Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.
Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.
The POSTs (front webpages) are mainly 'cuttings' from reliable sources, updated continuously.
The PAGEs (see Tabs, above) attempt to make the information more meaningful by putting some structure to the information we have researched and assembled since 2006.
MONTREAL (Reuters) – A Canadian citizen who was detained in China this month has returned to Canada after being released from custody, a Canadian government spokesman said on Friday.
The spokesman did not specify when the Canadian was released or returned to Canada. Earlier in the day, broadcaster CBC identified the citizen as Canadian teacher Sarah McIver.
China’s Foreign Ministry said this month that McIver was undergoing “administrative punishment” for working illegally.
McIver was the third Canadian to be detained by China following the Dec. 1 arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd., but a Canadian official said there was no reason to believe that the woman’s detention was linked to the earlier arrests.
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland did not mention the woman in calling for the release of the other two Canadians last week.
China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters that it was aware of reports she had been released, and referred further questions to the “relevant authority”. It did not elaborate.
On Saturday, a Chinese court is hearing an appeal in the case of a Canadian citizen held on drugs charges, that could further test the tense relations between the two countries.
The high court in the city of Dalian in the northeastern province of Liaoning will hear the appeal of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg from 2 p.m. (0600 GMT), it said in a statement this week.
A Dalian government news portal said Schellenberg was a Canadian and that this was an appeal hearing after he was found by an earlier ruling to have smuggled “an enormous amount of drugs” into China.
Canada’s government said this week it had been following the case for several years and providing consular assistance, but could provide no other details, citing privacy concerns.
Drugs offences are usually punished severely in China.
China executed a Briton caught smuggling heroin in 2009, prompting a British outcry over what it said was the lack of any mental health assessment.
Michael Spavor is a businessman based in Dandong, near the Chinese border with North Korea. He has deep ties to the North Korean government.
Ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig currently works for a think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG), which has said it is concerned for his health and safety.
Timeline of events
1 December: Meng Wanzhou arrested in Canadian city of Vancouver at the request of the US as part of an inquiry into alleged sanctions-busting by her company Huawei
10 December: Canadian former diplomat Michael Kovrig arrested in Beijing “on suspicion of engaging in activities that harm China’s state security”
11 December: Meng Wanzhou released on bail but still faces the prospect of extradition to the US
12 December: China confirms the detention of businessman Michael Spavor for “activities that endanger China’s national security”, saying the investigation began on 10 December
He is being held officially “on suspicion of engaging in activities that harm China’s state security”.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionMichael Kovrig was working for a think tank that focuses on conflict reduction research
However, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, suggested another reason, saying the ICG had not been registered as a non-governmental organisation in China and therefore it was unlawful for its staff to work there.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has said Mr Kovrig’s case was raised directly with Chinese officials.
Foreign ministry spokesman Guillaume Bérubé confirmed that Mr Spavor had contacted them earlier in the week because “he was being asked questions by Chinese authorities”.
Canada is working hard to determine Mr Spavor’s whereabouts, Mr Bérubé said.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionMichael Spavor (left) helped arrange ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman’s trip to North Korea in 2013
China state media confirmed on Thursday that, as with the previous arrest, Mr Spavor was under investigation on suspicion of “engaging in activities that endanger China’s national security”.
Mr Spavor runs an organisation called Paektu Cultural Exchange, which organises business, culture and tourism trips to North Korea.
He is a regular visitor to North Korea and regularly comments in the media on Korean issues. He is particularly well known for helping to arrange the visit by former NBA star Dennis Rodman to North Korea in 2013.
Rodman is a personal friend of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The US has been investigating Huawei, one of the world’s largest smartphone makers, since 2016, believing that it used a subsidiary to bring US manufacturing equipment and millions of dollars in transactions to Iran illegally.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia was told Ms Meng had used a Huawei subsidiary called Skycom to evade sanctions on Iran between 2009 and 2014.
She had allegedly misrepresented Skycom as being a separate company.
Ms Meng faces up to 30 years in prison in the US if found guilty of the charges, the Canadian court heard.
Are the arrests in China an act of retaliation?
After the detention of Mr Kovrig, Canada said there was no “explicit indication” of any link to the Meng case but China experts doubted that it was just a coincidence.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Western diplomat in China told Reuters news agency: “This is a political kidnapping.”
Asked if the detention of the two Canadians was in response to Ms Meng’s arrest, China’s foreign ministry spokesman described it as an “operation taken by China’s relevant national security authorities in accordance with the laws”.
Lu Kang said Ms Meng’s arrest was “wrong practice”, adding: “I can point out that, since the Canadian government took the wrong action at the request of the US and took Meng Wanzhou into custody, many Chinese are wondering if their trips to Canada are safe.”
People present flowers during the unveiling ceremony of the Nanjing Massacre Victims Monument at the Elgin Mills Cemetery in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 9, 2018. In order to remember the history of World War II and to maintain a lasting peace in the world, peace-loving people officially launched the Nanjing Massacre Victims Monument in Ontario, Canada on Sunday. (Xinhua/Zou Zheng)
TORONTO, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) — In order to remember the history of World War II and to maintain a lasting peace in the world, peace-loving people officially launched the Nanjing Massacre Victims Monument in Ontario, Canada on Sunday.
Over one thousand representatives from all walks of life in Canada, including Han Tao, Consul General of China in Toronto, attended the launching ceremony in Richmond Hill of Great Toronto Area,
Setting up the Nanjing Massacre Victims Monument was launched by the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations and Chinese Freemasons of Canada (Toronto).
The book-shape monument is to cover an area of 90 square meters. It is 3.72 meters high, 4.88 meters long, and 9.2 meters wide. It is made of black marble. It is a symbol of a black and heavy period of human history. It is already under process of production.
Lin Xinyong, president of the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations told Xinhua on Sunday that the Nanjing Massacre is the eternal pain in the Chinese heart.
On Dec 13, 1937, the Japanese army bombed Nanjing and went on a murderous rampage through the city, then China’s capital. The Nanjing Massacre, or Rape of Nanjing, was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing.
That is the tragedy of Chinese and is also the humiliation of human beings. The Nanjing Massacre is being forgotten by more and more people, and the desperation of the victims of the massacre is even less likely to be felt by the people. Almost nobody realizes that such tragedy may come to oneself one day, Lin said.
Remembering history and praying for peace is engraved on the monument and engraved in our minds. The monument is meant to let more people to have a better understanding of the Japanese invaders’ atrocities against humanity and cherish peace, Li added.
Han Tao, Consul General of China in Toronto, told Xinhua the monument will help people of all backgrounds understand the tragic history of the Nanjing Massacre, value peace and safeguard justice, adding that it will also deepen the mutual understanding and friendship between China and Canada and contribute a stable, harmonious and prosperous world.
BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) — China has lodged solemn representations with Canada and the United States and demanded the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.
Meng was provisionally detained by the Canadian Authorities on behalf of the United States of America, when she was transferring flights in Canada, Huawei said in a statement Thursday.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing that China has lodged solemn representations with the Canadian and U.S. sides, urging the two countries to clarify the reason they detained Meng, immediately release her and effectively protect her legitimate rights and interests.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 
