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Geo-Strategic Trend - 150. page

China’s Genetically Engineered Opium Seeds Pumped up Afghan Drug Growth

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the opium output in Afghanistan is growing. Since 2015 Chinese genetically engineered opium seeds have been showing up in Afghanistan. The new seeds not only offer early maturity; they also allow year-round growing. This resulted in a major annual growth rate of 43 percent in 2016 across Afghanistan. According to statistics that the Afghan government released, opium output is showing rapid growth, which is in line with the findings that the the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOCD) report published in 2016. The UN report showed that the growth was mainly the result of the new Chinese seeds and the shortening of the harvesting cycle from three months to two. They also extended the six-month growing season to the full year. Some Afghanistan farmers said some people handed them the seeds and promised to come back and buy the opium. They also provided funding as well as fertilizers. The Afghan government revealed that a large amount of the opium was sold to Russia and Pakistan. Europe and the United States were also major markets. The UN estimated the Afghanistan opium export volume to be US$4 billion in 2007. Now it should be much higher.

Source: Sina, March 27, 2017
http://dailynews.sina.com/gb/tw/twlocal/cna/20170327/19547791696.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

BBC Chinese: Tsai Ing-wen Kicked Off Taiwan’s Own Submarine Manufacturing Plan

BBC Chinese recently reported that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen officially announced that, due to the increased threats from the Mainland and the effort the Mainland put in place to prevent Taiwan from purchasing foreign submarines, Taiwan decided to construct its own submarines. The submarine project has been assigned to a joint team from both the Chungshan Institute of Science and the CSBC Corporation Taiwan (CSBC is China Ship Building Corporation). Earlier, Taiwan had sent mission groups to Europe to acquire submarine design blueprints and patents. However, many potential partners declined their request. Taiwan currently has four outdated submarines. They bought two of them from the United States in 1973; these had a 1940’s design. They bought another two submarines from Holland in the 80’s. Several Taiwanese shipbuilders claimed they were fully capable of building submarines. President Tsai’s plan is to launch the new submarines in eight years.

Source: BBC Chinese, March 21, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-39340900

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times: Multiple Countries Found North Korean Diplomats Violated Local Laws

Global Times recently reported, based on South Korean media reports, that quite a few North Korean diplomats have violated the local laws in several countries and have attempted to avoid the local authorities’ punishment. For example, when the governments of Laos and Egypt were implementing United Nations resolutions on sanctioning North Korea, those countries expelled some people registered as North Korean diplomats due to their illegal activities. Also, the North Korean embassies in Romania, Germany, and Poland have often used the embassies’ real estate for commercial activities, which is not allowed under the local laws. The Bulgarian government officially announced that Bulgaria will fully comply with the UN resolutions and has asked the North Korean embassy to bring down its personnel size. Bulgaria also required North Korea not to use its real estate properties for any purposes other than diplomatic activities.

Source: Global Times, March 23, 2017
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2017-03/10366872.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times: China Warns U.S. Bomber upon Its Entering ADIZ in East China Seas

Global Times, a subsidiary of the Chinese Communist Party official newspaper People’s Daily, reported on its website on March 23 that China issued warnings to a U.S. bomber that had entered the Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea.

Global Times cited CNN reports that Chinese officials told the pilots that they were illegally operating in Chinese airspace and ordered the U.S. air force plane to leave. According to CNN, the US plane was flying 70 nautical miles southwest of South Korea’s Jeju Island.

Global Times quoted a U.S. Pacific Air Forces spokesperson as saying to CNN, “Pacific Air Forces did not recognize the Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) when it was announced in November of 2013, and does not recognize it today.” The spokesperson also told CNN, “The ADIZ has not changed our operations.” 

Global Times did not mention the U.S. pilots’ response, in which they told Chinese air traffic controllers that they were conducting routine operations in international airspace and they did not deviate from their flight path. Nor did Global Times quote CNN’s mentioning that Japan does not recognize China’s ADIZ either.

