China Chill: the hidden nukes

DailyMail: "China's nuclear arsenal could be up to FORTY times bigger than thought, three-year study of secret documents reveals"

China's nuclear arsenal may be many times larger than estimates suggest, a group of students have claimed after three years of painstaking researching through restricted documents. Led by a former top Pentagon official, the students at Georgetown University, in Washington DC, have scrutinised satellite imagery, translated Chinese military documents and filtered through thousands of online files. The focus of their extensive research has been the thousands of miles of underground tunnels dug by the Second Artillery Corps to hide China's missile arsenal. (...) >>>

Nov. 30, 2011
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Commie imperialism -

While China is sucking Africa's wells dry, they're now extending their tentacles to the Americas. The first target of these projects is tropical wood. Colombia's intentions might just be to use the project as a crowbar in their free trade negotiations with the US, there are also whispers about a mega urban settlement in Suriname. We are on the job and will revert -

Reuters: "China, Colombia in talks over Panama canal rival - report"

China is in talks to build a "dry canal" linking Colombia's Atlantic and Pacific coats by rail, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was quoted as saying on Sunday. The 220-kilometer project, dubbed as an alternative to the Panama canal, is one of a series of Chinese proposals that would boost transport links with Asia and improve Colombia's infrastructure, the Financial Times said, citing documents it has seen. (...) >>>

Feb. 17, 2011
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The first mature fascist state -

PJM: "Beijing Embraces Classical Fascism", by Michael Ledeen

For nearly ten years, I have been arguing that China may well be the first example of a mature fascism in power. The highest praise imaginable has been bestowed on this theory, by the People’s Republic itself. When I published an updated version of my theory (first published in the Wall Street Journal in 2002 and reprised in different form in NRO thereafter) in the Far East Economic Review in May, 2008, the entire issue was banned in China. On the occasion of Mr. Hu’s visit to Washington, it seems appropriate to revisit this theme, which seems to me to have been abundantly confirmed by events. (...) >>>

Jan. 26, 2011
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Arming to the teeth -

Telegraph: "China preparing for armed conflict 'in every direction'"

China is preparing for conflict 'in every direction', the defence minister said on Wednesday in remarks that threaten to overshadow a visit to Beijing by his US counterpart next month. (...) >>>

Dec. 30, 2010
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The unnobel new world order ... very much like the old unnobel world order. The countries either agreeing with China's autocracy, or China living in its pockets - (Serbia is said to be not on that list; two are supposed to have embraced democratic values at great cost: Iraq and Afghanistan)

Take Part: "Not So Nobel: 19 Countries Support China's Jailing of Peace Prize Winner"

China was displeased when human rights activist Liu Xiaobo was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The dissident, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence, fell afoul of China's rulers for calling for the end of Communist one-party rule and the establishment of a democracy that respects human rights. (...) The 19 countries invested in keeping their distance from a ceremony honoring a democracy activist are:

Russia
Kazakhstan
Colombia
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
Pakistan
Serbia
Iraq
Iran
Vietnam
Afghanistan
Venezuela
Philippines
Egypt
Sudan
Ukraine
Cuba
Morocco (...) >>>

Dec. 10, 2010
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Trifecta: Trade, Diplomacy, Military Power

The Freedomist: "China props up Anti-American regimes to satisfy oil bloodlust- Freedom News- Report", by William R Collier (Jr. Military Intelligence Analyst)

It is perhaps too simplistic to look at any series of conflicts and hot spots and point to only one cause as being the single-most determinative factor, but there are times when the pattern becomes glaringly clear. In the case of China’s bloodlust for oil, there are serious geopolitical and military implications.

Consider the situation in Iraq, the Iranian threat, Darfur, Uganda, and even the Burmese military junta and ongoing corruption and instability in Nigeria and if you scratch below the surface the one common denominator, and single-most determinative factor, is China’s bloodlust for oil. China is involved in Liberia, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Uganda, Cuba, Bolivia, Burma, and countless other locations where China is also influencing foreign affairs, always against the US, and selling military equipment, often requiring “military advisers.”

China’s imperialism is real and it is being actualized, and real people are losing their lives, as in Darfur, because they stand in the way of it. (...) >>>

Nov. 17, 2010
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China demands respect -

The Freedomist: "China threatens U.S. if Obama doesn’t recognize Chinese Supremacy- World News- China"

The United States should alter policy to take account of China’s role as a major player on the world stage if it wants to avoid friction and instability, a major state newspaper said on Thursday. The commentary in ruling Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily followed the latest spat in Sino-U.S. ties, over what China views as unwarranted U.S. interference in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

While senior officials, including U.S. President Barack Obama, say they welcome a prosperous, flourishing China, good words must be backed up by actions, the newspaper said. “If the United States cannot find a way of recognizing and accepting China’s entrance on the world stage as a big player, relations will swerve up and down like a roller coaster,” it said. (...) >>>

Jul 29, 2010
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China's Tea Party movement -

Image by Matthew Stewart | Photographer via Flickr

Taipei Times: "More of China’s bloggers, tweeters join the tea party"

Like the US, China is having its own tea party movement, but this one has a very different agenda. Police have long tried to shush and isolate potential activists, usually starting with a low-key warning, perhaps over a meal or a cup of tea. Now, the country’s troublemakers are openly blogging and tweeting their stories about “drinking tea” with the police, allowing the targeted citizens to bond and diluting the intimidation they feel.

The movement is an embarrassment for officials, who are suspicious of anything that looks like an organized challenge to their authority, and it can’t help that “drinking tea” stories seem to be spreading among ordinary Chinese, including ones who signed a recent online call for political reform.

The country’s top political event of the year, the National People’s Congress, has given the stories another bump. More than 200 people say they’ve been invited by police to “drink tea” since last Friday, when the congress began, independent political blogger Ran Yunfei said.

“That’s according to what I gathered from the Internet and that doesn’t include the people who didn’t identify themselves,” he said on Wednesday. There was no way to independently verify the number. (...) >>>

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• US criticizes China's domestic, economic policies (sfgate.com)

Mar 12, 2010
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The Obama spine test -

CNN: "China suspends U.S. military visits after Taiwan arms deal"

China said Saturday it had suspended military exchanges with the United States over Washington's $6.4-billion arms deal with Taiwan, the territory that Beijing claims as its own. China's Defense Ministry said the decision to halt visits between the Chinese and U.S. armed forces was made "in consideration of the serious harm and impacts on Sino-U.S. military relations" brought about by the arms deal, according to a report on the state-run Xinhua news agency. Xinhua did not immediately provide further details on the visits. (...) >>>

Jan. 30, 2010
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Update: Forbes: "China tells Web companies to obey controls"

Google: "A New Approach to China"

Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different. (...)

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised. >>>

Jan. 13, 2010
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FEATURE - More on said "ethnically Muslim" (Turkic) people, the Uighurs. Excellent article. Comment #10 takes us back to the raw realities of life on the ground on Planet Earth.

PJM: "China Silences the Muslim World", by Gordon G. Chang

(...) The Uighurs,unfortunately, are one of the world’s last colonized people. For hundreds of years, they have tried to free themselves from the rule of Chinese emperors, presidents, and general secretaries. They succeeded in 1944 when they proclaimed the East Turkestan Republic, but the new state did not survive long. Mao Zedong crushed the Uighurs in 1949, the year he established the People’s Republic of China.

As a result of the conquest, Beijing calls the Uighurs “Chinese,” but that’s not true in any meaningful sense of the term. The Han and the Uighurs come from different racial stock, speak different languages, and practice different religions. The Uighurs, not surprisingly, do not accept the Chinese label, and they reject Chinese rule. Beijing, therefore, has sought to tighten its grip on Xinjiang, which accounts for about a sixth of the total landmass of present-day China. Its most important tactic is to marginalize the Uighurs in their own communities. (...)

Yet the death of hundreds, and probably thousands, of Uighurs and the systematic destruction of their culture has been met with an eerie silence from Muslim nations. Nations that expressed incandescent rage at the United States due to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo have, up until now, said nothing about Xinjiang. Why? (...) China’s outreach to Muslim nations goes beyond the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, of course. Chinese diplomats have sought to translate China’s newfound strength into economic relations with Middle Eastern nations, especially Saudi Arabia and Iran. Part of the price for good relations with Beijing has been silence on its policy toward its own Muslims. (...) >>>

July 12, 2009
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Note the categories "Muslim" and "ethnic" in one breath: whatever does that mean? Another attempt to conflate religion (epistemology) with race (metaphysical) - they've been at it in The Hague as well - DutchNews: 60 arrests:

The Boston Globe: "140 killed, 800 injured in ethnic riots in western China"

Chinese state media said that 140 people have been killed, more than 800 hurt, and hundreds arrested in violence in the country's western Xinjiang region. The official Xinhua News Agency did not immediately give any other details today on the number of deaths. It earlier reported that four people had been killed in violence after nearly 1,000 protesters from a Muslim ethnic group, the Uighurs, rioted yesterday in the region's capital Urumqi, overturning barricades, attacking bystanders, and clashing with police.(...) >>>

July 6, 2009
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The Daily Beast: "China’s War on Google", by Maura Moynihan

In the wake of an Iranian uprising broadcast to the world through YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, the acquiescence of American search engines to Chinese censorship laws feels more dangerous than ever. On the night of June 4th, 2009, the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Chinese Communist Party celebrated their grim victory over the democracy protestors by sealing Tiananmen with paramilitary troops and censoring all telecasts. (...)

So it is hardly a shock that the Chinese government is now obstructing Google in an effort to control what Li Changchun, senior leader of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau, deemed a “vulgar trend” of “uncivilized behavior” on the Internet. Beijing’s Politboro has managed to excise the bloodstains of June 4th from textbooks and televisions, but the Internet is the next frontier to be tamed. As the web collides with Big Brother, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Lenovo are being forced to collaborate or lose their places in the vast China market. (...) >>>

June 27, 2009
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