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Geo-Strategic Trend - 185. page

Huanqiu: The U.S. and Japan Are Wrong

Huanqiu published an editorial on U.S. Defense Secretary Carter’s trip to Asia. The editorial stated that,  considering China’s economic approach in establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the U.S. and Japan are wrong in their strategy of engaging in military development. 

The editorial stated, “It is certain that the deployment of the U.S. high-altitude defense ‘Sade system’ in Korea will deal a heavy blow to the good will that the Chinese public opinion has built over the years toward Korea and will weaken the foundation of the bilateral relationship. Seoul should not take any chances.” 
The editorial expressed that the communications between Carter and Japan about the Diaoyu Islands and the South China Sea assume, directly or indirectly, that China is their adversary. 
The editorial stated that the U.S. is bucking the trend as it is strengthening and expanding its military alliance in the Western Pacific. “China has embarked on a win-win cooperation path in Asia and the world. We have established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, rendering traditional geopolitics useless and without direction. It is time for the U.S. and Japan to do some serious reflection.” 
Source: Huanqiu, April 10, 2015 
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2015-04/6145333.html
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CCTV: China Worked with a Yemen Governor on Its Evacuation Operation

After China’s Linyi Warship evacuated 225 peoples from the Aden port in Yemen on April 2, 2015, CCTV did an interview with Jiang Guoping, the commander of the operation.

All the people who were rescued were foreigners. They were from 10 different countries, including Germany, Pakistan, and Singapore. In his interview, Jiang mentioned how they obtained local support, “To make this operation work, China’s Consul General in Aden City used his personal connections to get to the Governor of the Aden Governorate. That governor asked a favor of him, namely, that the Linyi ship take one of his relatives out. Thus, [China’s Consul General] did a favor for that governor and the governor did a favor for him. Then they gathered all of the people [to take out].” Jiang didn’t mention how those people were selected.

Source: People’s Daily Online, April 6, 2015
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0406/c1011-26801887.html

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Indonesian President: The Chinese Lines in South China Sea Have No Legal Basis

BBC Chinese recently reported on the comments that Indonesian President Joko Widodo of Indonesia made when the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun interviewed him before his visit to Japan. During the interview, Widodo discussed the South China Sea "Kau Line." He thought that most of what the Chinese asked for in the South China Sea lacked any basis in international law. This was the first time, since he was elected last October, that President Widodo explained his position on the issue of the South China Sea. The South China Sea enjoys an annual commercial traffic valued at around US$5 trillion. Based on the “Kau Line," China claims sovereignty over 90 percent of the South China Sea. The government of the Republic of China had originally drawn that line before the Communists took power. However a number of countries in the region, such as Vietnam and the Philippines disagree. President Widodo expressed his willingness to be an “honest bridge builder” to mediate the resolution of this long-lasting regional conflict. China maintains that the core issue of the conflict is that “some countries are occupying islands illegally.”
Source: BBC Chinese, March 23, 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/world/2015/03/150323_indonesian_china
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Qiushi: The U.S. Is Using Ukraine as a Pawn against Russia

Qiushi reported that Ukraine is nothing but a pawn in the chess game the U.S. is playing against Russia. Recently both the United States and Britain announced plans to send troops to train the Ukraine military. 

“In the Ukraine crisis, it is deceitful for the United States to act as a ‘messenger of justice.’ The truth is that it wants to weaken its target, which is Russia.”
“Although it appears that the United States is increasing its aid to Ukraine, at the critical moment, out of national interest and other factors, the United States will ‘abandon’ its pawn to protect ‘its king.’”
“Thus, even with the ’direct intervention,’ of the U.S., the Ukrainian crisis will not be alleviated or resolved quickly. On the contrary, the so-called Western ‘aid’ will more likely change the crisis into the continuous process of a vicious circle. Ukraine will not escape its destiny which is to be a pawn that the United States uses against Russia.” 
Source: Qiushi, March 24, 2015 
http://www.qstheory.cn/international/2015-03/24/c_1114745021.htm
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China Will Loan US$10 Billion to Venezuela

