Tell Me No Secrets

This year, Xi and Obama agreed to hold a casual, informal, Two Nations Summitt at the US western retreet in California. The advertised purpose was for the two leaders to develope a personal relationship, so the two countries could better resolve issues.



In the two week run up up to the historic meeting, Obama repeatedly chastised China over what the US claimed was China's cyber spying to steal US business and military secrets. Obama even blasted China at the Asian meeting in Singapore..



This is the first time the Pentagon's annual report has directly linked such attacks to the Beijing government and military. 
The Pentagon has accused China of sponsoring cyber-attacks on U.S government computers as part of a campaign of cyber-espionage.

This is the first time the Pentagon's annual report has directly linked such attacks to the Beijing government.

The annual Pentagon report claims that at least some attacks on US government and other computer systems appeared to be 'attributable directly' to the Chinese government and military.

It alleges China is using its cyber capabilities to collect intelligence against US diplomatic, economic and defence programs, and is developing the skills needed to conduct cyber-warfare.

The new wording in the report continues an escalating effort by US officials to call out the Chinese on the cyber-attacks and to press for a more open dialogue with Beijing on the problem.

The Pentagon report also criticises a 'lack of transparency' in China's military modernisation programme and defence spending.

The report from the US Department of Defense states: 'In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military.'

China has rebuffed the claims, with its Foreign Ministry repeating that it opposes cyber-attacks as well as 'all groundless accusations and hyping' that could harm prospects for cooperation.

'We are willing to hold even-tempered and constructive dialogue with the U.S.' about cybercrime, a spokesman said.

The issue was highlighted in February with the issuing of a report by cyber-security firm Mandiant that claimed to have traced several years of cyber-attacks against 140 mostly American companies to a Chinese military unit in Shanghai.

The firm identified the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely driving force behind the attacks.

It said says the office block is linked to stolen technology blueprints, manufacturing processes, clinical trial results, pricing documents, negotiation strategies and other secret data from more than 100 companies.

More alarmingly, it claimed the unit, known as the Comment Crew, also made incursions into the computer networks that control oil pipelines, power grids, water plants and other pieces of key state infrastructure.







But the US accusations backfire when Snowden releases top secret documents that proves that the US is the biggest cyber spy of all!



Today it is reported that China is requesting the US for an explanation.


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Today, when asked if Snowden was a spy for China, Foreign Ministary spokeswoman Hua Chun Ying replied, "Thats complete nonsense!"

http://www.enca.com/world/china-wants-us-explain-surveillance

China - The Ministry on Monday joined calls for Washington to provide explanations following disclosures of National Security Agency programmes which collect millions of telephone records and track foreign Internet activity on US networks.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that Washington needs to heed international concerns expressed since the programmes were made public earlier this month by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Officials and lawmakers in Germany and other countries are already pressing Washington for information about the collection of information that might affect their citizens' privacy.

"We think that the United States should regard seriously the concerns and demands of the global community and people from all countries and furnish the global community with a necessary explanation," Hua said at a regularly scheduled briefing.

Snowden flew to the Chinese autonomous region of Hong Kong on May 20 and is believed to still be there, though in hiding at an unknown location.

China hasn't said whether it would cooperate with any US demands for his extradition, and Hong Kong's Western-style legal system that is distinct from that on the Chinese mainland allows opportunities for him to appeal.

US officials have defended the surveillance programmes as essential to disrupting terrorist plots.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday he was "very, very worried" that Snowden would pass on sensitive information to China in return for immunity or sanctuary.

Asked whether Snowden was a Chinese spy or cooperating with Beijing, Hua answered: "This is complete nonsense."

Xi Takes The Reigns

Leadership Change Chinese Style

The upcoming 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), scheduled to open Thursday, will be attended by 2,270 delegates. The following are changes in the makeup of delegates, compared with that at the 17th Party congress in 2007. How does the work done in Congress affect the people?

Delegates election shows CPC's vitality On Monday, the Communist Party of China (CPC) published a list of newly elected delegates to attend its upcoming National Congress, which convenes once every five years.

After a subsequent qualification check, those 2,270 representatives are expected to deliberate and decide vital issues on the party and the country on behalf of some 82 million party members and the entire Chinese population.

The selection and election process served as a vivid application of the CPC's principle of democratic centralism and demonstrated its vigorous vitality.

A political task of vital importance Last October, the 17th Central Committee of the CPC decided at its sixth plenary session that the Party's 18th National Congress would be held in Beijing in the second half of 2012.

It was widely believed that the 18th National Congress, held at a critical period of the country's reform and development, would have profound influence on the party's role in leading the country, by having a clear understanding of the situation, and reaching a consensus.
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It would seem that China's stepping stone approach is working better that taking a great leap into the vast unknown of hot to hold elections that would fairly represent the 56 Nationalities as well as the various vocations and professions. Thus, the selection and election of delegates served as groundwork for a successful session. The CPC Central Committee attached great importance to the process, with general secretary Hu Jintao giving instructions on several occasions.
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Actually, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and its Standing Committee had discussed the selection last August and clarified the guidelines and policies to be used.

Measures also taken by central authorities to enhance democracy, and the transparency and supervision of the process, while optimizing the structures of the politically reliable delegates, included drawing experiences from the previous selection and election five years ago and making institutional innovations.

Before the selection, the CPC Central Committee decided that a total of 2,270 delegates should be elected by 40 electoral units across the country.

A standard for candidates was also highlighted, clarifying that they should be elite party members with a firm political stand, virtue, fine working style, excellent achievements and comparatively strong capability in fulfilling the duties of a party delegate.

The CPC Central Committee also decided that the number of candidates should be at least 15 percent more than that of the delegates, while the ratio of delegates from the grass-roots level, especially workers, should be increased.

To carry out the plan, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee offered dedicated training for the election work, distributed flow charts of the selection and supervision procedures.

Intra-Party democracy

To ensure the election of more outstanding delegates and each Party member having access to election information, the CPC has taken various measures to give full play to intra-party democracy through the 10-month-long process of the election.

For a poll held at Woniu village, Xuzhou city of east China's Jiangsu Province in January, 70-year-old Feng Changxi came in his wheelchair to choose a delegate to the CPC's 18th National Congress. "The election is a very important issue," Feng said. "Today, I am bound to come here to vote for the best delegate for the Party."

Liu Xiaonan, a teacher with Peking University, received an E-mail from the university's Party committee which asked her to nominate a delegate candidate when she was studying abroad. "Although overseas, I felt I was always together with the organization as a Party member," Liu replied.

According to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, up to 98 percent of Party members participated in the election of delegates to the congress.

The CPC, for the first time, carried out a multi-candidate survey on the preliminary candidates of the delegates to the upcoming Party congress.

The loss margins in electing delegates to the congress were raised to 15 percent or above nationwide, according to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Many local Party committees, for the first time, publicized the list of delegates' names via media channels, in a bid to mobilize the participation of, and solicit feedback from, Party members in the election.

Hubei Daily published a list of 72 preliminary candidates of the delegates and their basic information on February 20, an effort by the province's Party committee to win more public supervision for the election. Diversity, more grass-roots delegates

With a wide span both of ages and occupation, the makeup of delegates to the 18th National Congress of the CPC is appropriate and all ratios set by the CPC Central Committee to realize full representativeness have been fulfilled.

Among the 2,270 delegates, the youngest is Jiao Liuyang, a 21-year-old swimming gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Delegates also come from business, technology, education circles and the country's armed forces.

About 30.5 percent of the elected delegates are from the grass-roots level, up 2.1 percentage points from the previous congress in 2007, while 69.5 percent are officials at all levels, down 2.1 percentage points from the previous congress.

Among all the delegates, the number of workers saw the sharpest increase, from 51 in the 17th congress to the current 169, including 26 migrant workers.

"After being elected as a delegate, I will lead other workmates to work harder so as to build a better image of worker Party members," said Pi Jinjun, a migrant worker who serves as a stevedore at Qingdao Port in east China's Shandong Province.

A total of 1,640 delegates joined the CPC after November 1976, accounting for 72.2 percent of the total, 20.5 percentage points higher than that of the congress in 2007, according to Wang Jingqing, deputy head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. "The CPC's cause has been passed from the older generation to the younger generation and maintained its dynamics," Wang said. [source:china daily]

Across the Border, Laos

. . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui129watYwA&feature=related . . . .

