Observers have commented that Indian officials may benefit from the ‘opening up’ of Myanmar [AFP] Chang Mai, Thailand - When Indian foreign minister SM Krishna traveled to Myanmar in June 2011, he brought with him a gift of ten heavy-duty rice silos. It was a sweetener for the new Myanmar government, which had taken office only months [...]
Global Temperatures Rising on a Devastating Trajectory by Stephen Leahy Climate-heating carbon emissions set a record high in 2011, in a 3.2 percent increase over the previous year, the International Energy Agency reported this week. The main reason for this dangerous increase is that governments are failing to implement policies to prevent catastrophic increases of [...]
To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com here. Conflict and intrigue over valuable energy supplies have been features of the international landscape for a long time. Major wars over oil have been fought every decade or so since World War I, and smaller engagements [...]
‘Goodbye to China, country of contradictions’ Melissa Chan, China correspondent since 2007, filed nearly 400 reports during her five years in the country Earlier this week, I left China after five years as an Al Jazeera English correspondent following the decision by the government to revoke my press credentials. At a subsequent Foreign Ministry press briefing, [...]
S Korea’s Lee Myung-bak, China’s Wen Jiabao and Japan’s Yoshihiko Noda are attending the summit [Reuters] Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, has warned that Asia faced an “unstable and uncertain” situation as he sat down with leaders of Japan and South Korea for discussions likely to focus on dealing with North Korea.A trilateral free trade pact was also expected [...]
Hundreds of Filipinos rallied outside the Chinese Embassy to protest alleged bullying of the Philippines [EPA] Anti-China protests are taking place in the capital of the Philippines over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea. About 1,000 people gathered outside the Chinese embassy in Manila to protest against what they say are Chinese intrusions, [...]
Settlement expansion and targeted killings have increased as Palestinians move towards political restraint and away from violence [GALLO/GETTY] Santa Barbara, CA - Can anyone doubt that if there were more than 1,500 prisoners engaged in a hunger strikein any country in the world other than Palestine, the media in the West would be obsessed with the story? [...]
US soldiers overlook Major‘s Bay at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, one of the sites of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime exercises [Jon Letman/Al Jazeera] Without question: US military expansion in the Asia-Pacific The expansion of the US military into Asia-Pacific is not just about power, but [...]
The Empire vs. Iran (and Syria): A New World War for a New World Order? By Jooneed Khan May 02, 2012 “Rabble” – Confronted with a declining World Order it can no longer control, does the West want to re-assert its will through a new world war, which this time would be really global? [...]
War talk on both side has raised international fears of a full blown war [Reuters] The UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution giving Sudan and South Sudan only 48 hours to halt hostilities or face potential sanctions. With Russia and China joining the growing calls for a halt to the growing border conflict, the 15-member [...]
Brewing a Conflict with China By Paul Craig Roberts May 01, 2012 “Information Clearing House” – Washington has pressured the Philippines, whose government it owns, into conducting joint military exercises in the South China Sea. Washington’s excuse is that China has territorial disputes with the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries concerning island [...]
Key US bases in Asia-Pacific. Source: BBC News. Role of Philippines in US Imperial ‘Pivot’ in Asia May Expand Washington has been building up the Filipino military, like others in the region, to contain a non-threatening China by John Glaser, April 30, 2012 Print This | Share This Recent joint U.S.-Filipino military exercises are a direct military [...]
War Machines – There Are Two Bullets per Person By Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace What would you do with $1,738 billion (US dollars)? If you were told you had to spend it this year on making people safer, what would you spend it on? $1, 738bn is how much was spent [...]
Sudan Conflict: War is Not an Option By Ramzy Baroud In a statement published last July, Amnesty International called on UN member states to control arm shipments to both Sudan and South Sudan. It accused the US, Russia and China of fuelling violations in the Sudan conflict through the arms [...]
US soldiers overlook Major’s Bay at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, one of the sites of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the largest world’s largest maritime exercises [Jon Letman/Al Jazeera] Kauai, Hawaii - As Noam Chomsky wrote in this two-part essay, America‘s “pivot” toward the Asia-Pacific region is in response to what [...]
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) – China signed accords on energy cooperation and the Arctic in Iceland on Friday as Premier Wen Jiabao started a tour of northern Europe that will focus on Chinese investment in a continent eager for funds and to trade with the rising world power. Centrepiece of the trip will be a [...]
Unplugging Americans From The Matrix By Paul Craig Roberts April 20, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Americans, the British, and Western Europeans are accustomed to thinking of themselves as the representatives of freedom, democracy, and morality in the world. The West passes judgment on the rest of the world as if the [...]
The launch makes India part of an elite club with intercontinental nuclear defence capabilites [AFP] India has test launched its first long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), capable of reaching deep into China and as far as Europe, with a scientist at the launch describing the mission as successful. “It has met all the mission objectives,” S [...]
China’s Rise, America’s Fall More Sharing ServicesShare|Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on email Which superpower is more threatened by its “extractive elites”? By Ron Unz | April 18, 2012 The rise of China surely ranks among the most important world developments of the last 100 years. With America still trapped in its fifth year of economic [...]
Li Changchun, China‘s head of propaganda, at the London book fair. Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters David Cameron to raise Neil Heywood case with visiting Chinese official Propaganda chief due for talks as William Hague faces pressure to explain delay in raising alarm after Briton’s death Luke Harding guardian.co.uk, Monday 16 April 2012 18.10 BST Article history David [...]
Wen Jiabao promises crackdown on corruption in China Premier’s announcement of action against abuse of office follows Bo Xilai‘s suspension from party over Neil Heywood murder case China’s prime minister Wen Jiabao has promised reforms to stop abuse of power. Photograph: Yves Logghe/AP Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has promised tougher curbs on corruption and abuse of power, [...]
Sergey Brin says he and Google co-founder Larry Page would not have been able to create their search giant if the internet was dominated by Facebook. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Web freedom faces greatest threat ever, warns Google’s Sergey Brin Exclusive: Threats range from governments trying to control citizens to the rise of Facebook [...]
The Framing of Bo Xilai Or: How the East was won by Justin Raimondo, April 13, 2012 Murder and politics – they go together quite well. Wars, assassinations, violent purges: these are the woof and warp of politics, which is, after all, nothing but organized coercion or the threat of it. Combine this with [...]
China gets most of its Gulf oil from Saudi Arabia – 1 million barrels per day to be exact [EPA] New York, NY - Though the so-called “cable gate” scandal has largely vanished from public view, revelations from classified US State Department correspondence continue to illuminate present day geopolitical dilemmas. Take, for example, mounting tensions in [...]
Brazil’s importance on the world stage is such that Barack Obama, the US president, hailed it an “equal partner”. But as Dilma Rouseff, the Brazilian president, makes her first official visit to Washington, we ask if the US is giving the emerging power the recognition it is seeking. On Monday, Rouseff, who represents the [...]
Recep Tayyip Erdogan‘s first stop was in Urumqi, home to China‘s Uighurs who are ethnically related to Turks. Their plight has been a source of contention between Turkey and China. Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters Turkish prime minister visits China Trip by Recep Tayyip Erdogan is first to China by a Turkish leader for 27 years and [...]
Tension ahead of Pyongyang Missile Test By Nile Bowie As China declares fresh warnings of retaliation against any strike on Iran [1], the regime in Pyongyang shows no signs of aborting its upcoming controversial satellite launch, scheduled to take place on April 12th through to April 16th. The Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite will be [...]
The KaChing! Dynasty China will soon be home to half the world’s billionaires, so can the superrich help the superpower stay in the box seat? The Chinese economy is booming at a blistering pace. It is driven largely by the Fudai: the superrich who call the superpower home. Many are just in [...]
Pepe Escobar: ‘Pentagon freaks creep into China‘s backyard’ Apr 4, 2012 The first rotation of about 200 US marines has arrived in Australia on a six-month training deployment. A total of 2,500 troops are expected to arrive over the next few years in Darwin to enhance the US’s military presence in [...]
Image from guanwei.com.cn TAGS: Health, Scandal, Law, Internet, China,Corruption Chinese officials inhale bribes? Get short URL email story to a friend print version Published: 05 April, 2012, 18:19 In China, entrepreneurs say it is impossible to run your business without bribery. And the new trend – provoking an angry buzz in the local internet community – is to pay dishonest officials [...]
‘Anonymous China’ Seeks Translator After Chinese Website Attacks Apr 05, 2012 10:13 AM EST 1 Comment By Sara Yin A new, China-focused group of Anonymous hacktivists took down several hundred of Chinese websites this week to “revolt the Chinese system.” The Twitter account @AnonymousChina launched on March 30, and tweets were sent to [...]
All the present rumblings coming from politicians in Canberra about our great friends the US and what we do about China is at the least stupid and at the worst downright cowardice on a massive parliamentary scale. The real issue is “why can’t we get on with our own neighbours free from [...]
Keeping an eye on China? First US Marines arrive in Australia. As a continuing part of the repulsive subservience of the Australian government to US hegemony the arrival of troops at Darwin was hardly a ripple. But it is the start of a concerted campaign by the US to defend oil supply lines through the Straits of [...]
Photograph by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends a meeting at the Great Hall of People in Beijing China Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Talks Like a Bold Reformer By Dexter Roberts on April 04, 2012 Tweet Facebook LinkedIn Google Plus 8 Comments Related China’s Local Debt Is No Problem, Wen Says VIDEO Wen Says Yuan [...]
Southeast Asia Nations, China Bring Rift to Summit Amid tensions in the South China Sea between China, the Philippines, and Vietnam, other Southeast Asian Nations are split over how they should deal with the region. China has recently called for peace while thePhilippines and Vietnam have developed stronger military ties with each other as well as with the United [...]
Grass-mud horse shown on the fifty-cent bill. Word of the Week: Fifty Cents Editor’s Note: The Word of the Week comes from China Digital Space’s Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and frequently encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online “resistance discourse,” used to mock and subvert [...]
Oliver Stuenkel was part of Brazil’s delegation to the Track II academic forum in preparation for the New Delhi Summit for the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) which was held on Thursday. Stuenkel specialises in Brazil’s relations with India, but also more broadly focuses his research [...]
. The United Nations buildings Time to Dismantle the UN Security Council by Arun Elhance The time has come for an urgent and complete overhaul of the organizational structure of the United Nations in the field of peace and security. To dismantle the UN Security Council would be the boldest but also the most enlightened step [...]
A pedestrian shields herself from traffic fumes in Hong Kong. Photograph: Mkle Clarke/AFP/Getty Images link http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2012/mar/30/bad-cycling-cities-hong-kong-auckland How cities fail their cyclists in different ways Share your nominations for cycling no-hoper cities, and others which simply could do better It’s an intermittent, and probably fair, complaint that this blog can get a bit negative. I’m hoping to [...]
China Beyond the Stereotypes Transition From the Sweatshop of the World by BEHZAD YAGHMAIAN For many the Retraction of the Apple story by This American Life turned Apple from a labor abuser into a corporation with best practices. Others saw this as a proof of yet another corporate cover-up and PR campaign by Apple. Meanwhile, [...]
China Beyond the Stereotypes Transition From the Sweatshop of the World by BEHZAD YAGHMAIAN For many the Retraction of the Apple story by This American Life turned Apple from a labor abuser into a corporation with best practices. Others saw this as a proof of yet another corporate cover-up and PR campaign by Apple. [...]
View PhotoSouth African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies attends a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, January 27, 2011. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The BRICS group of countries have broadly agreed they are not bound by “unilateral” sanctions onIran, measures that threaten higher global oil prices and could result in supply shortages, South Africa’s [...]
Bo Xilai was tipped to join the country’s top political group in this autumn’s leadership transition. Photograph: Jason Lee / Reuters/Reuters Britain has asked China to investigate the mysterious death of a British businessman with ties to the family of an ousted Chinese leader. Neil Heywood’s sudden death at a hotel in Chongqing last November, blamed on [...]
By Alister Bull and Matt Spetalnick Obama to China: Help rein in North Korea Related News North Korea will achieve nothing from rocket launch: Obama 6:46am EDT Obama scans tense Korean DMZ, North mourns Kim Jong-il 5:58am EDT Obama says still time for diplomacy with Iran 5:35am EDT North Korea meetings set to boost young leader’s power Sat, [...]
by Pepe Escobar China’s riders on the storm | Print | E-mail Sunday, 25 March 2012 11:11 By MWC News Share Link: Comments and Reactions Not many people outside China are familiar with foggy Chongqing, in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, in the heart of Sichuan province. Well, this is the biggest megalopolis in the world: [...]
There are few things as infuriating as the annual report by one of my favorite research organizations. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released on March 19 its yearly global arms report, with data showing that arms transfers for the past four years have increased by a quarter over the 2002-2006 period. Asia is leading [...]
Activists who see the poll as an elitist process have been protesting the vote [Reuters] A former propery consultant has been elected as the new chief executive of Hong Kong, according to a live televised stream of the vote count. Leung Chun-ying had been considered the favourite to win Sunday’s vote after securing the [...]
An aerial view of the centre of Shanghai Photograph: AP Martin Jacques The Observer, Sunday 25 March 2012 Article history Why do we continue to ignore China’s rise? Arrogance Martin Jacques, author of a bestseller on China, asks why the west continues to approach the rise of the new global powerhouse with a closed mind. We [...]
T The leaders of the BRICS nations are attempting to build meaningful, useful institutions [EPA] New Delhi, India - As it prepares to hold its latest annual summit in New Delhi on March 28-29, the BRICS grouping - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – remains a concept in search of a common identity and institutionalised [...]
Worrisome Security Council Presidential Statement on Syria By Stephen Lendman March 23, 2012 “Information Clearing House” – After months of internal wrangling, Security Council members unanimously endorsed efforts to end Syrian violence. Or did they? More on that below. Presidential statements are non-binding. However, with vague language, they risk potential slippery slope [...]