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that Petroleum of Venezuela (PDVSA) announced that China will provide Venezuela with a new loan of around US$10 billion. Half of the loan will be under the China- Venezuela Joint Fund, which will fund various investment plans in multiple fields. This portion of the loan will have a repayment period that will extend from three years to five years. The other half of the loan, with a 10-year repayment period, will be used to hire Chinese companies to help improve oil field development. After the announcement, Venezuela saw a jump in its national bond prices. So far China has provided Venezuela a total of US$45 billion in loans in exchange for low-price oil and other fuels. Most of these loans have been deposited into Venezuela’s infrastructure and economic development funds.
Source: Sina, March 20, 201
http://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/usstock/c/20150320/105821767845.shtml
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Samsung Plans to Settle Chinese Business in RMB

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that Samsung, the largest Korean corporation, announced its plan to settle its businesses with China in the Chinese currency, RMB. The plan is to settle transactions in RMB in the Seoul Offshore RMB Settlement Market. As of March 12, the average daily inter-bank exchange amount between the Korean and the Chinese currencies in the Seoul Market was around US$1.6 billion. The daily exchange market volume between the Korean currency and the U.S. Dollar is around US$10 billion. Seoul became an official offshore RMB trading center in July of last year. The Chinese Bank of Communications is its RMB clearing bank. Before that, Hong Kong, London, Frankfurt, and Singapore had already been the official RMB trading centers. Following Seoul, Toronto, Bangkok and Sydney also became official offshore centers. 
Source: Sina, March 12, 2015
http://finance.sina.com/bg/wsj-ftchinese/ftchinese/20150312/02251224547.html
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China Review News: The South China Sea Is China’s Future Economic Growth Point

According to a commentary that China Review News recently published, China’s "Maritime Silk Road" is not only an economic development plan, but also a strategic solution to breaking the U.S.’ tight control of the Strait of Malacca.

Since the U.S. stationed war ships in Singapore to control this world cargo center, China’s best counter solution is to build a deepwater port in the South China Sea, changing that area into another "Singapore" and China’s future international transportation hub.

"China can build natural deepwater ports there because the several dozen coral reefs that it controls are relatively close to each other. They can thus be used to build cities over the sea. The Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands) can be the South China Sea’s administrative service center; Dongsha Island can be the production center; and the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands) can be the cargo center, settlement center, and the tourism center."

China has conducted large scale infrastructure construction (building airports and harbors on top of coral reefs) in the Spratly Islands area. Some important harbor cities have started to show up and take shape. China’s land creation by dumping sand and earth into the ocean is not just for fishing; nor is it just for oil and gas extraction. It is to build a future economic growth point for China.

"As China builds more and more airports on those coral reef islands and converts more and more coral reef islands into natural deepwater ports, China’s South China Sea region will replace Singapore as the world’s logistics center. The Chinese government will follow the momentum to set up financial service institutions there to serve the world’s cargo transportation enterprises. The South China Sea will no longer be a quiet ocean. … It will become the most developed area in the world."

"Besides speeding up the infrastructure development, China should create new policies to encourage the development of the South China Sea region, for example, building it as a world’s offshore center and encouraging more companies to register there. The South China Sea should also be the world’s largest duty-free zone and largest free trade zone."

Source: China Review News, February 21, 2015
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1036/2/2/0/103622065.html?coluid=169&kindid=12098&docid=103622065&mdate=0221000747

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Global Times: China, Russian, North Korea Prepare Joint Tourism Zone

Global Times recently reported that China, Russia, and North Korea reached an agreement to establish a “borderless” tourism development zone at the delta area downstream on the Tumen River, where the three countries have shared borders. The core region of the new tourism zone is located in Hun-chun City, Jilin Province, China. North Korea’s Duman River Cave and Russia’s Hasan Township both contributed 10 square kilometers of land. Tourists with valid identification documents will be allowed in without a visa. According to Chinese government officials, China first proposed the concept of this tourism zone in 2014. Russia and North Korea were both very interested in the plan. A feasibility study has already started and development planning will start in 2015. After that, the actual development will follow the “dual-nation first, multi-nation next” order.
Source: Global Times, February 13, 2015
http://world.huanqiu.com/article/2015-02/5671291.html
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