Source: Global Times, March 23, 2017
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2017-03/10363742.html

 

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

Duowei: Why Beijing Reversed Its Plan to Set Up an Environmental Monitoring Station at Scarborough Shoal

On March 11, Xiao Jie, the Party Secretary of Sansha City in Hainan Province revealed that, in 2017, Sansha City will start an early operation to set up an Environmental Monitoring Station at Scarborough Shoal. However, at her regular press conference on March 22, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying denied the news, saying that the report regarding the monitoring station at the Scarborough Shoal was false and there is no such a plan.

What caused China’s sudden change of plans for Scarborough Shoal?

First of all, a breakthrough is expected soon on the negotiations on the South China Sea code of conduct. China’s aggressive actions at Scarborough Shoal at this time would surely raise concerns among ASEAN countries.

Second is the Philippines factor. After Duterte took office, Sino-Philippine diplomatic relations began to warm up. If China were to take action at Scarborough Shoal at this time, it would inevitably affect the development of bilateral relations.

Third is the U.S. factor. Scholars of Sino-U.S. strategic relations have a saying, “The day when China works on Scarborough Shoal is the day that China and the United States have a showdown in the South China Sea.” The current tension in the South China Sea dispute has led both China and the United States to strengthen military deployment in the South China Sea. So far, China’s island expansion and the United States’ military patrols to maintain freedom of navigation are controlled below the limit of any direct conflict. Scarborough Shoal seems to have become a red line in the South China Sea.

In addition, Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the United States next month. Any move at Scarborough Shoal at this time would destroy the friendly atmosphere of the Sino-U.S. meeting.

Source: Duowei News, March 24, 2017
http://global.dwnews.com/news/2017-03-24/59807107.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Taiwan Military Developed Jammer against the Beidou Satellite Positioning System

Based on Taiwanese media reports, well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the Taiwanese military revealed its anti-Beidou system, which is a suite of jammers to fight against the Mainland’s satellite position system. The Mainland Beidou system is China’s replica of the U.S. GPS system, with some improvements. The Beidou system can significantly improve the precision of China’s missiles that are aimed at Taiwan. It is expected that the Mainland military will complete the next phase by the year 2020. The Taiwanese anti-Beidou equipment includes a jammer for individual soldiers, a satellite jammer for vehicles, and a radar-based anti-satellite system. The new equipment can also send “bail” signals that are designed to fool enemy missiles with fake targets. These new systems have been deployed to various military locations across the island to improve the success rate.

Source: Sina, March 13, 2017
http://dailynews.sina.com/bg/news/int/int/chinesedaily/20170313/07097769746.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

FT Chinese: SWIFT Cut off All Ties between North Korea and the Global Financial System

Financial Times Chinese recently reported that the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the world’s core settlement network for inter-bank transactions, announced it will remove the membership of the last four North Korean banks that remained in its network. A recent United Nations report indicated that SWIFT had been allowing the four banks not under UN sanction to use its network. The UN report described how North Korea bypassed the international sanctions with help from organizations like SWIFT. SWIFT, headquartered in Brussels, explained that its latest decision had nothing to do with UN sanctions. It was merely the result of the four banks missing the qualifications required for their SWIFT membership. The Belgium authorities withdrew the permission necessary to maintain the four banks’ membership. However, some experts expressed their belief that this new development will only force North Korea to explore other “creative” ways to get into the international financial system via underground ties. The UN report mentioned that some Chinese global companies and organizations provided most of the financial connections North Korea has been using to its advantage.

Source: FT Chinese, March 17, 2017
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001071819

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

BBC Chinese: China Plans to Build Monitoring Station on Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal)

BBC Chinese recently reported that China announced a plan to start the preparation work for constructing an environmental monitoring station on Huangyan Island, also known as Scarborough Shoal. China occupied Huangyan Island in 2012 and prohibited the Philippines’ fishermen from entering the region. However, China started to allow fishing after the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to China last year. China’s new announcement indicated the intent to start the construction in 2017. The Philippines Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to comment on this latest announcement. Last month one of the Philippines’ ministers said that Chinese President XI Jinping promised not to do construction work on the island, but China later said that the comment was “confusing.” In the meantime, two U.S. senators, namely Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin, proposed a new sanction to ban the issuance of U.S. visas to the Chinese citizens who are related to island construction. China expressed its “anger” and described the two senators as “arrogant and ignorant.”

Source: BBC Chinese, March 17, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-39305610

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend