Rule of Law over personal edicts starts to hold sway. About time too.
13/02/2013
* The Economic Impact of a War Between Japan & China
“Global economists are keeping their eyes glued to the Asia-Pacific region, where a bitter feud is brewing between two of the world’s most powerful nations over a small collectivity of islands in the East China Sea. The Chinese government argues that a treaty signed during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) conferred ownership of the islands to China. Japan has long disputed these claims, and today argues that the islands are integral to its national identity.
English: Japan_China_Peace_Treaty_17_April_1895. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7SA3p8ys-s&feature=youtu.be
The argument came to a head last September, when a boycott of Japanese products led Chinese demonstrators to target fellow citizens who owned Japanese cars. Three months later, the situation escalated when when Japanese jets confronted a Chinese plane flying over the islands; no shots were fired, but the act of antagonism has set a troubling precedent between the military forces of both nations.
The conflict between China and Japan has put the United States in a precarious position: if a full-scale war were to erupt, the U.S. would be forced to choose between a long-time ally (Japan) and its largest economic lender (China). Last year, China’s holdings in U.S. securities reached $1.73 trillion and goods exported from the U.S. to China exceeded $100 billion. The two countries also share strong economic ties due to the large number of American companies that outsource jobs to China.
However, the U.S. government may be legally obligated to defend Japan. In November, the U.S. Senate added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that officially recognizes Japan’s claims to the disputed islands; the U.S. and Japan are also committed to a mutual defense treaty that requires either country to step in and defend the other when international disputes occur. Not honoring this treaty could very easily tarnish America’s diplomatic image.
The countries of the Asia-Pacific region are collectively responsible for 55 percent of the global GDP and 44 percent of the world’s trade. A major conflict between the region’s two largest economies would not only impose a harsh dilemma on U.S. diplomats, but also have a significant impact on the entire global economy. It is in every nation’s best interest that the Chinese and Japanese settle their territorial dispute peacefully.”
See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2013/01/25/china-japan-move-to-cool-down-territorial-dispute/
12/02/2013
* China joins U.S., Japan in condemning North Korea nuclear test
China has a difficult choice: act firmly and materially by reducing aid and upset and possibly destabilise North Korea that may lead to a reunified Korea facing the West. Or act softly and North Korea goes merrily on its own sweet way as it has done for decades; and may be the cause of an intentional or inadvertent nuclear war. The world and esp the US will be watching carefully.
Reuters: “North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of existing U.N. resolutions, drawing condemnation from around the world, including from its only major ally, China, which summoned the North Korean ambassador to protest.
The reclusive North said the test was an act of self-defense against “U.S. hostility” and threatened further, stronger steps if necessary.
It said the test had “greater explosive force” than the 2006 and 2009 tests. Its KCNA news agency said it had used a “miniaturized” and lighter nuclear device, indicating that it had again used plutonium which is more suitable for use as a missile warhead.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to rule the country, has presided over two long-range rocket launches and a nuclear test during his first year in power, pursuing policies that have propelled his impoverished and malnourished country closer to becoming a nuclear weapons power.
China, which has shown signs of increasing exasperation with the recent bellicose tone of its neighbor, summoned the North Korean ambassador in Beijing and protested sternly, the Foreign Ministry said.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said China was “strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed” to the test and urged North Korea to “stop any rhetoric or acts that could worsen situations and return to the right course of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible”.
China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
via China joins U.S., Japan in condemning North Korea nuclear test | Reuters.
09/02/2013
* Mysterious China blogger comes out
SCMP: “For weeks, a mysterious microblog has been lifting a veil from around China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, with candid snapshots from his travels that defy the typically stiff and staged images of the leadership presented in state media.
Xi Jinping 习近平 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ordinary Chinese, foreign reporters and even China’s own state media have speculated over who or what might be behind the blog – ostensibly registered to a female tech school graduate. Is Xi’s own team surreptitiously trying to humanise the leader in the guise of citizen journalism? Is this a crusader’s attempt to bring China’s leaders down a notch and send them a message?
It turns out it’s the brainchild of a male college dropout and migrant worker, Zhang Hongming, who said in an exclusive interview that he is both a genuine fan of China’s new leader and intent on making him more accessible to the country’s people.
“It is just me. It’s completely an individual act,” said Zhang, who started the “Fan Club of Learning From Xi” on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo on November 21 with a simple thought: Like other foreign leaders in these times, Chinese leaders should have an online following.
Zhang said he initially wanted to keep a low profile, but now wants to come forward to end the rampant speculation about his identity and intentions.
The account shares photos gathered from citizen volunteers and local reports throughout the country of Xi on his visits out in the field – and the candid images aren’t always flattering. There are shots of him visiting a vegetable market, serving food to the elderly, looking sideways. One shows him napping in a van.
The microblog even tracked Xi’s recent trip to Gansu province step by step, beating state media in reporting Xi’s activities. National broadcaster CCTV complained on its own microblog: “What happened? The Study Xi Fan Club is quicker and closer to him than us.”
The unexpected popularity of the microblog speaks to the Chinese public’s demand to humanize their typically aloof leaders.
“Our leaders used to appear to be out of reach for the masses. They always appeared to be mysterious. Now the public can feel closer to their leader with timely and transparent information,” Zhang said. “Xi is a national leader, but take his official title away, he’s an ordinary person.””
via Mysterious China blogger comes out | South China Morning Post.
09/02/2013
* China to compensate woman for detention in old morgue
China seems determined to allow its citizens to petition central government and to stop local authorities from preventing this from happening.
Reuters: “China will compensate a woman who was held in a disused morgue as punishment for going to Beijing to petition against her husband’s jailing, state media said on Friday, in an unusual case of the government overturning an extra-judicial detention.
Chen Qingxia was held for three years in an abandoned bungalow once used to store bodies in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province after being abducted from Beijing by security officials, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
She had gone to the capital to seek redress for her husband, Song Lisheng, whom she said had been mistreated while serving an 18-month sentence at a re-education through labor camp, Xinhua added.
While China routinely dismisses Western criticism of its human rights record, the government does respond to some abuses, especially the more egregious ones reported by domestic media, in an effort to show that authorities are not above criticism
Chen’s plight came to public attention in December after media reported that people found posters she had put on a window of the building pleading for help, it said.
Four officials, including three police officers, had been fired in connection with the case, Xinhua added.
The government will pay medical bills and living expenses for her and her husband and step up efforts to find their young son, who became separated from Chen when she was abducted in Beijing, it said.
The amount of compensation has yet to be decided.
Chen’s case is the second reported in a week of the authorities taking action over illegally detained petitioners. A court in Beijing sentenced 10 people to up to two years in jail for illegally detaining petitioners from another city, state media said on Tuesday.
Petitioners often try to take local disputes ranging from land grabs to corruption to higher levels in Beijing, though only small numbers are ever able to get a resolution.
In many instances, they are rounded up by men hired by provincial authorities to prevent the central government from learning of problems in outlying regions, forced home or held in “black jails“, unlawful secret detention facilities.”
via China to compensate woman for detention in old morgue | Reuters.
See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/07/14/china-top-leaders-vow-to-better-handle-peoples-petitions/
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07/02/2013
* China, Malaysia Plan $3.4 Billion Industrial Park in Kuantan
Bloomberg: “Chinese and Malaysian companies agreed to invest 10.5 billion ringgit ($3.4 billion) on an industrial park in the Southeast Asian nation which will include steel and aluminum plants as well as a palm oil refinery.
China’s Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group will jointly build the park in Kuantan with Malaysia’s Pahang state government and property developer SP Setia Bhd. (SPSB), according to a statement from the East Coast Economic Region Development Council. Jia Qinglin, chairman of China’s top advisory body, attended a ground-breaking ceremony with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak today.
Jia, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, is on a four-day visit aimed at boosting business ties with the commodities-rich Southeast Asian nation. Najib proposed building the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park after the countries agreed last year to develop a similar estate in Qinzhou in southern China’s Guangxi region. Both cities have ports.
“A distinct and competitive supply chain will emerge between them,” Najib said in a speech. “There will be cross- border movement of manufactured goods with Kuantan Port and Qinzhou Port serving as trans-shipment hubs redistributing goods to markets around the world.”
Guangxi Beibu, SP Setia and the Pahang state government will invest 2.5 billion ringgit to develop the Malaysian park, according to the statement. The Chinese company will spend another 5 billion ringgit to build a steel plant, aluminum processing facilities and a palm oil refinery within the estate, plus 3 billion ringgit to expand Kuantan’s port with IJM Corp. (IJM)
The palm oil refinery will be a joint venture with Malaysia’s Rimbunan Hijau Group, it said.
“This year, we expect more than 1 billion ringgit of Chinese foreign direct investment in Malaysia,” Najib said, adding that the Kuantan projects should create 8,500 jobs. “Over the next five years, we expect two-way trade to reach $100 billion.””
via China, Malaysia Plan $3.4 Billion Industrial Park in Kuantan – Bloomberg.
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- Malaysia and China friendship (tsemtulku.com)
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06/02/2013
* Sonia launches national child health screening programme
The Hindu: “Social uplift of women is must to ensure success of schemes aimed at development of women and children, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said here on Wednesday.
Sonia Gandhi in 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Empowerment of women impacts the health of the girl child. The UPA government has recently promulgated an ordinance regarding atrocities against women. Similarly, laws have been enacted for tackling domestic violence, provide property rights, and reservation for women in local bodies,” Ms. Gandhi said.
Speaking at the launch of the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (Child Health Screening and Early Intervention Services programme) at the tribal town here in Thane district of Maharashtra, Ms. Gandhi hoped that the objective of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) initiative to benefit 27 crore children would be achieved through effective implementation and monitoring.
The scheme will be extended to cover all districts in the country in a phased manner, she said.
Challenges in health sector for welfare of women and children were immense, she said. “Despite best efforts, infant mortality is an area of concern. 40 per cent children are still affected by malnutrition,” she said.”
via The Hindu : News / National : Sonia launches national child health screening programme.
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06/02/2013
* China Province to Stop Sending Dissidents to Camps
WSJ: “A Chinese province said it is suspending use of a harsh, gulag-like prison system commonly used around the country to stifle dissent, in the strongest signal yet that officials may be phasing out the widely criticized practice.
Workers in the Shayang Re-education Through Labor (Shayang Farm), a re-education through labor camp in Liaoning province. Photo part of the archives of the Laogai Museum, used with permission of the Laogai Research Foundation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
State media on Wednesday reported authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan said they would immediately suspend a practice known as re-education through labor, or laojiao in Chinese. The camps allow local authorities to detain those suspected of wrongdoing for up to four years without an open trial. Human-rights groups allege those detained in re-education-through-labor camps are subjected to physical abuse.”
via China Province to Stop Sending Dissidents to Camps – WSJ.com.
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06/02/2013
* India concerned by China role in Pakistan port
Reuters: “China’s role in operating a strategically important port in Pakistan is a matter of concern for India, its defense minister said on Wednesday, as New Delhi and Beijing jostle for influence in the region.
Indian policy-makers have long been wary of a string of strategically located ports being built by Chinese companies in its neighborhood, as India beefs up its military clout to compete with its Asian rival.
Management of Gwadar port, around 600 km (370 miles) from Karachi and close to Pakistan’s border with Iran, was handed over to state-run Chinese Overseas Port Holdings last week after previously being managed by Singapore’s PSA International.
“It is a matter of concern to us,” Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony told reporters when asked about Chinese control of the port.
When complete, the port, which is close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane, is seen opening up an energy and trade corridor from the Gulf, across Pakistan to western China, and could be used by the Chinese Navy, analysts say.
“It will enable (China) to deploy military capability in the region,” said Jay Ranade, of the Centre for Air Power Studies and a former additional secretary at the government of India. “Having control of Gwadar, China is basically getting an entry into the Arabian Sea and the Gulf.”
China has also funded ports in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, and Chittagong in Bangladesh, both India’s neighbors.
“Gwadar is a more serious development than the others,” Ranade said, as the Pakistani port gives China base facilities.”
via India concerned by China role in Pakistan port | Reuters.
See also: https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/geopolitics-chinese/
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