China Bashing by US Presidential Candidates Milking Latent Racism

BEIJING — Richer and more assertive since the last American presidential campaign, China is looking at the harsh anti-Chinese sentiment being expressed by both candidates with a mixture of aloofness and unease.

The Chinese say they are accustomed to China-bashing during the American election season, but there is growing concern among government officials, business executives and academics here that this time the attitude toward China among the American public and politicians is so hot it may not cool after Election Day.

From accusations of unfair trade practices to a discussion of whether it is proper for the candidates to have investments in Chinese companies, the word “China” came up 22 times, and always negatively, in the debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney last week. In the final presidential debate Monday night, when foreign policy will be the main subject, China is likely to be a center of attention again
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/world/asia/china-looks-on-warily-amid-us-candidates-tough-talk.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


This year we see a few changes in the China Bashing that usually accompianies US presedential elections. First, the growing Chinse middle class are watching, and secondly,US news media, like the New Yourk Times, quoted above, have taken notice, and are covering the China Bashing, rather than allowing themselves to be a vector, repeating what the candidates allege.

Even my neighbour asked me what I thought of all the China comments in the second debate. Mind you, it was a forum, and there were no questions from the forum about China Policy. Instead, the Candidates want to be sure all Americans know they are against being soft on China. A third new development, I have not heard either Obama nor Romney state that China was a Communist country.

 Folks, it looks like we have turned a corner.

Dalai Lama and Tibet Religious Culture

More Hypocricy From Obama Who Accuses China Over Rare Earths And Solar Energy

http://technorati.com/politics/article/rare-earth-elements-not-so-rare/
According to the US Geological Survey (www.USGS.gov) deposits of REE-bearing ore exist in California, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, New York, Wyoming, and Alaska. Substantial reserves also exist in Australia, Canada, South Africa, Greenland, Brazil, and Vietnam. In spite of having 36% of the world’s identified reserves, China accounts for 95 % of global REE production.
Read more: http://technorati.com/politics/article/rare-earth-elements-not-so-rare/#ixzz1pLn74N1K



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304459804577285022878180992.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Even as the U.S. mounts a legal challenge to China's stranglehold on the global market for a class of key minerals, the U.S. Defense Department is playing down the impact on the U.S. military of the Chinese export limits.

The minerals, known as rare earths, are critical to military applications—including smart bombs, laser guidance systems and night-vision equipment—but in a new report, the Defense Department said such uses represent only a "small fraction" of U.S. demand and that military needs can largely be met domestically.

"The growing U.S. supply of these materials is increasingly capable of meeting the consumption of the defense industrial base," says the report, which has been circulated to selected members of Congress in recent days and has been reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/business/global/rare-earth-trade-case-against-china-may-be-too-late.html

Whatever the eventual implications for world supplies of rare earths, in some ways a recent Western victory on a somewhat related trade case may have strengthened China’s hand.

The World Trade Organization ordered China last July to dismantle export duties and quotas on nine other industrial raw materials, including bauxite. An appeals tribunal upheld the ruling and added details in late January.

China has been able to study those orders as it has redesigned its export restrictions on rare earths. The new quotas are as stringent as the old ones, making it harder for Western manufacturers to obtain rare earths in the quantities and with the timeliness their factories require. But the revamped quota rules could be easier for China to defend in front of a W.T.O. tribunal, than its earlier policies would have been.

China, for example, has begun requiring its rare earth exporters to obtain a certificate of environmental compliance before they are allowed to make any overseas shipments. That could strengthen China’s claim that export quotas on rare earths are environmentally necessary. Without dispute, the mining and processing of rare earths have many toxic and even radioactive byproducts — which is one reason the West and Japan for decades were reluctant to produce them.


A Malaysian group representing villagers and civil groups will file a legal challenge to the government's decision to approve a massive rare earths plant by Lynas, the Australian mining company .

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board announced late on Wednesday it would grant Lynas a license to operate the first rare earths plant outside China in years, despite public protests over fears of radioactive pollution.

It said Lynas must submit plans for a permanent disposal facility within 10 months and make a $50mn financial guarantee.

Malaysia hopes the Lynas plant will spur growth. But the project has been the subject of heated protests over health and environmental risks posed by potential leaks of radioactive waste.

Florence Looi reports from the eastern Malaysian city of Kuantan.



http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90780/7760967.html

Although it decreased in the past few years, the export quotas are still higher than the demand of the world market. Besides setting quotas for rare earth exports, China also takes measures to manage rare earth's exploitation, production and other activities. China complies with the rules of WTO environmental exceptions by treating domestic and foreign industries without discrimination, rather than "protects the domestic industries in a distorting way" as the western countries speculate.

In fact, it is not China that is selfish but the United States, the EU, and Japan that are aggressive. They know deeply the importance of protecting the rare earth resources and had already banned or restricted the exploitation of their own rare earth. China has done nothing more than reversing the long-standing, out-of-order mining conditions, focusing on domestic economic and environmental development, international trade balance as well as sustainable development

However, advertised as the "human rights" and "green" defenders, the United States, together with Europe and Japan, has several times pressed China "to comply with the rules of the WTO”, castigating the "unfair" trade. We cannot help but want to ask, whether the restrictions over high tech products export is a violation of free trade rules, and whether it should be punished.

It has existed for a long time that western countries deliberately abuse WTO rules for the benefit of themselves. They arm themselves with rules which are good for themselves, bypassing the rules what are bad.

Conflict, friction is not terrible. As long as we respond positively, make use of relevant rules of trade, and actively promote the perfect trade rules, China will be able to grasp more of the initiative in international trades and maintain good economic interests of the country.




Western hypocrisy in full bloom - Columnist - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/western-hypocrisy-in-full-bloom-1.61401#ixzz1pM2p9RnI

This week, the US, European Union and Japan have brought the matter up to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and accused China of unfair trading practices.

That the Chinese are apprehensive about the move is hardly a surprise, for it marks a significant shift in the tone and tenor of its trade relations with other developed nations. That the Chinese may be somewhat annoyed by all this talk of unfair trading practices is also understandable if we were to look at how the concept of fair trade has been applied to China over the past two centuries.

In the 19th century, "free trade" meant that China was forced to open its markets to the import of opium, which led to widespread opium addiction among the population, debilitating its economy and people, and was the catalyst to the so-called "opium wars" of the 19th century.

Today, in the name of "free trade" China is being compelled to open up its economy again -- so that it may sell its rare earth to other more powerful trading nations. Which brings us to the question of politics or, specifically, the politics of free trade and the environment.

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The same hypocricy is present in the attack on China over solar energy.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-energy-trip-20120321,0,6619187.story

"If some politicians have their way, there won't be any more public investments in solar energy," Obama said of his Republican critics. "If these guys were around when Columbus set sail, they'd be charter members of the Flat Earth Society."

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/case_accuses_casm_members_of_hypocrisy

http://english.people.com.cn/90780/7762280.html

The WTO rules, a single set of comprehensive world-wide trade rules, require member countries commit to the fundamental obligations of non-discrimination, lowering trade barriers, non-quantitative restrictions and transparency in the administration of their trade related economic system. But the WTO rules also respect the sovereignty of member states in certain prescribed circumstances.

The WTO rules guarantee member countries a balance between their international obligations and national sovereignty by permitting the adoption or enforcement of measures in certain instances. In particular, Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade allows measures "necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health" or "relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources".

This judgment erodes China's sovereign right to protect the health of its people and conserve its natural resources. A right retained by all member states when they subject themselves to WTO trade rules. The dispute settlement body denied China the right to use Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to justify its export duties on raw materials, simply because the export duty section of China's WTO accession protocol does not explicitly mention this article.

The ruling of the dispute settlement body needs further discussion. It's obvious that the core clauses in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade for countries' obligations regarding non-discrimination and non-quantitative restrictions don't mention Article XX either, and yet member states don't lose the rights contained in this Article.

The treatment that China has received begs the question as to why the protective umbrella the WTO gives to all the member states in Article XX does not apply to China.


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