Archive for January, 2013

16/01/2013

* US employee ‘outsourced job to China’

Ultimate outsourcing – very personal. Shows real enterprise and initiative. Wonder how many others are doing the same and not been found out yet!

BBC: “A security check on a US company has reportedly revealed one of its staff was outsourcing his work to China.

lazywork

The software developer, in his 40s, is thought to have spent his workdays surfing the web, watching cat videos on YouTube and browsing Reddit and eBay.

He reportedly paid just a fifth of his six-figure salary to a company based in Shenyang to do his job.

Operator Verizon says the scam came to light after the US firm asked it for an audit, suspecting a security breach.

According to Andrew Valentine, of Verizon, the infrastructure company requested the operator’s risk team last year to investigate some anomalous activity on its virtual private network (VPN) logs.

“This organisation had been slowly moving toward a more telecommuting oriented workforce, and they had therefore started to allow their developers to work from home on certain days. In order to accomplish this, they’d set up a fairly standard VPN concentrator approximately two years prior to our receiving their call,” he was quoted as saying on an internet security website.

The company had discovered the existence of an open and active VPN connection from Shenyang to the employee’s workstation that went back months, Mr Valentine said.

And it had then called on Verizon to look into what it had suspected had been malware used to route confidential information from the company to China.

“Central to the investigation was the employee himself, the person whose credentials had been used to initiate and maintain a VPN connection from China,” said Mr Valentine.”

via BBC News – US employee ‘outsourced job to China’.

16/01/2013

* Vietnam, US boost defence ties

US takes opportunity to counter-balance Chinese military power in SE Asia.

ANN: “The third Vietnam-US Defence Policy Dialogue at deputy ministerial level took place in Hanoi last week.

Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Defence Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh

During the meeting, the two sides focused on ideas and information about issues related to defence cooperation and bilateral ties between Vietnam and the US and exchanged information about security matters in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

The two sides reviewed their achievements in the five areas which were stated in the MoU on defence cooperation, signed by the two ministries in September 2011.

They agreed that new developments had been made in cooperation in several areas, including the missing-in-action mission; defusing bombs, mines and explosives left by the war; cleaning up dioxin pollution.

The two delegations also discussed cooperation in human resources training, UN peace-keeping missions, military medicine, natural disaster relief and search and rescue.

The delegates expressed their hope that defence cooperation between Vietnam and the US would contribute to enhancing bilateral ties between the two countries, aiming at peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, while Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asia Vikram J. Singh headed the US delegation.”

via Vietnam, US boost defence ties – ANN.

15/01/2013

Another spur to the New Orient Express.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2013/01/14/5857/

14/01/2013

Interesting view.

14/01/2013

The start of the New Orient Express. Sorry, Somali pirates!

14/01/2013

Central government appears determined to let the people’s voice be heard and not censored by local authorities. Good news – if enforced.

13/01/2013

Prof Chovanec is based in China and has great insights about all matters relating to China. This time about the likelihood of revolution in China.

prchovanec's avatarPatrick Chovanec

A surprising number of people in China have been writing and talking about “revolution”.  First came word, in November, that China’s new leaders have been advising their colleagues to read Alexis de Tocqueville’s classic book on the French Revolution, L’Ancien Régime et la Révolution (The Old Regime and the Revolution), which subsequently has shot to the top of China’s best seller lists.  Just this past week, Chinese scholar Zhao Dinxing, a sociology professor at the University of Chicago, felt the need to publish an article (in Chinese) laying out the reasons China won’t have a revolution (you can read an English summary here).  Minxin Pei, on the other hand, thinks it will.

In the midst of this debate, I happened across an interesting set of passages in retired Harvard professor Richard Pipes’ slender volume Three “Whys” of the Russian Revolution.  The first “why” he…

View original post 541 more words

Tags: ,
13/01/2013

* China-wary Army for mountain strike corps

Times of India: “The Army has come up with a fresh proposal for the new mountain strike corps, apart from two “independent” infantry brigades and two “independent” armoured brigades, to plug operational gaps along the LAC (line of actual control) as well as to acquire “some offensive capabilities” against China.

The raising of the new formations will cost around Rs 81,000 crore, spread primarily over the 12th Plan period (2012-17), with a little spillover into the 13th Plan if necessary, say sources.

“The approved 12th Army Plan, as part of the LTIPP (long-term integrated perspective plan), already ca-ters Rs 62,000 crore for the corps. The Army is now asking for another Rs 19,000 crore,” said a source.

With additional armoured regiments and infantry units based in Ladakh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand, the new mountain corps (around 40,000 soldiers) will for the first time give India the capability to also launch a counter-offensive into TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region) in the event of a Chinese attack, say sources.

As with the development of the over 5,000-km Agni-V and 3,500-km Agni-IV ballistic missiles — coupled with the ongoing progressive deployment of Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, spy drones, helicopters and missile squadrons in the northeast — the overall aim is to have “strategic deterrence” in place to dissuade China from embarking on any “misadventure”.”

via China-wary Army for mountain strike corps – The Times of India.

12/01/2013

* India Industry Praises Modi at Gujarat Conference

WSJ: “India’s top industrialists and foreign diplomats met at a conference in Gujarat state Friday, singing praises for the pro-business policies set in place by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a man widely tipped to be a leading candidate for prime minister in 2014.

Mr. Modi took the compliments in his stride, smiling and clapping, and even rising to give billionaire Anil Ambani a hug after a particularly laudatory speech at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

“Narendra Modi is a king of kings, a leader of leaders,” said Mr. Ambani, chairman of the $76 billion Reliance Group.”

via India Industry Praises Modi at Gujarat Conference – WSJ.com.

11/01/2013

New Asean secretary general vows quick negotiations on South China Sea

Bangkok Post: “The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is seeking early talks with China to discuss a code of conduct to manage tensions over the disputed South China Sea, the bloc’s new chief said Wednesday.

China claims most of the sea, including a vital shipping lane and resource-rich areas. The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei have overlapping claims in the area, as does Taiwan.

“Asean should speed up efforts towards an early start of negotiations with China with a view to achieving an early conclusion of a code of conduct on the South China Sea,” Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh said.

Newly inaugurated Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh of Vietnam, left, shakes hands with outgoing former Surin Pitsuwan during the office handover ceremony. (Reuters photo)

The Vietnamese diplomat was speaking in Jakarta after officially assuming the post of Asean secretary, replacing Surin Pitsuwan of Thailand.

In 2011, Asean and China agreed on a non-binding set of guidelines to allow dialogue and cooperation during talks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

A binding code of conduct is aimed at reducing the chance of conflict among the claimants.

Mr Minh also vowed to push Asean to move ahead in launching the Asean Economic Community in 2015.

“Despite the many challenges, I fully believe that Asean will emerge triumphant.

“The Asean Secretariat will continue to play active roles in supporting and coordinating with member states to help facilitate and drive the establishment of the Asean Community,” Mr Minh said.

“The next five years will be exciting and critical ones. We in the secretariat are prepared to work closely with Asean member states to ensure we are able to deliver our major commitments and objectives,” he said.”

via New Asean secretary general vows quick negotiations on South China Sea | Bangkok Post: news.

Law of Unintended Consequences

continuously updated blog about China & India

ChiaHou's Book Reviews

continuously updated blog about China & India

What's wrong with the world; and its economy

continuously updated blog about China & India