many had trouble communicating with Tibetan survivors. Tibetan-speaking monks, many of whom live in high-altitude areas or frequently make pilgrimages to them, didn't have those problems.

They flooded into Yushu within hours, on motorbikes and packed in the back of trucks.

On Saturday, they held a cremation ceremony, preparing hundreds of bodies, praying and burning the corpses in a massive trench outside of Yushu.

Yet state-run broadcasters have given scant attention to their efforts, spotlighting instead the hard work of the military and the People's Armed Police as they delivered tents, water and food, and lifted injured people from cracks of crumbled buildings.

Monks also live in the quake zone, though they were not shown in media coverage Wednesday.

Robbie Barnett, director of the modern Tibetan studies program at Columbia University, said the monks' contributions pose a dilemma for the communist leadership, which distrusts the Buddhist clergy because of their loyalty to the Dalai Lama.

Beijing insists the Dalai Lama is fighting for independence for Tibet, which the exiled spiritual leader denies.

Monasteries are tightly control by Communist Party authorities who routinely order political re-education campaigns for the monks. The tensions have occasionally erupted in violence.

"China has never faced this situation before, where the monks it has demonized for 15 years as potential enemies of the state turn out to be energetic contributors to social construction and community-building — the same role that the party has always claimed for itself," Barnett said in an e-mail.

"Perhaps that's why the work of the monks has been featured very little, if at all," on China Central Television, he said.

On Wednesday, a monk and a Tibetan activist in touch with people in the quake zone said monks from Ganzi in Sichuan and other surrounding areas had also been ordered to leave the earthquake zone.

Yixi Luoren, the head of Ganzi's Gengqing Monastery, said 150 of their monks went to Yushu but 120 had left by Wednesday on orders from the Religious Affairs Bureau and the Communist Party United Front department in Ganzi prefecture, where the monastery is located.

A rugged, deeply Buddhist region filled with monasteries and nunneries, Ganzi is known for its strong Tibetan identity and has been at the center of dissent for years.

"They told us to do so on the phone," Yixi Luoren said. "The authorities didn't tell us the reason, but we assume they might have worried that there are too many people there and wanted us to come home safely."

Radio Free Asia on Wednesday quoted a Tibetan man in Yushu as saying monks held a candlelight vigil on April 19 that officials feared might take on political significance. The report said the man had asked not to be identified by name.

Woeser, a Beijing-based Tibetan poet and activist, said Han and Tibetan acquaintances in the quake zone told her similar orders were given to monks from several other monasteries. She said the monks were upset and not willing to go but had no choice.

"A clear reason for the order wasn't given but it was very strict," said Woeser, who also uses just one name. "Local officials told them through translators in Tibetan 'You've done everything already. You've done too much. You have to leave Yushu now, otherwise there will be trouble.'"

Woeser said local Tibetans were frustrated because they believe the monks are still needed to help dig out the dead and perform funeral rites.

"There is an opportunity here for the state finally to recognize the immense cultural resources that the monks can offer," said Barnett, the Columbia University professor. "But it will take great cultural sensitivity and compromise on both sides for that to be achieved."

Associated Press researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

After a long romance with the G-77 and being courted by the United States, China has decided its new best friends forever are going to be Brazil, Russia, South Africa and India. Presidents Hu, Medvedev and Zuma, along with Prime Minister Singh, are busy meeting first in one capital city and then the next to try to forge common positions on a number of critical global challenges. The BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) countries are working on climate change, the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries on global financial issues, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) on regional security concerns. (China, interestingly, is the only country common to all. )
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Nonetheless, for the United States, particularly in its relations with China, these informal alliance structures are likely to be increasingly problematic. We have finally discovered how to push China along the spectrum of greater global responsibility by bringing other allies to bear on an issue (think Copenhagen, where the developing countries fractured and argued for China to do more). If China can seek cover with other large emerging powers, it will be far more difficult for the rest of the world to exert leverage on such critical issues as sanctions against Iran.......

arunabh wrote:China mineral dominance concerns U.S.

The ideal opportunity for China to dismember India is between 2011 and 2014 on multiple counts.

The resentment by the country's burgeoning middle-class over failing to get a share of the economic pie is now on par with the grudge held by many Chinese peasants, who feel cheated out of their land, banned from settling in the big cities and left out of the economic boom.

NRao wrote: Nightmare 2012: Chinese Special Forces cut off Siliguri corridor :: Bharat Verma

India’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society is the melting pot in Asia that benefits from rich diversity and open society. However, it is not as fortunate to be situated geographically in a safe haven like America, which is surrounded by nations with similar values.

By 2012, to unravel India, Beijing is likely to para-drop a division of its Special Forces inside the Siliguri Corridor to sever the Northeast.

