Links » Cream » Pentagon: China’s Military Getting Stronger

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• Pentagon: China’s Military Getting Stronger
• Chen Guangcheng Arrives in New York
• The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay Twitter feed) – 2012-05-19
• Hexie Farm (蟹农场 ): The Kiss of Freedom
• TV Host Applauds “Cleaning Out Foreign Trash”

Pentagon: China’s Military Getting Stronger Posted: 20 May 2012 12:43 AM PDT In an annual report to Congress on military and security developments in China, released on Friday, The Pentagon detailed the significant investment in and modernization of China's military as its influence continues to expand in the regional and global security arena. From the report's executive summary, via The New York Times: THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (PRC) is pursuing a long-term, comprehensive military modernization program designed to improve the capacity of China's armed forces to fight and win "local wars under conditions of informatization," or high-intensity, information-centric regional military operations of short duration. China's leaders view modernization of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) as an essential component of their strategy to take advantage of what they perceive to be a "window of strategic opportunity" to advance China's national development during the first two decades of the 21st century. During this period, China's leaders are placing a priority on fostering a positive external environment to provide the PRC with the strategic space to focus on economic growth and development. At the same time, Chinese leaders seek to maintain peace and stability along their country's periphery, expand their diplomatic influence to facilitate access to markets, capital, and resources, and avoid direct confrontation with the United States and other countries. This strategy has led to an expansion of China's presence in regions all over the world, creating new and expanding economic and diplomatic interests. As these interests have grown, and as China has assumed new roles and responsibilities in the international community, China's military modernization is, to an increasing extent, focusing on investments in military capabilities that would enable China's armed forces to conduct a wide range of missions, including those farther from China. Even as the PLA is contending with this growing array of missions, preparing for contingencies in the Taiwan Strait remains the principal focus and driver of much of China's military investment. In this context, over the past year, the PLA continued to build the capabilities and develop the doctrine it considers necessary to deter Taiwan from declaring independence; to deter, delay, and deny effective U.S. intervention in a potential cross-Strait conflict; and to defeat Taiwan forces in the event of hostilities. In a commentary on Friday, Xinhua News rejected the report as "ridden with speculative descriptions" and claimed it reflected America's Cold War mentality: The report said China "periodically acts more assertively in pursuit of its strategic priorities," making an apparent reference to China's firm stance on protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity in disputes concerning the South China Sea. As a champion of good-neighbor diplomacy, China has been aspiring for peaceful development. When it comes to issues of sovereignty and national security, China stands firm just like any other member of the international community. What's the fault in that? The Pentagon also expresses doubts about the transparency of China's defense spending, saying that estimating China's actual military expenditures "is difficult because of poor accounting transparency and China's still incomplete transition from a command economy." Making such a statement, the report apparently ignores the fact that China has been publicizing its annual defense budget since 1978, which was included in the government's budget report to the National People's Congress every year. And since 1995, China has been releasing the complete data on defense spending in its annual White Paper on China's National Defense. … U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was right when she said in a speech at the Naval Academy last month that "Today's China is not the Soviet Union. We are not on the brink of a new Cold War in Asia … That requires adjustments in thinking and approaches on both sides." Given the fact that China-U.S. ties have evolved beyond bilateral scope and now bear global significance, it's highly advisable for the United States to refrain from hurling mud at China and abandon such counterproductive Cold War-style practices of issuing annual reports on China's military and continuing arms sales to Taiwan. See also previous CDT coverage of China's military, including a February report that China's military spending will double by 2015 and outpace the rest of the Asia Pacific region combined. © Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: China's rise, military spending, pentagon, People's Liberation Army, u.s.-china relations Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Chen Guangcheng Arrives in New York Posted: 19 May 2012 06:18 PM PDT Following his sudden departure last night from his hospital in Beijing, legal activist Chen Guangcheng arrived in New York and greeted the media near New York University, where he is expected to take up a fellowship. From CNN: United Airlines Flight 88 landed at New York/Newark Liberty International Airport to little fanfare after the U.S. State Department prohibited public and media access. Less than two hours later, Chen, 40, spoke from New York University, where he will participate in a fellowship. "I am very grateful to the assistance of the American Embassy and the promise of the Chinese government to keep protection of my rights as a citizen in the long term," Chen said to a mob of reporters and onlookers. "I am very gratified to see the Chinese government has been dealing with the situation with restraint and calm." The activist indicated he had been granted partial U.S. citizenship and asked people to "promote fairness and justice in China." Passengers, including reporters, on the flight were not permitted to speak with Chen and his family, but a New York Times reporter did have a brief interview with him: Mr. Chen left Beijing with his wife and two children, and like most events surrounding his case, the departure was shrouded in secrecy until the last minute. Even on the plane, flight attendants took pains to keep other passengers from invading his privacy, drawing a curtain swiftly around the first rows of the plane where he was sitting with his family. But in a brief conversation on the plane, Mr. Chen said, "I don't really feel that happy, but rather sentimental." "After all the suffering for years, I don't have those tearful moments anymore," he said, "but I do feel something inside." He looked calm, but his hands shook as he talked about leaving a country he has tried to change for years from within. "I'm very clear what kind of role I'm playing right now. Opportunity and risk exist at the same time," he said.In Washington, the State Department praised the Chinese government in a statement that reflected its handling of the case from the start: understated and nonconfrontational, despite the emotions and high stakes involved for both countries. "We also express our appreciation for the manner in which we were able to resolve this matter and to support Mr. Chen's desire to study in the U.S. and pursue his goals," the State Department's spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said. See also a report by Melinda Liu in the Daily Beast. Hexie Farm drew a cartoon depicting Chen's flight to the U.S. Read much more about Chen Guangcheng via CDT. © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Chen Guangcheng, dissidents, exiles, nyu Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay Twitter feed) – 2012-05-19 Posted: 18 May 2012 08:59 PM PDT Diplomat: China's Un-Neighborly Fishing Ban http://t.co/u8y7JzVp -> NY Times: Sentiment Against Foreigners Flares in China http://t.co/7LuUMAnP -> China Daily: US ruling on solar panels 'unreasonable' http://t.co/6ymPWDQM reax from MOFCOM and industry group -> +1 RT @prchovanec: I can't appear on CCTV-9 Dialogue anymore, I'm too busy collecting GPS data http://t.co/v7fEE7Qo -> Tea Leaf Nation: Online, Being Gay In China Gets Much "Respect," But Less "Acceptance" http://t.co/jxchcZje @tealeafnation -> China Daily: College lessons in attracting foreign students http://t.co/iKCBZI7q Whatever turns a profit, I guess. -> Washington Post: China's Harvard connection http://t.co/SuDeOBBs -> China Business Watch: How much debt China can bear? http://t.co/NxrUN55P -> FYI — China releases IPR protection, anti-counterfeiting agenda http://t.co/3zoglSMn -> The Peking Duck: Foreign Devils http://t.co/rE9xV5Lm -> James Fallows: China Soft-Power Watch: the Yang Rui 'Foreign Bitch' Factor http://t.co/WZKuVM1X -> 2 arrested in Chinese student killings in LA http://t.co/z6Ea65Ly -> MarketWatch: Yahoo up on Alibaba transaction plan: report http://t.co/6Ny4eeNY -> Patrick Chovanec: No Guarantee http://t.co/1TACcM0e @prchovanec Depressing and scary. Enjoy. -> Joint Press Communique of the 14th China-EU Summit http://t.co/t5eLrXmy -> © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: The Daily Twit

Hexie Farm (蟹农场 ): The Kiss of Freedom Posted: 19 May 2012 09:07 AM PDT In his latest contribution to his series for CDT, cartoonist Crazy Crab of Hexie Farm celebrates the news that activist Chen Guangcheng is reportedly on a flight headed for the U.S. after his long saga involving a dangerous escape from de facto house arrest, refuge in the U.S. embassy, and then two weeks in a hospital in Beijing while his fate was decided. When Chen spoke with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton upon his departure from the embassy, it was reported that he told her, "I want to kiss you!" Later, Chen clarified that he had said, "I want to see you." Read more about Hexie Farm's CDT series, including a Q&A with the anonymous cartoonist, and see all cartoons so far in the series. Hexie Farm also runs the Dark Glasses. Portrait website in support of Chen Guangcheng. More of his cartoons featuring Chen Guangcheng are part of a Foreign Policy Magazine slideshow. "9 Ways of Looking at Chen." [CDT owns the copyright for all cartoons in the Hexie Farm CDT series. Please do not reproduce without receiving prior permission from CDT.] © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Chen Guangcheng, hexie farm Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

