People's Republic of China, Dec. 27 2011

[abhishek_sharma]

China puts Indian oil block up for auction

[Philip]

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article35642.html

The Paradox of China's Naval Strategy
Politics / China
Jul 17, 2012 - 03:07 PM

By: STRATFOR

[jamwal]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXdGAfHh ... re=related[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXdGAfHhT3w
China's state broadcaster has released surveillance video showing a road-dividing fence in the city of Jinhua falling like a giant row of dominoes. The 1.5-kilometre (0.9 miles)-long fence on Shuanglong Bridge tumbled over in just 30 seconds on Tuesday. It was the second time in ten days that it's collapsed, according to local authorities, who say the main reason for this was the strong wind. The dividing fences are not fixed to the ground.

what kind of fence is that ?

[shyam]

See the dieties in Beijing Lama Temple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqGiQfgPNgE&t=1m40s

BRFites who go to China should make sure to visit this Temple.

[Suraj]

More of the usual:
China censors coverage of deadly Beijing floods

Beijing authorities have reportedly ordered Chinese media to stick to positive news about record weekend floods, after the death of at least 37 people sparked fierce criticism of the government.

Censors also deleted microblog posts criticising the official response to the disaster in China's rapidly modernising capital, which came at a time of heightened political sensitivity ahead of a 10-yearly handover of power.

City propaganda chief Lu Wei told media outlets to stick to stories of "achievements worthy of praise and tears", the Beijing Times daily reported, as authorities tried to stem a tide of accusations that they failed to do enough.

Many Beijing residents took to the country's popular microblogs, or weibos, to complain that some of the deaths could have been prevented if better warnings had been issued and the city's ancient drainage systems modernised.

A call by the Beijing government for donations to an emergency flood relief fund was also criticised by microbloggers, with many ridiculing the authorities for asking ordinary people to pay for the damage.

On Tuesday, over 72,000 postings on a microblog thread focused on the call for donations were deleted.

Chinese posters here complain that most of the commentary about them here focuses on their negatives. This is an example of why: information asymmetry.

They have a system where every positive is trumpted, and negatives hidden by diktat. No effort is needed to find their positives, but to expose the negatives takes effort, which is why it's done here. This is not an open society unlike India, where the good news is often ignored, and the bad gets exaggerated because it makes for better press.

[Vayutuvan]

Looks like a lot of aggressive moves by China in South China Sea.

China-South China Sea: China on Tuesday officially established the city of Sansha on Yongxing Island (Woody Island, south of Hainan) in the southernmost province of Hainan. Sansha is the capital of a new prefecture, which will contain about 3,500 permanent residents on Chinese claimed islands and administer about 3 million sq km of the South China Sea, its seabed, and all the islands, which also are claimed by every other nation on the South China Sea.


Sun Shaochi, vice-minister of civil affairs, announced the State Council's approval of the establishment of the city at today's ceremony. Luo Baoming, Party Chief of Hainan Province, said in a keynote speech that Sansha was established to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands ( the Chinese names for the various island groups in the South China Sea) and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.


"The provincial government will be devoted to turning the city into an important base to safeguard China's sovereignty and serve marine resource development," he said. He said the main task now is to build up political power in Sansha to ensure efficient administration.


A ceremony to mark the city's establishment began on Tuesday morning in a square in front of the city government's main building, located on Yongxing Island, a part of the Xisha Islands and the largest island in the area.


The national flag was hoisted while the national anthem played after the signboards of the Sansha city's government and the city's committee of the Communist Party of China were unveiled. A military garrison was also established on Tuesday in the city.


Xiao Jie was elected on Monday the first mayor of the newly established city in the first session of the Sansha People's Congress, held on Yongxing Island.


Comment: The establishment of a prefecture for the islands and the sea represents the next step in China's strategy to make the South China Sea the internal waters of China.


The phase of diplomatic interaction and negotiations with the Southeast Asian countries has ended. China waited until after last week's fruitless meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia before establishing the new prefecture. The Association could not agree on a diplomatic path that might lead to resolution of the many disputes. So China acted unilaterally, ignoring the US, the Southeast Asians and the UN. That is an important and consistent trait of Chinese international relations style.


In making this region a prefecture, China is asserting the right to arrest trespassers and violators of sovereignty. The region has been incorporated into domestic administrative law. While the prefecture cannot now enforce its mandate, its establishment means China intends that it will obtain those capabilities in the future. More personnel, more resources, more bases and more ships of all types are destined for the new prefecture.


This will spark a limited arms race for patrol ships, but the ASEAN members will look to the US to protect their interests in sea and seabed resources. The US tilt to Asia appears too late to block the Chinese without risking naval confrontations and exchanges of fire.


NightWatch has reported on multiple occasions that the Chinese diplomacy was disconnected and incongruent with the actions of maritime and fisheries authorities and now national administration. Mild diplomatic language did not match the aggressive and belligerent practices of the maritime authorities. The action of the State Council in approving the new prefecture confirms what NightWatch Readers already new - the aggressive bullying was the real Chinese policy, not the diplomacy.


Because of the anti-secession statute, no Chinese leaders can agree to cede any territory or sea region claimed as Chinese without risking capital punishment. The administrative institutionalization process symbolized by today's ceremony at Sansha is irreversible unless the government in Beijing changes.

[Virupaksha]

That is the insecurity of china because of their internal factional fight. They are trying to deflect it outside. We can expect China itching fight a war over the next few years and on failing which the fights will turn internal. They want a short but convincing "victory", teach a lesson kind of thing like in 1962, when Mao needed it in his fights or in vietnam to bolster CMC - the opponent for this fight from their perspective doesnt matter.

But in the mean time, we should not be showing a crack in our formations. Show them Nathu las and they will try to deflect it on some other borders. The mountain divisions cannot come fast enough.

