All posts by RWZ - 248. page

Xinhua recently reported on the assassination of the Libyan rebel’s military commander. The report emphasized that the victim died as a result of infighting. It quoted Gaddafi’s spokesman as saying “For the U.K. this is a resounding slap in the face.” The timing of the event was very unfortunate for the U.K. since it happened only 24 hours after the U.K. diplomatically acknowledged the rebels. The BBC reported the assassination as “totally exposing” the internal disagreements among the rebels. Despite the infighting among the rebels, on July 30, NATO bombed the Libyan National Television Station. The article referred to several newspapers in Egypt, Hong Kong, and Russia whose comments questioned whether the rebels can actually control and manage post-Gaddafi Libya.

Source: Xinhua, August 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-08/01/c_121754127.htm

People’s Daily recently published its own commentary (in addition to other media) on ASEAN’s (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) attempt to get China to sign the “Guidelines of Peaceful Conduct in the South China Sea.” The commentary suggested that this is a new attempt by Vietnam and the Philippines to force China to acknowledge their actual occupation of some islands. The author expressed the belief that these two countries are, wit U.S. help, testing China’s bottom line. This new attempt seeks an agreement on binding guidelines which were designed to eliminate China’s military option. The U.S. support called for all parties to follow the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; however, the U.S. Congress itself has not approved it. The commentary suggested that, at the end of the day, there will be no win-win situation and the military option must remain on the table. The author also suggested that attacking pirates and conducting rescue missions could be used as excuses to maintain a military presence in the South China Sea.

Source: People’s Daily, August 4, 2011
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/15326005.html

Xinhua recently reported that construction started on July 20, 2011, on the Zambian Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro-power Station. The China Water & Electric Corporation (CWE), the China-Africa Development Fund, and Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (ZESCO) funded the project. The President of Zambia attended the opening ceremony and welcomed the Chinese investment. The capacity of the power plant is 750,000 kw. The construction project is expected to take 6 years to complete. Once the plant starts producing, CWE will remain as a primary shareholder .

Source: Xinhua, July 21, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-07/21/c_121697509.htm

Xinhua recently published an article criticizing Western media for making up stories about an Iran-North Korea joint effort to build long range nuclear missiles. The article referred to the London based Telegraph, which on July 21, 2011, reported on a study done by the British think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Xinhua said that IISS suggested that the two aforementioned nations are jointly developing nuclear missiles. Also mentioned in the Xinhua report were a report from the Israeli Jerusalem Post and suggestions made by U.S. think tank Rand. Reuters also reported on some “guess work” by the South Korean Defense Minister on the same effort. The Xinhua article downplayed the situation and suggested that it will be too hard for these two nations to come up with a usable intercontinental missile platform any time soon, although it is possible they may have “some kind of cooperation."

Sources:
Xinhua, July 29, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2011-07/29/c_121739281.htm
Telegraph, July 21, 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8653171/North-Korea-and-Iran-increase-collaboration-on-nuclear-missile-report-claims.html