TV Host Applauds “Cleaning Out Foreign Trash” Posted: 19 May 2012 02:09 AM PDT Since 2000, Yang Rui has been the host of English-language CCTV 9′s 'Dialogue' talk show and as such, in James Fallows' words, part of "the face the government wants to present to the outside world." From a 2009 profile in Germany's Der Spiegel: Yang says he wants to "enhance China's prestige in the world …. He speaks in a gentle, friendly manner — in the precise English he learned as a student in Great Britain. Here too, outside the studio, he remains the consummate gentleman, never rising into the shrill tones favored by many a government spokesperson. On his Weibo account on Wednesday, Yang showed a different side [zh]. Josh Chin's translation at The Wall Street Journal reads: The Public Security Bureau wants to clean out the foreign trash: To arrest foreign thugs and protect innocent girls, they need to concentrate on the disaster zones in [student district] Wudaokou and [drinking district] Sanlitun. Cut off the foreign snake heads. People who can't find jobs in the U.S. and Europe come to China to grab our money, engage in human trafficking and spread deceitful lies to encourage emigration. Foreign spies seek out Chinese girls to mask their espionage and pretend to be tourists while compiling maps and GPS data for Japan, Korea and the West. We kicked out that foreign bitch and closed Al-Jazeera's Beijing bureau. We should shut up those who demonize China and send them packing. The post met with criticism and ridicule from many Sina Weibo users. Charles Custer gathered and translated some responses at ChinaGeeks: Host Yang, you haven't gone far enough! We should bring back all the officials' wives and children from overseas to help build the motherland, we must not allow them to be polluted by foreign trash, yes, and also we should close the borders/forbid international travel, so that there is no contact with overseas forces. Isn't your daughter studying in the US? The fact that this CCTV host isn't writing editorials for the Beijing Daily is truly a waste of talent. This is exactly how the Boxer Rebellion started… Even the state-owned English-language tabloid Global Times paired its translation of Yang's outburst with some dissenting comments: @天下乐田: Can we stop this way of governing the country? Public policies come in waves of public campaign and (the effect of which does not last long). How far can it get us to demonize every foreign citizen here who does not have legal residence status? After all, the bad is only a few; the majority of the criminals in the country are Chinese. The point is how to work on efficiency and effectiveness in the public service domain. @平安08: Should the presenter be more analytical he would realize the we now live in a global village. State border allows for two-way traffic. If others treated the Chinese community with such intense belligerence, it wouldn't be too good for us. To work hard to make our society a better place starts with us! Many have wondered whether Yang will now struggle to find foreign guests to appear on his show, with some urging an active boycott. Custer and others went further, quickly putting together a bilingual flyer to be distributed on weibo, calling for Yang's firing. In response, Yang insisted that he stood against xenophobia, and had been referring only to a small minority of "foreign hooligans" [zh]; but that given his reaction, perhaps Custer was one of them, and his background should be investigated by the Public Security Bureau. "What kind of journalist sets police on to critics?" wondered The Guardian's Jonathan Watts. As Custer noted at China Geeks, Yang's post fits a wider trend: Yang's comments come at a particularly sensitive time for foreigners, many of whom are concerned about their safety after a British scumbag and a Russian idiot have stirred up a lot of nationalist, anti-foreign sentiment online (all foreigners are the same, so we're all guilty by association). Probably related is the crackdown on illegal foreigners in Beijing that Yang was commenting on. This crackdown is perfectly fair in theory — every country has immigration laws and the right to enforce them — but the language and imagery that's being used to promote it is sort of concerning, as is the idea that foreigners will now be required to carry their papers at all times and submit to random checks. Suddenly, Beijing is feeling a bit like Arizona (that's not a good thing). Beijing's campaign against illegal foreign residents has indeed taken what many feel is an alarming tone. Its "cleaning up" rhetoric has been widely embraced, while a group of web companies including Sina and Baidu is encouraging users to report and publicise bad behaviour by foreigners, whether their papers are in order or not. Relatively trivial incidents risk being blown out of proportion: the verbal abuse flung at a female Chinese train passenger by Russian cellist Oleg Vedernikov was certainly obnoxious, but might ordinarily not have dominated the front page of the Beijing Morning Post. The apparent wave of anti-foreign sentiment, and various parties' vigorous stoking of it, has fed suspicions of ulterior motives. From Global Post: Some suspect that the policy is intended to whip up xenophobia to cement the Party's control after an unprecedented series of snafus embarrassed China on the international stage. Years of carefully sculpting Beijing's image flew out the window when Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal-rights activist, and Wang Lijun, an iron-fisted police chief, each fled to the US embassy for protection from their own government. And with the Party preparing for its transfer of power this autumn, the crackdown may be intended to serve as a way to unite popular support. "By deputizing the populists against the foreigners, it's a way for the authorities to say we're all in this together — the government and the people — against the illegal aliens," says Jeremiah Jenne, a PhD candidate at the University of California-Davis, who has lived in Beijing since 2002. © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall