Archive for ‘Politics’

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20/11/2012

* China, India to hold strategic economic dialogue this month

Xinhua: “China and India will hold the second round of strategic economic talks in New Delhi on Nov. 26, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Zhang Ping, head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, and Indian Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will co-chair the dialogue.

At a daily press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying briefed reporters on the talks.

Hua said the dialogue constituted an important part of the “Year of China-India Friendship and Cooperation” activities.

The two sides will exchange views to seek broader economic cooperation and promote coordination on macroeconomic policy. They will also strenghten cooperation in areas such as investment, infrastructure, high-technology, energy-saving and energy resources.

China and India held the first round of the strategic economic dialogue in Sept. 2011.

When responding to a question on border issues, Hua said specific information of the new round of meetings between special representatives on China-India border issues will be released at an appropriate time.

China and India experienced a border conflict in 1962.

The two countries launched the mechanism of meetings between special representatives on border issues in 2003. The previous round of meetings on border issues was held in India in January.”

via China, India to hold strategic economic dialogue this month – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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20/11/2012

* Only one Politburo Standing Committee members are not technocrats

This major change in background may get reflected in the sort of long-term investments China undertakes. Will there be another three gorges dam? Will highways, railways and power stations be built at the same pace as in the past? Or will social and cultural investments come to the fore?

Posted in 10 year leadership change, China alert | Leave a Comment »

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18/11/2012

* Southeast Asia calls for talks with China on sea dispute

S E Asia may be joining hands to call China to the discussion table; but China really dislikes being pressured and much prefers one-to-one dialogue and bi-lateral agreements.

Reuters: “Southeast Asian nations displayed a rare show of unity on Sunday against China’s sweeping maritime claims, calling for the first formal talks with Beijing over a sea dispute that has raised tensions and exposed deep divisions in the region.

(L - R)Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah hold hands during the opening ceremony of the 21st ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and East Asia summits in Phnom Penh November 18, 2012. REUTERS-Samrang Pring

As Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Cambodia for meetings with Southeast Asian leaders, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) appeared determined to avoid a repeat of an embarrassing breakdown of talks in July over competing claims in the mineral-rich South China Sea, its biggest security challenge.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen will tell Wen that ASEAN wants to begin talks on a binding Code of Conduct, aimed at reducing the chance of naval flashpoints, as soon as possible, ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan told reporters.

“Prime Minister Hun Sen himself will be discussing with the PM of China tonight and delivering this consensus on the ASEAN side,” Surin said.

“They would like to see the commencement of the discussion as soon as possible because this is an issue of interest, concern and worry of the international community.”

China’s assertive claims in the South China Sea have sown deep divisions within the bloc at a time when military spending in the region is surging and the United States refocuses attention on Asia – a “pivot” that President Barack Obama will reinforce on his visit to the summit on Monday in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.

Chinese ally Cambodia has used its powers as ASEAN chair this year to restrict discussion of the issue, in line with Beijing’s view that the disputes should be discussed on a bilateral basis. China has said it is willing to discuss the Code of Conduct when the “time is right.”

Diplomats said the Philippines, a close U.S. ally, had invited fellow Southeast Asian claimant states Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia to separate talks in Manila to be held later this year or early next year.

“We are trying to make that happen, hopefully in Manila,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters.

The other members of ASEAN include Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, none of which have claims on the South China Sea.

One Philippine diplomat said the meeting was aimed at resolving issues among the claimant states, such as overlapping economic zones. He voiced frustration with China for delaying the start of talks with ASEAN over the Code of Conduct.

“ASEAN has done its part,” the diplomat said. “Now it is up to China to also come up with its own because when we formally sit down we will present our position to them. In fact we have already written it.””

via Southeast Asia calls for talks with China on sea dispute | Reuters.

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Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, GeoPolitics, Instability, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | 4 Comments »

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17/11/2012

* Four killed in fresh Assam violence; curfew continues in Kokrajhar

Despite the appearance of ‘unity in diversity’, India seems to be continually beset with violent tensions; by Maoists/Naxalites, by ethnic groups and borderland disaffection.

Times of India: “Bodoland area in lower Assam witnessed fresh trouble with the killing of four persons by armed assailants in Jiaguri even as police arrested a member of Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District in connection with the killing.

The assailants fired randomly on a group of persons at Jiaguri in Kokrajhar police station in which four persons were killed late on Friday night, inspector general of police (BTAD) S N Singh said.

“Monokumar Brahma alias Jalja, a member of BTAD, was arrested early today in connection with the killing,” he said.

“Two AK-47 rifles, magazines of AK-47 rifles and 60 rounds of assorted ammunition were seized from his bedroom. He is currently being interrogated,” he said.

Indefinite curfew has been continuing in Kokrajhar district as violence flared up in the area again, the police said.”

via Four killed in fresh Assam violence; curfew continues in Kokrajhar – The Times of India.

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Posted in Dissident, Ethnic clash, India alert, Inequalities, Instability, Insurgency, Justice, self determination, unrest | Leave a Comment »

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16/11/2012

* Rahul Gandhi to lead Congress poll campaign

Reluctant Rahul finally emerges with key role.

BBC: “Congress party leader, Rahul Gandhi, has been appointed the head of a committee which will look after party activities relating to the 2014 general elections.

Rahul Gandhi, a lawmaker and son of India"s ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, attends the Nehru memorial lecture in New Delhi November 14, 2012

Correspondents say this appointment effectively means that Mr Gandhi will lead the campaign for the party.

Party leaders have been demanding a larger role for Mr Gandhi.

Support for Congress in its second term has been hit by economic concerns and corruption cases.

Last month, PM Manmohan Singh inducted 22 new ministers into the government in a major reshuffle, a move seen as an attempt to get younger politicians into the Congress party-led government ahead of general elections.

And, earlier this month, the party held a conclave, attended by 70 leaders, including Mr Gandhi and his mother and party chief, Sonia Gandhi.

The meeting was seen as another attempt to revitalise the party and government ahead of the polls.

Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi said Mr Gandhi will head a party “coordination committee … keeping in view the general elections to be held in 2014″.

Results of elections in the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are expected by this year-end.

A number of crucial state polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi will be held next year ahead of the general elections.

The two-term Congress government is expected to face a tough general election in 2014, correspondents say.

It has been beset by allegations of corruption and inaction in its present second term.”

via BBC News – Rahul Gandhi to lead Congress poll campaign.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/10/28/rahul-gandhi-mia/

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15/11/2012

* China names conservative, older leadership

For the last 20 years, the majority of the standing committee, Politburo (then 9 members)  have been engineers. Now only two of the seven-member of the central committee are experienced engineers, including the president-designate (chemical engineering). The other seven count amongst them the following academic disciplines: law, economics, Korean, politics, and history. One wonders whether the hitherto strong focus on infrastructure and major new engineering will take a back seat?

Reuters: “China’s ruling Communist Party unveiled an older, conservative leadership line-up on Thursday that appears unlikely to take the drastic action needed to tackle pressing issues like social unrest, environmental degradation and corruption.

Xi leads top leadership, meeting press

New party chief Xi Jinping, premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang and vice-premier in charge of economic affairs Wang Qishan, all named as expected to the elite decision-making Politburo Standing Committee, are considered cautious reformers. The other four members have the reputation of being conservative.

The line-up belied any hopes that Xi would usher in a leadership that would take bold steps to deal with slowing growth in the world’s second-biggest economy, or begin to ease the Communist Party’s iron grip on the most populous nation.

“We’re not going to see any political reform because too many people in the system see it as a slippery slope to extinction,” said David Shambaugh, director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

“They see it entirely through the prism of the Soviet Union, the Arab Spring and the Colour Revolutions in Central Asia, so they’re not going to go there.”

Vice-Premier Wang, the most reform-minded in the line-up, has been given the role of fighting widespread graft, identified by both Xi and outgoing President Hu Jintao as the biggest danger faced by the party and the state.”

via China names conservative, older leadership | Reuters.

See also: profile of seven new leaders – BBC

Posted in 10 year leadership change, China alert, Politics | 1 Comment »

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14/11/2012

* Constitution hails reform and opening up China’s “salient feature”

It’s one thing to change the constitution, it’s another to effect real change.  Let’s hope China means it and that by reform it means both economic and political reform.

Xinhua: The Communist Party of China (CPC) has amended its Constitution to hail reform and opening up as the path to a stronger China, and the salient feature of the new period in China, according to a resolution approved by the just-ended 18th CPC National Congress on Wednesday morning.

The inclusion of this statement in the Party Constitution will help the whole Party acquire a deeper understanding of the importance of continuing to carry out reform and opening up and thus pursue this endeavor even more consciously and with greater determination, says the resolution.

It is by carrying out reform and opening up that China has achieved rapid development in the past 30-plus years, and it is reform and opening up that will ensure its future development, it says.

“Only reform and opening up can enable China, socialism and Marxism to develop themselves,” it says.”

via Constitution hails reform and opening up China’s “salient feature” – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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14/11/2012

* Five Maoists killed in encounter in Odisha

The problem seems to be intractable. Unless India seriously eliminates rural poverty (as China has done over the last decades), it will never go away.

Times of India: “Five Maoists were killed in a fierce encounter with security forces in a forest on the border of Odisha’s Ganjam and Gajapati districts on Wednesday.

At least two security personnel were also injured in the exchange of fire in Bhaliagada jungle under Mohana police station area, police said.

“We have received information about the death of five Maoists during an exchange of fire in the jungle. The bodies are yet to be recovered as the operation is still on,” DIG of police (southern range) R K Sharma said.

The slain ultras belonged to a group headed by Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, he said.”

via Five Maoists killed in encounter in Odisha – The Times of India.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/prognosis/indian-challenges/

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14/11/2012

* Respected China banker tipped to head anti-graft effort

Let us hope that Mr Wang does get included in the Central Committee of the Politburo; and that he retains his integrity and zealousness. Unless corruption is reduced substantially within the next five years, the future hold of the CPC on China will gradually but surely slip away.

Reuters: “A respected trade negotiator and former banker is likely to head China’s fight against corruption, a top priority for the world’s second-biggest economy, following his appointment to a key council at the end of the 18th congress of the Communist Party.

Known as “the chief firefighter”, Wang Qishan, 64, sorted out a debt crisis in southern Guangdong province where he was vice governor in the late 1990s. Later, he replaced the sacked Beijing mayor after a cover-up of the deadly SARS virus in 2003.

Wang is now a shoo-in for the elite standing committee, the highest level of decision-making in China, after being elected to the party’s central committee and its graft-battling Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

“The bad news is that we are going to lose one of the most capable economic affairs managers in the country,” said Bo Zhiyue, a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore.

“The good news is that the new Chinese leadership is really interested in doing something about corruption,” he added. “With the nickname ‘firefighter’, I think he would be one of the most capable leaders of the Politburo Standing Committee.”

via Respected China banker tipped to head anti-graft effort | Reuters.

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Posted in 10 year leadership change, China alert, corruption, Politics | 1 Comment »

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14/11/2012

* How China Has Blocked Vale’s Iron-Ore Megaships

From supportive partner to antagonistic rival?

WSJ: “Brazilian miner Vale SA has spent around $2 billion on a fleet of huge ships to carry its iron ore from Brazil to China. The problem: China won’t let them in.

image

Chinese regulators have cited safety concerns over Valemax ships, as the cargo vessels are called. But analysts and industry observers point to a different reason: opposition from a Chinese shipping-industry group dominated by a state-owned company.

The Valemax fight offers a glimpse of one of the biggest battles China’s new leaders will face as they take the reins of the world’s No. 2 economy this week. Economists widely agree that to achieve sustainable growth, Beijing must open its doors to more competition and shake up state-controlled companies.

But the effort will face considerable challenges in a country where the line is blurred between state-owned enterprises and regulators.State-owned enterprises and their top regulator have pledged an overhaul but also have defended their role in the Chinese economy. “This is a special characteristic of China and critical to the development of a socialist economy,” said Wang Yong, director of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

State-owned enterprises dominate businesses including telecommunications and banking, leaving consumers with only three mobile-phone operators and lending dominated by state-controlled companies. In the energy sector, just a handful of domestic companies control exploration and production. Foreign car companies must form joint ventures with Chinese partners and share important technology.”

via How China Has Blocked Vale’s Iron-Ore Megaships – WSJ.com.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Politics, Protectionism | 1 Comment »

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