Thanks to one of our fellow readers, Arjit,
Taiwanese video explaining this incident
Until now, I hadn’t appreciated that my fellow Chinese had this kind of sense of humour!
20/12/2013
Tejas aircraft gets initial official clearance – The Times of India
Tejas, India\’s indigeneously-designed Light Combat Aircraft, on Friday got initial operation clearance (IOC-II).
Tejas – Wings of Indian Aviation (Photo credit: Premshree Pillai)
Defence minister AK Antony handed over release to service document (RTS) to Indian Air Force chief NAK Browne.
The certification paves the way for the induction of Tejas into the Indian Air Force.
Speaking at the event, Anthony said: \”It is a great day for the whole nation.\”
via Tejas aircraft gets initial official clearance – The Times of India.
20/12/2013
Power and patriotism: Reaching for the Moon | The Economist
IT WAS, as a Chinese newspaper put it, “a new beginning for the Chinese dream”. On December 15th the imprint left by Neil Armstrong’s boot on the moon in 1969 found its near-equivalent in the minds of China’s media commentators: the “Chinese footprint” gouged in the lunar dust by Yutu, a Chinese rover, after its mother ship made the first soft landing on the moon by a spacecraft since 1976. President Xi Jinping, watching from ground control, clapped as the image appeared on the screen. For the promoter-in-chief of the Chinese dream it was a moment to cherish.
Mr Xi launched the “Chinese dream” slogan within days of taking power in November 2012. It has since swept the nation, appearing everywhere on billboards and propaganda posters. It featured twice in a resolution adopted by the Communist Party’s Central Committee at a plenum last month that marked the tightening of Mr Xi’s grip. He has said the Chinese dream includes a “dream of a strong nation” and a “dream of a strong army” and, especially since the plenum, he has been playing up the strongman image.
Some Chinese actions in the region have appeared more assertive, too. On December 5th a Chinese naval ship had a tense encounter with an American cruiser in the South China Sea. Both sides kept quiet about it until more than a week later when American officials revealed that their vessel, USS Cowpens, had been forced to manoeuvre to avoid hitting the Chinese ship, which had passed in front.
The incident occurred while the American cruiser was watching China’s new and only aircraft-carrier, the Liaoning, as it made its first foray into the area, which is riven with competing maritime claims. (The Liaoning features in a special issue of four “Chinese dream” postage stamps issued in September; two others show Chinese spacecraft and one a deep-sea submersible.) America lodged protests with China about the near-miss in international waters. A Chinese newspaper, however, accused the Cowpens of posing a threat to “China’s national security”. The encounter is likely to add to American concerns that China is trying to claim the sea, a vital trading route, as its backyard.
The maritime near-miss came after the announcement on November 23rd of an “Air-Defence Identification Zone” in the East China Sea that would require all aircraft flying through it to report to the Chinese authorities. This enraged Japan, which controls islands within the zone, and was criticised by other countries, including America and South Korea. On December 16th during a visit to Hanoi, America’s secretary of state, John Kerry, said the zone had increased the risk of a “dangerous miscalculation or an accident”. China’s enforcement of it seems to have been scant, but nationalists at home have hailed the move. On the same day as Mr Kerry spoke, China’s defence minister, Chang Wanquan, was in Jakarta, where he said that critics of the zone were causing “a hundred harms and no benefits”.
“Chinese dream” rhetoric has suffused China’s coverage of the moon landing by the Chang’e-3 spaceship, and the Yutu (Jade Rabbit) rover’s successful deployment from it, sporting the Chinese flag on its side. In a televised call to three Chinese astronauts orbiting Earth in June, Mr Xi had said: “The space dream is an important part of the dream of a strong nation.” Despite some mutterings on Chinese microblogs about the pointlessness of replicating feats performed so long ago by the Soviet Union and America, Mr Xi appears as fixated on the moon as his predecessors were. The army’s main mouthpiece, the People’s Liberation Army Daily, said it was hard to say exactly when a Chinese person would land on the moon, but that Chinese spacemen were “heading towards this goal with unprecedented speed”.
via Power and patriotism: Reaching for the Moon | The Economist.
20/12/2013
China Cracks Down on Extravagance at Communist Party Members’ Funeral Services – China Real Time Report – WSJ
Not even death can save party cadres from China’s latest austerity campaign.
China’s State Council, or cabinet, issued a notice Thursday asking Communist Party members to dial back on the extravagance at funerals and make them more environmentally sustainable.
The official Xinhua news agency warned that party members’ lavish funerals are becoming “a platform to show off wealth and connections, with the degree of opulence and number of mourners symbolizing the ‘achievements’ of the dead, and setting a benchmark for competition among the living.” It also warned that in recent years as superstitious customs have seen a resurgence, the cremation rate has fallen, leading to some burials occurring on farmland—wasting natural resources and harming the environment. Some party members are even using funerals to collect large sums of money, it added.
19/12/2013
China military ship to help guard Syria chemical weapons destruction | Reuters
China is to send a military ship to help protect a specially adapted U.S. vessel that will destroy Syria\’s chemical weapons arsenal, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Syria is due to hand over deadly toxins which can be used to make sarin, VX gas and other lethal agents under an international agreement forged after an attack on the outskirts of Damascus killed hundreds in August.
The chemicals will be destroyed on board the specially adapted U.S. ship because they are too dangerous to import into any country. There is no agreement yet on where the ship will anchor while the work is carried out.
\”China has decided to send a military ship to participate in the protection mission for the shipping of Syrian chemical weapons,\” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.
She added that it was an \”important move\” to show China\’s support.
\”China hopes that the relevant work on removing Syria\’s chemical weapons can be completed safely and smoothly. This will assist in pushing for a political resolution to the Syrian issue, will assist in increasing regional peace and stability and accords with the interest of all sides,\” Hua said.
China has repeatedly called for a political resolution. It has also called for a full and impartial investigation by U.N. chemical weapons inspectors and warned against pre-judging the results. It has said that anyone who uses chemical weapons should be held accountable.
via China military ship to help guard Syria chemical weapons destruction | Reuters.
19/12/2013
China to expand presence in Antarctica with new research bases | Reuters
China will expand its presence in Antarctica by building a fourth research base and finding a site for a fifth, a state-run newspaper said on Thursday, as the country steps up its increasingly far-flung scientific efforts.
Chinese scientists are increasingly looking beyond China for their research, including sending submersibles to explore the bottom of the ocean and last weekend landing the country\’s first probe on the moon.
Workers will build a summer field camp called Taishan and look for a site for another research station, the official China Daily reported.
\”As a latecomer to Antarctic scientific research, China is catching up,\” the report cited Qu Tanzhou, director of the State Oceanic Administration\’s Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, as saying.
China already has three Antarctic research stations – Great Wall, Zhongshan and Kunlun.
\”Building the Taishan camp and inspecting sites for the (other) station can further guarantee that Chinese scientists will conduct scientific research over a wider range and in a safer way,\” Qu said.
The Taishan camp will be used during the South Pole\’s summer from December to March and will provide logistical support and be used to study geology, glaciers, geomagnetism and atmospheric science, the newspaper said.
Scientists will also be focusing their studies on climate change, it added.
The Taishan camp will be near the United States\’ McMurdo Station, Italy\’s Zucchelli Station and a recently built South Korean station, the newspaper said.
\”While the nation is expanding its presence in Antarctica, it is also enhancing its scientific research ability, with a new icebreaker to be built and a fixed-wing aircraft to be bought for future polar expeditions,\” the report added.
In 1908, Britain became the first country to claim Antarctic territory, and since then New Zealand, France, Norway, Australia, Chile and Argentina have also lodged official claims, although most countries do not recognize them.
China does not have any territorial claims, but has been boosting its presence in Antarctica, and in June President Xi Jinping said polar exploration was an important field to develop.
via China to expand presence in Antarctica with new research bases | Reuters.
19/12/2013
China continues rights abuses even as labor camps ditched -Amnesty | Reuters
China is increasingly using extra-judicial \”black jails\” and drug rehabilitation centers to punish people who would formerly have been sent to forced labor camps, rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
China vowed last month to do away with hundreds of labor camps, as part of a landmark package of social and economic reforms. Official news agency Xinhua has said there are 350 such camps across the country, with up to 160,000 inmates.
But many of those in extra-judicial jails and rehabilitation centers are being punished for their political or religious beliefs, the London-based rights group said.
via China continues rights abuses even as labor camps ditched -Amnesty | Reuters.
19/12/2013
China’s Lunar Rover Litters, Writes Name in Bay of Rainbows | Ministry of Harmony
Note 1: The Ministry of Harmony (Miniharm) is dedicated to spreading the harmony enjoyed by the subjects of the People’s Republic of China to the world, whether you like it or not.
In accordance with state soft power mandates, Miniharm offers pure, uncut truth that has been carefully screened by the relevant departments within the propaganda apparatus. Our motto is: “All the news that has been deemed fit to print.” Ministry of Harmony.
Note 2: The Ministry of Harmony is a website dedicated to satire.
“Just days after Jade Rabbit’s historic moon landing, incriminating photos have surfaced which show China’s rover littering and writing its name in the Bay of Rainbows, reigniting an old debate about the behavior of Chinese tourists abroad.
Newly released photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope clearly show the rover using tire tracks to write “Jade Rabbit was here” in Chinese characters across the lunar basin. Other photos show a Hansel-and-Gretel trail of food wrappers and cigarette butts behind the six-wheeled vehicle.
“Why does this happen every time Chinese people go somewhere new?” asked one user on Weibo. “When will we Chinese be able to travel without embarrassing ourselves?”
The Chang’e-3 lander has also been the target of criticism for discarding its landing apparatus carelessly in the basin.
“The images it has uploaded so far consist primarily of selfies.”
“This family of idiots can’t even be bothered to pick up after themselves,” fumed another user. “Next time, they should just stay on Earth.”
Moreover, Jade Rabbit has shown a complete lack of interest in understanding its new surroundings, zipping from one crater to another without so much as examining the geological origin of the impacts.
The rover has, however, been flooding its WeChat feed with pictures from the moon, according to sources close to the machine.
“It definitely has been taking pictures,” said Guo Jutian, a mission specialist with the China National Space Administration. “But not of anything meaningful. The images it has uploaded so far consist primarily of selfies.”
More damningly, the rover was seen chipping off parts of a billion-year-old rock face and hiding the artifacts inside its chassis, ostensibly to analyze their chemical composition.
“After all, the moon is one of the only places Chinese citizens can travel to without a visa.”
“This kind of behavior is utterly unacceptable,” Guo said. “Jade Rabbit is causing the entire Chinese people to lose face.”
But gauche behavior on the part of lunar rovers is not unique to China. The Soviet Union’s Lunokhod 1, the first rover to land on the moon, was infamous for its aggressive personality and propensity to binge drink. America’s Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle, on the other hand, was much larger and heavier than its Chinese counterpart.
Though the Chinese public has been quick to chide Jade Rabbit, there has been no official response from lunar authorities. Zhang Jun, who heads a large travel company in Beijing, believes that it is in the satellite’s best interest to attract more Chinese visitors.
“They realize there’s a lot of revenue potential there,” he said. “After all, the moon is one of the only places Chinese citizens can travel to without a visa.”
For its part, Jade Rabbit seems to be enjoying its three-month mission. At press time, it was busy scooting around, looking for the nearest Chinese restaurant.”
via China’s Lunar Rover Litters, Writes Name in Bay of Rainbows |
19/12/2013
Outrage in Parliament, govt. vows strong action – The Hindu
Amidst outrage expressed by members in Parliament, India on Wednesday asserted that it will intervene “effectively and specifically” to ensure the return and restoration of dignity of its Deputy Consul General in New York who has been arrested on charges of visa rules violation.
Responding to concerns expressed by members across party lines in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid condemned the U.S. action and said he will not return to the House if he fails in his responsibility to bring back the arrested diplomat Devyani Khobragade.
Spelling out the series of steps initiated to scale down the privileges granted to U.S. diplomats in India, he said there was a “conspiracy” in which Ms. Khobragade was “virtually trapped”.
He said the diplomat is “innocent” and the U.S. action was unwarranted. “It is not illegality that she is accused of, but the illegality she refused to oblige,” he said.
Maintaining that the government was not over-reacting by taking a slew of measures against the U.S., Mr. Khurshid said the treatment meted out to Ms. Khobragade had “not happened out of blue” and there is a “history” behind it.
He asserted that the government is determined and “will intervene effectively and specifically to ensure that dignity of the diplomat is preserved.” Mr. Khurshid made suo motu statements in both the Houses after members expressed outrage with demands that a resolution be passed to condemn the U.S. action.
“It is my responsibility. We will bring back the diplomat (arrested in New York) and restore her dignity. If I fail to do it, I will not return to this House,” he said in Rajya Sabha.
In the Lok Sabha, he said, “First and foremost, our effort is to bring her out of this situation and then we will talk to the US government.”
via Outrage in Parliament, govt. vows strong action – The Hindu.
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