[jamwal]

A bit NSFW pic from Reddit from a post titled "note to self: never get a massage in china... a friend posted this picture of her back on facebook"

Whole back covered with painful looking bruises from a type of massage called "cupping" . Looks dangerous

[Roperia]

Cross post from the Geopolitical thread

There is a new book by Lora Saalman - China India Nuclear Crossroads

This is probably the first comprehensive work on the Indo-China nuclear balance (or imbalance).

[SSridhar]

China's Forward Policy in South China Sea - An IDSA Comment by R.S.Kalha

What has propelled the Chinese to undertake such a step {establishing the new Sansha island city in a 2 Sq Km patch of nowhere} ? The reasons are not far to fathom. Having just got over the internal convulsions caused by the sacking of the Chinese Politbureau member Bo Xilai, the present Chinese leadership did not want to give the impression that it was ‘weak-kneed.’ It wanted to refurbish its nationalist credentials. At the same time, nothing better distracts the people from reports of financial scandals of leading members of the Party than to indulge in a bit of sabre rattling. Similarly, the incoming Party chief and President, Xi Jinping, could not afford to start his innings by being seen as a pushover who could not defend China’s national interests. The upshot may be that the present incumbent Hu Jintao, while giving up the State Presidency as well as the party leadership, may continue for some time more as the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. This would lend the necessary stability to the smooth change-over expected at the 18th Party Congress.

China also wished to send a message to all other contenders in the South China Sea dispute that while it would wish for a diplomatic solution, it would react militarily to defend its position in the South China Sea. It also wanted to demonstrate that the United States would not necessarily militarily intervene in each and every occasion and that the countries of South East Asia might like to reconsider and keep this fact in mind.

[SSridhar]

China to react if India seeks oil in South China Sea

"China must first insist on exerting political pressure over both India and Vietnam, warning them that their joint exploration in the South China Sea are illegal and violate China's sovereignty," the Global Times said.

"If they conduct oil and gas exploration in waters under China's sovereignty, China should give a strong response," added the paper, which is known reflect hardline nationalist thinking in China.

The Times said the "strategic intention" of India's renewed involvement in the South China Sea issue was obvious.

"New Delhi wants to further complicate the issue and seeks to pin down China in the area so it could gain dominance in affairs across the region.

"It is clear that such cooperation between Indian and Vietnamese companies in South China Sea is motivated more by politics than economic interests.

"India believes that the rise of China poses a challenge, and it is trying to find ways to contain China.

"To achieve the goal, India has conducted joint military drills and stepped up security cooperation with countries that have disputes with China in the South China Sea.

"At the same time, India also wants to strengthen its economic presence in the area.

"Vietnam's offer of joint oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea provides an excellent opportunity for India to promote its strategy.

"Vietnam wants to take advantage of India's strategy to confront China. New Delhi and Hanoi do share common interests on the issue," the newspaper said.

The Times said that compared to India and Vietnam, China had advantages in its deep water drilling technologies.

"When the conditions are ripe, China should expand its exploration of oil and gas in the South China Sea."

[jamwal]

Double Jeopardy:

In China, the rich and powerful can hire body doubles to do their prison time for them.

In May 2009, a wealthy 20-year-old was drag racing through the city streets of Hangzhou, China, when his Mitsubishi struck and killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk. The car was traveling so fast that the victim—a 25-year-old telecom engineer of a modest, rural background—was flung at least 20 yards. Afterward, bystanders and reporters photographed the driver, Hu Bin, as well as his rich friends, who nonchalantly smoked cigarettes and laughed while waiting for the police to arrive at the scene.

These images, soon posted online, provoked a public outcry. Anger over the callous behavior of these wealthy Chinese youths was followed by accusations of a police cover-up. First, the local authorities admitted that they had underestimated the speed Hu’s vehicle was traveling by half. (Incredibly, the police had first suggested that Hu was going no more than 43 mph.) Public furor rose again when Hu received a three-year prison sentence, an exceptionally light punishment in a country where drunk drivers guilty of similar accidents can receive the death penalty.

But the most stunning allegation was that the man appearing in court and serving the three-year sentence wasn’t Hu at all, but a hired body double.



The charge isn’t as far-fetched as it may sound. The practice of hiring “body doubles” or “stand-ins” is well-documented by official Chinese media. In 2009, a hospital president who caused a deadly traffic accident hired an employee’s father to “confess” and serve as his stand-in. A company chairman is currently charged with allegedly arranging criminal substitutes for the executives of two other companies. In another case, after hitting and killing a motorcyclist, a man driving without a license hired a substitute for roughly $8,000. The owner of a demolition company that illegally demolished a home earlier this year hired a destitute man, who made his living scavenging in the rubble of razed homes, and promised him $31 for each day the “body double” spent in jail. In China, the practice is so common that there is even a term for it: ding zui. Ding means “substitute,” and zui means “crime”; in other words, “substitute criminal.”

The ability to hire so-called substitute criminals is just one way in which China’s extreme upper crust are able to live by their own set of rules. While Occupy Wall Street grabbed attention for its attacks on the “1 percent,” in China, a much smaller fraction of the country controls an even greater amount of wealth. The top one-tenth of 1 percent in China controls close to half of the country’s riches. The children and relatives of China’s rulers, many of whom grew up together, form a thicket of mutually beneficial relationships, with many able to enrich themselves financially and, if necessary, gain protection from criminal allegations.

[shyamd]

China says no to Indian consulate in Tibetan capital

Beijing has rejected New Delhi’s request to allow India to open a consulate in Lhasa, the administrative capital of Tibet. India’s request, first reported by HT, was in response to China’s desire to have a consulate in Chennai. Instead, Beijing has indicated that
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, could be an alternative location.

Chengdu is a key economic centre of western China and a consulate here would help the ever-expanding trade ties between the two countries. There are many Indian companies operating out of Chengdu.

However, the Indian side is not willing to settle for anything other than Lhasa, with officials noting that the “Chinese would naturally place Chengdu, or even Kunming before us”.

“We have asked for the re-opening for the consulate in Lhasa. It’s given to our understanding that Beijing is not keen on having any more mission in Lhasa or in any part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The issue of opening of new consulates in each other’s country is a matter of continuing discussion,” said an official familiar with the development.

According to diplomatic sources familiar with the developments, the Chinese don’t want more consulates in Lhasa, where only Nepal has one.

The Chinese side is wary because of a series of self-immolations in support of Tibet’s right to self-determination. These, Beijing says, were done at the behest of Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese look upon as a “splitist.”

The US has also been angling for a consulate in Lhasa. The consulates that come under the Indian embassy include Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Lhasa is a better location

[Philip]

China warns off the US in the Indo-China Sea spat.It is amazing that the PRC think that the world will be fooled by this absurd statement as it is China that has most provocatively "fanned the flames" by its warmongering,imperialistic,self-drawn 9-dash map line ,arrogating to itself virtually the whol;e of the Indo-China Sea!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/au ... -china-sea

China lambasts US over South China Sea row
Beijing accuses Washington's intervention in the region of 'fanning the flames and provoking division'

Xcpt:

China lambasts US over South China Sea row

Beijing accuses Washington's intervention in the region of 'fanning the flames and provoking division'
Tania Branigan in Beijing
guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 August 2012 18.01 BST

China Asia sea dispute
South China Sea row intensifies as China expands territorial claims in regions such as Spratley Islands.
China's state-run media has lambasted the United States over its intervention in the South China Sea row, highlighting the alarming escalation of a long-running dispute.

Furious commentaries ordered Washington to "shut up" and accused it of "fanning the flames and provoking division" in the region. The foreign ministry in Beijing called in a senior US diplomat at the weekend over the State Department comments.

Analysts fear the South China Sea has become a major potential flashpoint, as tensions have risen sharply between China – which claims almost all the sea – and Vietnam and the Philippines. Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to parts of the sea, which contains valuable energy reserves and fisheries and sees an estimated $5 trillion of cargo – half the world's shipping tonnage – pass through its sea lanes annually.

"While the likelihood of major conflict remains low, all of the trends are in the wrong direction, and prospects of resolution are diminishing," the International Crisis Group warned in a recent report on the six-party dispute.

Beijing's most recent moves include offering oil and gas exploration blocks for bidding and establishing a new city, Sansha, which boasts at most a few thousand residents and 5 square miles (13 square kilometres) of land spread over several tiny islands – yet lays claim to 772,000 square miles (2 million square kilometres) of sea and its own military garrison.

It prompted the US to publicly reenter the row, with a statement expressing concern at the growing tensions and singling out Beijing's role. The city and garrison "run counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region," said Patrick Ventrell, acting deputy spokesperson at the State Department.

Beijing responded by calling in the US deputy chief of mission and state media ran a spate of hostile pieces. "We are entirely entitled to shout at the United States, 'Shut up'. How can meddling by other countries be tolerated in matters that are within the scope of Chinese sovereignty?" asked a commentary in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the official Communist party newspaper.

The domestic version accused Washington of "fanning the flames and provoking division" in the region.

State media say Beijing's moves are a response to the actions of Manila and Hanoi, such as a new law requiring all foreign ships passing through the disputed waters to notify Vietnamese authorities.

In Chinese eyes, it is – as deputy foreign minister Cui Tiankai recently described it – a "victim", not the instigator.

Though its far smaller neighbours bristle at such a description, the new ICG report notes: "China is not stoking tensions on its own. South East Asian claimants ... are now more forcefully defending their claims – and enlisting outside allies – with considerable energy."

Shading the row is concern about the Obama administration's refocusing of foreign policy in a "pivot to Asia". The US says it has no territorial ambitions in the Sea and no position on the competing claims to land features, but has a national interest in freedom of navigation and maintaining peace and stability.

But Chinese hawks warn of an attempt to encircle and contain China while others argue that, at a minimum, its rivals are exploiting the US shift.

A Xinhua commentary this weekend accused the US of double-dealing and urged Washington to show it was not seeking "to clip China's wings and shore up the United States' cracking pedestal in the Asia-Pacific".

In a speech quoted by the Global Times, Zhou Fangyin of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences noted: "Countries with territorial disputes with China believe that the costs and risks of provoking China have largely dropped ... China's rapid rise may also make [them] realize that their chances of reaping and consolidating benefits by encroaching upon Chinese territories would be smaller in the future."

In any case, argues Rory Medcalf of Australia's Lowy Institute, "It has become academic to ask who started it ... What we see now is an action-reaction cycle."

The multitude of Chinese agencies involved has stoked tensions, the ICG has argued, with poor coordination and some actors seeing it as a way to increase their power and budget.

Increasing militarisation of the dispute makes it harder to resolve skirmishes, but could also raise the threshold for armed conflict, it noted.

"More immediate conflict risks lie in the growing number of law enforcement and paramilitary vessels playing an increasing role in disputed territories without a clear legal framework", it added.

Domestic nationalism in other claimant countries adds to the difficulties.

No one wants military conflict, not only because of the inevitable disruption of trade. The smaller countries would have to take on mighty China, while such a conflict "would undermine [Beijing's] peaceful rise thesis, cause irreparable damage to its image and foreign policy in Asia and push other countries far closer to the US.

Clearly none of that is in China's interests," said Ian Storey, of the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore.

Yet should it come to an exchange of fire, even the US could feel compelled to become involved – with great reluctance – to defend its credibility as an ally not only to the Philippines but countries across Asia, argued Medcalf.

Analysts see little hope of resolving the dispute and say the best-case scenario is now the agreement of measures to handle clashes.

"I don't think any of the claimants have any good options. They have all painted themselves into a corner," said Storey


More news

Vietnamese protest demanding China stays out of their waters

Protests in Vietnam as anger over China's 'bullying' grows

Tensions rise after Beijing declares city, which Vietnam lays claim to, its newest municipality

Tensions rise as China lays claim to its newest city in South China Sea

US helps the Philippines improve its military capability

[SSridhar]

Closer India-US relations not aimed at China

The efforts of the United States to deepen ties with India were not aimed at containing China but meant to create an Asia where no single country should dominate, according to US foreign policy expert Walter Russel Mead.

With the rise of other countries, he said: “China needs to play by the rules in Asia.”

He said the US ties with Pakistan were not as warm as the Pakistanis want them to be. With the US moving towards India, Pakistan expected China to turn to it, but the Chinese were not eager on this. In the short-term, Pakistan had far worse foreign policy issues than India{These kinds of comparisons between India & Pakistan must be discouraged}.

Referring to Pakistani strategic culture of being fixated on zero sum rivalry with India, he said that Pakistan needed to change its direction.

Pointing out that Pakistan was not capable of winning a contest with India, he said that its efforts for parity with India were undermining its own growth.

[svinayak]

Closer India-US relations not aimed at China

The efforts of the United States to deepen ties with India were not aimed at containing China but meant to create an Asia where no single country should dominate, according to US foreign policy expert Walter Russel Mead.

With the rise of other countries, he said: “China needs to play by the rules in Asia.”

US has been pumping China for more than 30 years and now they are asking it to restrain is very strange. They have allowed proliferation from China to rogue countries such as Pakistan and now they are asking China to behave.

[SSridhar]

China consolidates Rare Earth industry and builds strategic reserves

The Chinese move to build reserves comes at a time when the United States, countries of the European Union, Japan and South Korea, all of which are dependent on China for rare-earth supplies, have highlighted the imperative of stockpiling strategies.

China’s pre-eminent success in the rare earth industry is the result of both careful thought and consideration at the highest policy making levels which have constantly expedited reform in the industry. These policies are well thought decisions that are directly linked to its long term objectives to become an innovative nation by 2020 and a global scientific power by 2050.

[SSridhar]

Self-immolation by oppressed Tibetans continues in China

A 26-year-old Tibetan woman and a 21-year-old monk were reported to have set themselves on fire in the Gansu and Sichuan provinces of western China this week, overseas groups said on Tuesday. This raises the number of self-immolations in Tibetan areas to at least 46 since the wave of protests began in March 2011.

[wig]

meanwhile as china gets in the mood for its change of guard for the decade a jernail gets drunk and lashes out

During a holiday banquet for China’s military leadership early this year, a powerful general lashed out in a drunken rage against what he believed was a backhanded move to keep him from being promoted to the military’s top ruling body. general, Zhang Qinsheng, vented his fury in front of President Hu Jintao, according to four people with knowledge of the event. At the banquet, he even shoved a commanding general making toasts; Mr. Hu walked out in disgust.

The general’s tirade was one of a series of events this year that have fueled concerns among Communist Party leaders over the level of control they exercise over military officials, who are growing more outspoken and desire greater influence over policy and politics.

With China’s once-a-decade leadership transition only months away, the party is pushing back with a highly visible campaign against disloyalty and corruption, even requiring all officers to report financial assets.

“Party authorities have come to realize that the military is encroaching on political affairs,” said one political scientist with high-level party ties. “Although the party controls the gun, the expression of viewpoints from within the military on political issues has aroused a high level of alarm.” He, like others who agreed to discuss internal party affairs, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals.

Some generals and admirals have loudly called for the government to assert control over the South China Sea, the focus of increasingly rancorous territorial disputes between several Southeast Asian countries and China, where nationalist spirits are on the rise among the public and politicians as well. And earlier this year, leaders in Beijing became alarmed over ties between generals and the disgraced Politburo member Bo Xilai.

The party’s need to maintain stable rule over an increasingly vocal military is one reason Mr. Hu, its top civilian leader, is expected to hold on to his position as chairman of the Central Military Commission for up to two years after he gives up his party chief title in the fall, according to people briefed on political discussions. His anointed successor, Xi Jinping, would still take over Mr. Hu’s posts as head of the party and head of state, but would have to wait to become China’s military boss.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/world ... ml?_r=1&hp

[Hari Seldon]

China’s ‘Rise’ May Have Already Peaked

Take with salt only but dish is not without its merits.

[Aditya_V]

China consolidates Rare Earth industry and builds strategic reserves

The Chinese move to build reserves comes at a time when the United States, countries of the European Union, Japan and South Korea, all of which are dependent on China for rare-earth supplies, have highlighted the imperative of stockpiling strategies.

China’s pre-eminent success in the rare earth industry is the result of both careful thought and consideration at the highest policy making levels which have constantly expedited reform in the industry. These policies are well thought decisions that are directly linked to its long term objectives to become an innovative nation by 2020 and a global scientific power by 2050.

If this was India, Mining Mafia along with Maoists and politicos would have sold the entire stock for peanuts in thier swiss bank account.

[SSridhar]

China consolidates Rare Earth industry and builds strategic reserves

If this was India, Mining Mafia along with Maoists and politicos would have sold the entire stock for peanuts in thier swiss bank account.

Aditya, the trouble is that Japan has turned to India for rare earths and as a sop have withdrawn their ban on IRE; but, India, which is nowhere near China in terms of rare earths availability, should not go overboard.

[svinayak]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... story.html

China’s slowing economy could complicate relationship with U.S.

China’s slowing economy could complicate relationship with U.S.

The Chinese economy on Friday showed worrisome signs of slowing down, a development that not only threatens global economic growth but also may complicate the relationship between China and the United States.

China reported that its exports, a critical driver of economy activity, grew by only 1 percent in July, far below the 11 percent rate seen in the prior month. It was the latest evidence that the world’s second-largest economy is losing steam, a problem for U.S. businesses that sell their goods and services to China

.But China’s response to its slowdown, which comes ahead of a rare change in power, could also create new tension with the United States, where the presidential campaign is focused on the economy.

China is turning to policies that may benefit its economy at the expense of the United States’. This year, for instance, China has surprised a wide range of observers by allowing its currency to lose value relative to the dollar, which makes its exports cheaper than America’s. And there are prominent calls inside the country for the renminbi to fall further.

“The economic slowdowns and the political circumstances in both countries could lead to trade tensions erupting once again,” said Eswar S. Prasad, an international trade expert at Cornell University.

Driving China’s slowdown are several factors — most notably, the financial crisis and recession in Europe, which is sapping demand for China’s goods. Also contributing is a slow recovery in the United States and a significant decline in residential real estate investment in China.

Exports are critical to China’s economy, accounting for more than a quarter of economic activity, compared with a little more than a tenth in the United States. To maintain overall growth rates, China has hoped to keep exports growing at about 10 percent per year, and for much of this year it has succeeded.

That’s why the news that Chinese exports had dropped so much caused worry on Friday, and it was only one of several troubling signs. Another indicator Friday showed bank lending declining, a signal that businesses and consumers are planning to spend less money, while on Thursday factory production failed to meet expectations. Many expect overall Chinese economic growth to suffer, too.

Chinese leaders are under pressure to take steps to help the economy as a rare change in power looms. This fall, the Communist Party will choose a new general secretary and officials through the government.

“They cannot afford, during a period of political transition and political turmoil, to suggest any loss of economic control,” Prasad said.

China and the United States are the twin engines of global growth, and both need each other to take steps to keep economic activity going.

[chanakyaa]

Bloomberg story --
China’s Ancient Mariners Stoke Modern Conflict Over Oil in South China Sea

China’s Ancient Mariners Stoke Modern Conflict Over Oil in South China Sea

China’s Ancient Mariners Stoke Modern Conflict in S. China Sea
2012-08-12 22:00:01.3 GMT


By Flavia Krause-Jackson and Daniel Ten Kate
    Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- In asserting its claims to the tiny
islands, rocks and reefs in the South China Sea, China points to
records of its ancient mariners. Today, those waters are far
more important to China than in the age of the sail.
    That’s because the area may hold oil riches that rival
Saudi Arabia’s, a prospect that is stoking tensions in one of
the world’s busiest shipping lanes as China undertakes its once-
in-a-decade leadership transition.
    China’s assertiveness over a vast stretch of sea has grown
in lockstep with its economic clout as it overtook the U.S. to
become the world’s largest energy user. It is encountering
competition over the rights from others, notably Vietnam and the
Philippines, which are also asserting their claims.
    “There is no advantage for China to back down or enter
negotiations,” said Andrew Nathan, a scholar of Chinese
politics and foreign policy at Columbia University in New York.
“China won’t calm down, and the current posture reflects a
long-established strategy to reassert its claims steadily over
time without ceding an inch.”
    At stake are unproven oil reserves of as much as 213
billion barrels, according to Chinese studies cited in 2008 by
the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That compares with
265.4 billion barrels of proven reserves held by Saudi Arabia as
of 2011, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
    In 2010, China became the world’s top energy consumer. Its
demand for oil alone surged to 9.8 million barrels per day in
2011 from 216,000 barrels per day in 1965, BP data shows. That’s
more than double its daily production of 4.1 million barrels.

                         Economic Case

    A net oil importer since 1993, China’s own proven oil
reserves would last only 10 years at the current production
levels, while Vietnam’s production would last 37 years,
according to BP Plc estimates. The needs of the Philippines,
because it imports nearly all of its oil, are greater than
China’s, Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario said in
an interview last year.
    The world’s second-largest economy claims “indisputable
sovereignty” over most of a body of water that lies south of
mainland China, including more than 100 small islands, atolls
and reefs that form the Paracel and Spratly Islands. Those
claims are contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia,
Brunei and Taiwan.

                        ‘Nine-Dash Map’

    China says explorer Zheng He, whose sea adventures predate
Christopher Columbus, crossed the South China Sea during the
Ming Dynasty and cites historical maps that long predate the
founding of the People’s Republic in 1949. The Chinese Foreign
Ministry website says the earliest discovery of the Spratlys,
called Nansha in China and Troung Sa in Vietnam, can be traced
back 2,000 years to the Han dynasty.
    These records form the basis of China’s “nine-dash” map
of the sea, first published in 1947, that extends hundreds of
miles south from China’s Hainan Island to the equatorial waters
off the coast of Borneo. North Vietnam recognized Chinese
sovereignty over the area from the 1950s to the 1970s, while the
Philippine claim of some islands dates back to the 1950s.
    In the closing days of the Vietnam War, China seized the
Paracel Islands in a 1974 naval battle with South Vietnam. In
1988, China sank several ships and killed more than 70
Vietnamese sailors in a skirmish over the Spratlys.

                        Military Force

    Along with the growing strength of its navy, China has used
its maritime surveillance ships to harass foreign fishing boats,
cut survey ships’ cables, and plant markers on unoccupied reefs.
At least eight incidents between China and the Philippines, a
U.S. ally, in the last 18 months have highlighted conflicting
territorial and resource claims, according to the Congressional
Research Service.
    While all-out war is unlikely, “all of the trends are in
the wrong direction,” the International Crisis Group, a policy
research organization, said in a report last month.
    The competing nations have moved to assert administrative
control over the islands through setting up local governments,
building structures, passing laws and promoting tourism, often
leading to tensions. After Vietnam passed a maritime law in
June, China delineated oil blocks off areas that Hanoi’s leaders
had already awarded and set up a military garrison in the
Paracels.
    Adding to the mix is the U.S., which is shifting military
assets to Asia and is advocating multilateral regional talks on
the South China Sea. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in
a July 18 editorial that China’s call for bilateral talks “is a
recipe for confusion and even confrontation.”

                        U.S. Criticism

    China’s actions in the Paracels run “counter to
collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and
risks further escalating tensions in the region,” State
Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said on Aug. 3. A day
later, officials in Beijing said the U.S. was sending “a
seriously wrong signal” to rivals for territorial rights in the
South China Sea.
    “The Chinese tend to react in very visceral fashion, and
that does not always go down well,” said Jonathan D. Pollack,
an Asian and Pacific Studies specialist at the Brookings
Institution in Washington, in a telephone interview. “Any time
they see a U.S. role in anything, they will lash out.”
    The U.S., which says it doesn’t take sides on competing
claims, has a declared national interest in a stretch of sea
that carries an annual $5 trillion in ship-borne trade and
frequently cites concerns of freedom of navigation. China denies
ever threatening ships passing through its waters.

                     Long-Standing Policy

    “The U.S. is unlikely to get involved directly, as that
would alter a long-standing policy of maintaining neutrality in
territorial disputes and complicate its broader relationship
with China,” said Taylor Fravel, a professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. “However, the U.S. is likely to speak out when
it believes that trends are challenging regional stability or
the principle of freedom of navigation.”
    The new surge in hostilities can be traced to about 2007,
when claimants moved to strengthen their positions and develop
oil and gas fields within their 200-nautical-mile economic
zones, according to analyst Ian Storey of the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
    Government-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp., China’s
largest off-shore oil producer and parent of Cnooc Ltd., in May
begin drilling using its first deep-water drilling rig north of
the Paracels. The proposed acquisition of Nexen Inc. of Canada
by Cnooc, in a deal valued at $15.1 billion, would give China
in-house deep-sea drilling expertise it had lacked, according to
Dean Cheng, a researcher on Chinese political and security
issues at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

                            Race On

    “It is certainly conceivable that if the Chinese are out
there first, and the Chinese find oil and they can back their
claims with military force that, in a sense, the region is going
to be effectively ceded to the Chinese,” he said.
    Vietnam has bid out areas within China’s claims, with Exxon
Mobil Corp. and Gazprom OAO among companies that have signed
deals to explore the area. The Philippines has also opened parts
of the waters to international companies, though in a July
auction it received bids only from smaller, local oil companies
such as Makati City-based Helios Petroleum.
    The existing mechanisms for China and Southeast Asian
nations to hammer out their differences are proving inadequate.
China says its claims pre-date the 1982 United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea, which sets out a framework for
a solution, and won’t submit to international arbitration.
    A meeting in July of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations hosted by Cambodia failed to reach a consensus on
handling disputes in the South China Sea.
    If after nine years Asean and China cannot agree on how to
implement a set of confidence-building measures, “what hope is
there for reaching an agreement on a binding code designed to
limit the sovereignty-building activities of the more active
claimants?” said Storey. “Little to none, I would say.”

[Rahul M]

had a long series of discussions with a chinese mainland student (studies in one of the ivy league madrassas in unkil sam) over the last week.
fellow is nominally a communist without being blind about it.

some points, many of which we have already discussed here :

a) he describes the system in china as bureaucratic capitalism

b) confirms the points regarding forced govt takeover of lands with bare minimum compensation to the poor farmers or original owners. there is no concept of rule of law. people can't even think of suing the govt.

c) one of his friends was at the foxconn factory and found it difficult to bear the level of abuse. left quickly. when I asked if it was the exception or the usual, he says the foxconn facility is among the best, comparatively speaking. of course, workers have no rights.

d) situation in countryside : can be pretty bad. much worse than what CCP wants people to believe. the hukou system, even though watered down a bit in recent years, prevents families of rural workers to get any kind of public service like education, healthcare etc if they work outside their region.

e) the main problem is complete lack of accountability at all levels and the opacity of the system. in his mid 20's from a relatively well to do and well connected family (his parents are in the party) he has never taken part in any electoral process. this is the situation of the overwhelming majority of the people. people are appointed, not elected. party is the only way to get ahead in life, unless one is good in academics and sometimes even then.

f) china's young gen don't believe in communism, they only want to become like US.

g) censorship : confirms the existence of drones (said they are paid very little ) and some other strange forms like certain numbers are censored (before the tiananmen anniv, 4 and 6 for 4th June are not allowed to go through even as part of other numbers, say phone numbers)

[asprinzl]

Just got back from watching a documentary titled "Death by China" that was shown at a little cinema called Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village (NYC). Also met with several anti-CCP activists and several survivors of Chinese slave labor camps who had some very interesting stories narrated. Among the personalities invited to the event was Gordon Chang who authored "The Coming Collapse of China".

So here are some interesting tidbits: Several PLA/CCP goons beat up a pro-Tibetan activist in Flushing. Yep....here in the USA!!
Last year alone nearly 200 000 incidents of uprising against the CCP at various levels all over the country. That is more than 500 incidence of violence a day. Including one where several thousand of them went on a spree of ransacking the CCP office in Beijing with about 10 000 policemen helping the protesters along. Apparently, while the mob charged through the office building and roughed up CCP staffs , many of the CCP flunkies quickly changed their clothes to look more like the common folks.