Thanks to the country’s favorable location on the map, China's influence is expanding on land and at sea, from Central Asia to the South China Sea and from the Russian Far East to the Indian Ocean.

chaanakya wrote:
Anybody recognise this. Not far from Siliguri Corridor.

BTW the corridor looks formidable on the map only. The area is 100 km wide plain across Nepal India and BD. In case of chinese misadventure , IA would be happy to make mince-meat of them here. I doubt if ever they would attempt it without securing NE first.

chaanakya wrote:^^^ I have no doubt about that. With Nepal there is something of a friendship treaty. BD Space will be used as geography doesn't pose much hurdle, BD Govt may not have any objection when things are explained in appropriate settings.

Chinese have to contend with these factors besides Army Response.

Any possibility of Chinese using Nepal as drop zone with Maoists connivance and Govt of Nepal in active ignorance. Could Columns from Sikkim and NE be pinned down by Chinese keeping them massively occupied? I think massive insertion of SF can not take place without air support and IAF is not going to concede our skies to them.Small groups may be possible . The lines of communication bridges etc need to be secured as some rivers are perennial and unfordable without bridges.

China has replaced the most powerful official in its western region of Xinjiang, where ethnic violence left nearly 200 people dead last July.
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Wang Lequan, who had served as secretary of the Communist Party in Xinjiang since 1994, was replaced by Zhang Chunxian, state media say.
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A career party functionary with close links to President Hu Jintao, Mr Wang he took measures in the 1990s that angered Xinjiang's Uighurs, including a switch to Chinese-language teaching in primary schools and a ban on civil servants wearing beards, headscarves and observing the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

He also presided over a crackdown on Uighur separatists in 1997, seeking to link them to al-Qaeda. Mr Hu appointed him to the Politburo in 2002, with special responsibility for ethnic minority affairs.

Mr Wang developed Xinjiang's economy, in particular the oil industry, encouraging the settlement of Han workers from elsewhere in China. {Ah... what an impressive resume }

Hari Seldon wrote:Its clear to me that more than arunachal, the cheenis want access directly to the IOR.

Gagan wrote: Pink-Blue: Burmese airports
Red: Chinese airports / Airbases

North Burma is on the average 350 Kms wide.

Acharya wrote: Can these Burmese airports be taken over by India during a border war with China

Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna returned from Beijing this month with bombshell news. Krishna said Chinese authorities had finally admitted what the Indian government had long suspected: Beijing is building a massive, power-generating dam on China's Tsang Po river, which also runs through India -- where it is known as the Brahmaputra -- and Bangladesh.

Amid protests, Krishna reassured the public. "We have an expert-level mechanism to address the issue," the minister said during a meeting of parliament, according to press reports. "A meeting of experts from both India and China is scheduled to take place between April 26-29 in Delhi.''

abhishek_sharma wrote:Good article:

China's new strategy

http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/201 ... w_strategy

Beijing's new response is typically massive and ambitious: a $6.6 billion global strategy to create media giants that will challenge agenda-setting Western behemoths such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the BBC and CNN.

At a time when the Western media are contracting, China is pushing its government-run news services to expand from America to Zimbabwe. The Chinese are creating TV networks, pouring millions into English-language newspapers, leasing radio stations on all continents and broadcasting TV news to a worldwide audience in six languages.

The stations don't broadcast outright propaganda, but rather programming with a Chinese focus and flavor, tailored for local audiences. In Galveston, the format mixes China-centric international news, talk shows about the status of China's women and a healthy dose of gangsta rap -- all in English.

In New York, China's official Xinhua News Agency is moving its North American headquarters from a small building in Queens to a sprawling office complex in Times Square. It will soon have more than twice as many bureaus in the United States as any Western news agency has in China.

Xinhua plans to increase its worldwide footprint from about 130 bureaus to close to 200 and is equipping each one with a videographer. And last year it started its own television news channel -- in both English and Chinese.

China Central Television, the main state broadcaster, operates its biggest overseas bureau in Washington. In a sign of its increasing ambition, CCTV will begin live financial news coverage (in English) on Monday from the New York Stock Exchange.

Second, Kaplan seems to endorse the "Garret plan" that is making its way around the Pentagon, a plan which, in the context of America's regional political objectives, seems wrongheaded. The basic idea is to "do away with master bases" in Japan and South Korea and instead strengthen the U.S. presence in Oceania -- on Guam and the Caroline, Northern Mariana, Solomon, and Marshal islands -- while at the same time vastly expanding America's naval presence in the Indian Ocean. This strategy would require Washington to upgrade defense relations with India-to use some of its outer islands-well as with Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore. The U.S. navy would still cooperate with the Japanese maritime self-defense force as well. This plan, according to Kaplan, would be less provocative to China while at the same time still allow the United States to play something more than the role of offshore balancer.