Geo-Strategic Trend - 197. page

Huanqiu (Global Times), which is under People’s Daily, published a commentary that discussed recent developments in Sino-Vietnamese relations. The following is a summary of the commentary. 　　 

The following is an excerpt from an article in Xinhua, China’s State-run media, entitled, "Eye on China: Japan and India Expand Their Cooperation on Defense." The article reported on Japan and India’s military cooperation:

In its January 5 edition, People’s Daily initiated a special column on its third page to “expose Japan’s militarism, its invasiveness, and its destructive nature.” The column consists of articles on the history of Japan’s war of aggression and expansion during the Second World War. In the opening remarks, the column stated that Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to the shrine that honors soldiers including war criminals during the Second World War is a clear signal that he intends to revoke the historic facts. It identifies that action as a part of the Abe administration’s political moves and observes that Japan has no intention of improving its relationship with its neighboring countries.

Source: People’s Daily, January 5, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0105/c1002-24024362.html

On December 8, 2013, People’s Daily published an article on what China should do immediately now that it has established the East Sea Air Defense Identification Zone.

1. The Chinese navy and air force should sink any ships, shoot down any aircraft, and arrest any people from other countries who enter the Diaoyu Islands’ waters and airspace without having received permission from the Chinese government.
2. Encourage the Chinese people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to go to Diaoyu Islands, the waters and the land, under the protection of China or Taiwan’s Navies and Air Force. 
3. Have a missile drill in the Diaoyu Islands waters soon.
4. Stop any negotiations with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands.
5. Submit a proposal on how the "Ryukyu Islands’ international status is undetermined" to the UN General Assembly for discussion and deliberation. Meanwhile, get ready to bomb Japan’s mainland with missiles.

Source: People’s Daily, December 8, 2013
http://bbs1.people.com.cn/post/7/1/2/135843673_1.html

On November 22, The China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG) and IMG Artists announced a new joint venture – Sino America Global Entertainment (SAGE) – effectively the largest private, performing arts partnership between the United States and China. Liu Yandong, Vice Premier of the State Council, and Ding Wei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture oversaw the official signing during a Symposium held at Carnegie Hall in New York. Dignitaries and executives from the leading arts, education, and culture institutions in New York were in attendance.

IMG Artists LLC is a leading universal performing arts management corporation with diverse lines of business. IMG Artists’ capabilities include the management and touring of world renowned musicians, dance companies, orchestras, and attractions, as well as consulting and advisory work for independent clients, arts institutions, concert halls, and culturally engaged corporations.

According to CAEG’s website, "China Arts & Entertainment Group (CAEG) is a large State-owned cultural company, and one of the four national model bases for cultural exports affirmed by the Ministry of Culture. CAEG so far has organized 290 programs and 21,000 performances in some 60 countries and regions, attracting more than 28 million audience members. The group has 19 wholly-owned companies at home and abroad."

According to Zhang Yu, president and general manager of CAEG, the mission of CAEG is to have Chinese culture "go global." With SAGE, Chinese cultural programs can reach mainstream audience in North America via operations such as North American business tour, "Chinese Culture Week," and "Chinese Cultural Festival." But there is a greater significance. "For a long time, the landing of our cultural and arts products overseas has depended almost entirely on foreign performing companies. Although this avoided risk, we lost the autonomy of our cultural products. As we could not reach the end consumers, we were not able, on a fundamental level, to enter the market and effectively compete. The launch of the joint venture allows us to be effective in localizing the operations in New York, the center of world’s performing arts, and other parts of the North America market, so as to transition from the model of relying on local performing companies to directly facing the end consumers."

SAGE will build new platforms for global entertainment and performing arts initiatives including international arts festivals, talent exchange, sharing of local market expertise and more.

Source: Xinhua, December 3, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-12/03/c_118393477.htm

BBC Chinese recently reported that Japan took the issues arising out of China’s creation of the Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The Japanese representative asked the ICAO Council to have a discussion on how to deal with the newly established Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone. Japan called the Zone a potential threat to international civil aviation order and safety. The United States, Great Britain, and Australia all agreed with the Japanese on their call for a discussion. However China disagreed. The United States government stated that the U.S. government expects civil airlines to follow the ICAO regulations on issuing NOTAM (Notice to Airmen). However that does not mean that the U.S. government accepts Beijing’s terms for its Zone. Since rounds of foreign military aircraft have ignored the Chinese Identification Zone rules, the Chinese Air Force has started sending fighter jets to identify the aircraft entering the Zone.

Source: BBC Chinese, November 30, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/world/2013/11/131130_japan_icao_china.shtml