Since Tiananmen tragedy in 1989 some 40 million members have quit the CCP and apparently there are daily calls of "CCP quit PRC"...and these often take place out in the public infront of police. Since many in the police force at the street level also share the same sentiment, these folks most often are not arrested. This got so crazy that the PR department of the CCP sent one of their NYC based flunky to ask one of the anti-CCP activist to tone down in exchange for an unspecified sum of money.

Gordon Chang told me that the CCP is at their weakest moment in their history and that the collapse is inevitable. He is planing a trip to India later this year to promote his book.
Avram

[svinayak]

What is your assessment if there is trouble in the chinese border

[VinodTK]

China's rail link to hit Indian exports

BEIJING: The $707 million Yuxi-Mengzi rail line, linking Kunming in southwest China to Singapore in southeast Asia, will become operational by the end of this year, posing a threat to Indian exporters competing for market space with China. The rail line, originating in China's Yunnan province, will traverse through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Singapore, completing a course of over 2,000km.

The announcement comes just before Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming meets his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma at the joint economic group on August 27 in New Delhi.

China also plans to build rail routes linking Kunming to Myanmar and, eventually, Bangladesh. On completion, it will create a grand alliance of Asian markets supporting each other, while expanding China's markets. The line will provide an impetus to trade which has slumped due to cancellation of purchase contracts by recession hit West.

[krisna]

Facekini craze hits China beach as swimmers try to avoid a tan

In the West, getting a tan is one of the main reasons for going to the beach.

But in China, some are going to extraordinary lengths to avoid getting a bit of sun with a new item of beachwear – dubbed the Facekini – causing something of a stir in the coastal tourist city of Qingdao, Shandong Province.

The masks completely cover the swimmers' heads, revealing only their eyes, noses, and mouths.

The masks are an outward expression of a Chinese understanding of beauty in terms of skin color.

"I myself don't mind getting tanned, but I can see why pale skin is attractive," Alina Zhao, a college student in the U.S. who grew up in Zhejiang, China, said.

"It definitely has to do with the history of China, which is largely an agricultural society,” she added. “Getting tanned means you work outside in the fields a lot, so skin color is like an indicator of your social status. The fairer you are, the wealthier or more respected you seem."

Users say the face masks are useful in protecting against insects and jellyfish.

[krisna]

Anger as 'superhero' school fails to teach special powers

Among the special powers the children were to be taught was the ability to read a book in 20 seconds and identify a poker card with the touch of a hand.

This remarkable feat – the course claimed – would be achieved by training class members to tap into the right side of their brain. This would enable the children to detect “waves” emanating from certain things, such as words on a page, and create a picture inside their mind. This picture was the key to these phenomenal powers, it said.

I found that my child learned nothing except how to cheat," one angry parent told the Guardian.

are our friendly drones from similar skools of ccp.

[partha]

Shyam Saran 'reveals' a fascinating story of what happened in 1986!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a ... 836618.ece

Mr. Saran provided a rare insider account of the last major India-China military standoff — the Wangdung Incident. The previous year, he recalled, China had begun to signal it was unwilling to legitimise the ceasefire line arrived at after the 1962 war as a border. “It was also conveyed to us,” he said, “that at a minimum Tawang would have to be transferred to the Chinese side.”

“When we pointed out,” Mr. Saran said, “that just 3 years back in 1982 Deng Xiaoping had himself spelt out the package proposal as we had hitherto understood it, the response was that we may have read too much into his words.”

Later, in 1986 Indian troops discovered that Chinese troops had crossed the Thagla ridge, and built permanent barracks as well as a helipad on a key feature.

“I recall accompanying Ambassador K.P.S. Menon to lodge a protest with the then Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister,” Mr. Saran said, “and being witness to a most undiplomatic, offensive and vituperative harangue by the latter.”
{No wonder they are best friends with Pakistanis}

K. Sundarji, India’s Army Chief, meanwhile used India’s new strategic airlift capabilities to move troops to occupy parallel positions — setting up posts just 10 metres from the new Chinese positions.

India’s own political leadership, Mr. Saran said, was taken by surprise by the mercurial General Sundarji’s actions — and the Chinese infuriated. However, he argued, the operation paid off. “While we may not have planned it this way, the Chinese judged our actions through their own prism: that we had countered their unexpected move by a well orchestrated counter move of our own.”

“The lesson to be drawn,” Mr. Saran concluded, “is not that we should be militarily provocative but that we should have enough capabilities deployed to convince the other side that aggressive moves would invite counter-moves.”

[Aditya_V]

Shows Diplomacy is highly overated, its your Miltary capability and intent which is respected.

[SSridhar]

China's POK rail-link plan gets traction

Pre-feasibility work on the proposed railway line has been completed, Pakistani Ambassador to China Masood Khan told the China.org website in an interview published on Thursday.

“This new link will enhance the economic ties between China and Pakistan as well as create a new link between East and South Asia,” Mr. Khan said.

Pakistan should realize that it would not get any economic benefits out of this project except perhaps some transit fees.

India has voiced its concerns to China about the railway line stressing that India views the region as an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir. India has also pointed to China’s own long-standing opposition to the involvement of third-party countries in projects in disputed areas. Most recently, China voiced its objections to the presence of ONGC Videsh in exploration projects with Vietnam in the South China Sea.

But Chinese officials have indicated that their involvement in PoK projects was “without prejudice” to any disputes between India and Pakistan.

[gunjur]

China Announces Senior Party Roles Ahead of Leadership Change

[Suppiah]

From the article quoted

China’s strategic appraisal of India, Mr. Saran said, was contingent on the broader geostrategic environment. In 2005, he noted, China concluded a significant agreement of principles to settle its border disputes with India — responding to India’s deepening relationship with the United States and Europe.

An interesting comment...

In recent months, Mr. Saran said, China once again appeared to be changing course on India, in the face of a backlash against its posture in the South China Sea, the United States’ decision to enhance its military assets in the Pacific, and persistent domestic unrest in Xinjiang and Tibet.

When in trouble, just like TSP, they make peaceful noises.

[Paul]

BEIJING (AP) — China's hopes for a smooth, once-a-decade political transition have been shaken by a lurid new scandal involving the death of a senior official's son who crashed during what may have been sex games in a speeding Ferrari.

Details of the March accident in Beijing, which allegedly also injured two young women, have stayed under wraps in China but are leaking out via media in Hong Kong. The media blackout underscores official fears that the public will be outraged by another instance of excess and recklessness among China's power elites.

The embarrassing new wrinkle follows the murder trial last month of a top leader's wife who poisoned her British business associate last year. Both scandals have become bargaining chips in the jockeying for power ahead of a major leadership reshuffle this fall.

The South China Morning Post on Monday cited an unnamed official in Beijing as confirming that Ling Gu, the son of a loyal aide to President Hu Jintao, was the person killed in a March 18 Ferrari accident which initially garnered only minimal coverage in China's state media.

http://news.yahoo.com/playboy-death-wri ... 28204.html

[Suppiah]

http://www.baldingsworld.com/

You should all read what this guy (and the other guy referred to in the first post...about China's fake statistics..Look like the cmmies either outsourced their statistics to tallel mountain madrasah friends from Lahore or to the ever faithful 'eminent progressive economists/ historians' in India to manufacture what has been dictated...

[svinayak]

Let’s examine this a bit further. In the past 5-8 years, and especially the past 3, China has built an enormous amount of stuff that nobody wants, needs, or uses. Fueled by a lending boom that began in late 2008 and tripled total lending in 2009, Chinese government at all levels has been spending money like a drunken sailor on leave. What should scare people however, is just how poorly this money has been spent. To give you a few examples:

■The Beijing government admits that 50% of apartments sit empty. A similar number is found in most major cities in China, not to mention the entire cities that sit empty.
■After major investment in wind power generation, most wind power capacity was incapable of generating power because…..it was not hooked up to the grid.
■Housing price to income ratios that would make a California real estate bubble blush. The average home price to income ratio peaked around 12 in California. The China Daily (the Communist party mouth piece) speaks regularly of ratios in excess of 25. One recent article noted that the average price per square foot in Beijing was nearly $300 while monthly per capita GDP was only $435. That means using the long term global average for the income to housing price ratio, the average Beijinger should be able to buy a 91 square foot apartment.
■Industrial capacity utilization that is officially at 60%. (If you believe the official numbers I have a 91 square foot apartment I’d like to sell you) This is driven by state owned banks and enterprises that over invested in 2009 due to the stimulus fueled lending boom.

[jamwal]

ChinaDaily.com.cn carries article lambasting western nations which have criticized Chinese weapon exports fueled regional conflicts and humanitarian crises in Africa. Washington Post had published an article on August 26 where it said that China’s dubious arms exports policies and anti-UN stance in this matter makes it stand apart from other arms exporters like US, Russia etc.
In his article, author Kong Chushan claims:

“China’s arms trade strictly follows three important principles:

1) exports should be conducive to the legitimate self-defense capabilities of the recipient country;

2) exports should not undermine the peace, security and stability of the region concerned and the world as a whole, and

3) exports should not be used to interfere with the internal affairs of the recipient country.”

Although the article is not too far from truth in criticising hypocrisy of western nations, but when one considers Chinese track record of illegal trade of nukes and missiles with rogue terrorist nations like Pakistan and North Korea, this article seems nothing more than another one of their famous face saving measures.

[Philip]

Good article.

Rising India And China: Can Two Tigers Learn To Share A Mountain – Analysis
By: Keshav Prasad Bhattarai

http://www.eurasiareview.com/05092012-r ... -analysis/

XCpt:

A country like China with such a wonderful maritime history, if has resources to finance and update its past, will not feel content without a strong naval capability at least to compete with other regional powers like India. Also as largest oil consumer of the world, China needs a new silk road to ensure safe route to its fuel tanks from the surrounding waters and run smooth its industrial arteries. Consequently, China’s new maritime strategy in the words of a U.S. defense consultant Booz – Allen Hamilton -“string of Pearls” is gaining bigger ground these days. The report which Hamilton was commissioned to prepare for U.S. Defense Department on ‘Energy Futures in Asia’, was published in the Washington Times (January 17, 2005). It says “China is building strategic relationships along the sea lanes from the Middle East to the South China Sea in ways that suggest defensive and offensive positioning to protect China’s energy interests, but also to serve broad security objectives.”

The Report further mentions that China intends to protect the sea lanes militarily, by strengthening its navy and developing undersea mines and a missile system to deter the potential disruption of its energy supplies from likely threats, including the US Navy. Therefore, Beijing has also been developing strategic alliances with the states along the sea lanes in an effort to increase its influence in the region of South and South East Asia.

But when compared with China, India has a very significant geographical location in Indian Ocean and this gives India a major strategic edge in its waters. Besides the long coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands in Indian Ocean and a group of 500 more islets of Andaman and Nicobar Islands near Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have given India an amazing strategic advantage over other great powers. Therefore India is developing these islands as a major hub of amphibious warfare base and training facilities for Indian Army. The Airvat is a part of the fleet based in Port Blair in Andaman Islands- an entry route to the Bay of Bengal shared by Myanmar, Thailand and Bangladesh. The naval facility built in Andaman and Nicobar has also given India easy access to the waters of South East Asian countries – major trade partners of India.