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Geo-Strategic Trend - 212. page

Military Official Calls for a Powerful Chinese Air Force to Counter the U.S. and Japan at Sea

Senior Colonel Dai Xu, Director of the Marine Security and Cooperation Research Institute and a Professor a the National Defense University of the PLA China, recently published a commentary in Global Times (a division of People’s Daily). Dai recommended that China should develop a powerful air force to deal with the crisis in the open sea. He pointed out that "Japan has continuously dispatched F-15 fighters to intercept Chinese maritime surveillance aircraft and has deployed anti-submarine aircraft to harass China’s ocean surveillance ships.” “For Japan to send fighter jets is a qualitative change in diplomatic moves. … The Chinese Air Force has no choice but to come forward with equivalent or even greater efforts. The Chinese Air Force should develop a plan as soon as possible, have targeted training and deployment, make sure China is able to take immediate action when needed, and be able to win the war when in the fight.”

 “In the numerous exercises the United States and Japan have held, they not only directly targeted the Diaoyu Islands or the South China Sea waters, but also aimed at attacking China’s economically developed coastal regions. This requires that the Chinese Air Force cannot just be satisfied with having influence within its territorial waters and airspace; it must also have an awareness of the crisis and the ability to cope with it, to suppress the opponent’s intentions in a war on the high seas, and to suppress its adventures; it must even be able to intercept the enemy and destroy the enemy when going to war.” 
Source: Huanqiu, December 29, 2012 
http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2012-12/3430991.html
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Military Professor: China Must Be on Guard against ‘Peace Disease’

On December 12, 2012, the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, published an article titled, “Liu Minggfu: China Must Be on Guard against ‘Peace Disease.’” According to Liu Mingfu, a professor at the PLA National Defense University, we must firmly grasp the “Missile” (People’s Safety) and the “Egg” (People’s Livelihood) with both hands.

Liu stated, “The development of China’s military forces is behind China’s economic development; it lags behind what is needed for the Sino-US strategic competition. Therefore, China must increase military spending and speed up the pace of the army’s build-up.”

Source: International Herald Leader, December 12, 2012
http://ihl.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2012/1212/134491.shtml

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The Chinese Government Actively Supports the Development of Confucius Institutes

On Dec. 16, 2012, China’s State Councilor, Liu Yandong, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the seventh conference of Confucius Institutes. According to Liu, who is also the president the Confucius Institute Headquarters Council, the Chinese government will actively support the steady development of Confucius Institutes, following the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 2012, 400 Confucius Institutes and over 500 Confucius Classrooms were in operation globally. They received about 655,000 registered students from 108 countries and regions. Liu encouraged Confucius Institutes to expand the coverage of their operations from major cities to other regions and from colleges to communities.

Source: Xinhua, December 16, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-12/16/c_114044652.htm

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Xinhua: China’s Global Strategy

Xinhua recently published an article discussing the strategic adjustments that are required based on the current global political environment. The article suggested that many countries in the world (such as the U.S. and Japan) are adjusting their global strategies and China needs to do the same in order to keep pace with them. The article discussed four areas for the new strategic adjustments. On the east side, China should stabilize the Asia-Pacific region as an answer to the U.S. shift of its strategic focus to the East. This stabilization effort should especially emphasize the relationship with Japan and the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). On the north side, China should enhance its relationship with Russia, focusing on nuclear technology, space technology, and trade. On the west side, China should strengthen its ties with the Mid-Asian and West Asian countries, especially with nations that are rich in energy resources and who may be suffering from the U.S. strategy of “reducing its energy dependency.” On the south side, China should pay extra attention to the traditional “Southern” developing countries that include the African countries and the Latin American countries. Direct investments from China to these countries are growing very rapidly. 
Source: Xinhua, December 16, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2012-12/16/c_124095365.htm
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Jinghua Times: Some Countries Don’t Welcome the New Chinese Passport

Jinghua Times recently reported that the new version of the Chinese smart passport (which has an implanted chip) has triggered complaints from neighboring countries. The new passport includes pages with pictures and a map of China that includes disputed regions in Tibet and the South China Sea. So far, Vietnam, The Philippines, and India have complained. These countries are instead issuing the visa on a separate piece of paper instead of the visa page of the passport. Normal entry into these countries is still granted, even if the new passport is used. The United States suggested that it still considers the new passport to be a valid document and U.S. officials will still use the new passport for visa and stamps. However that does not mean the United States agrees with the borders drawn on the map. A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that neighboring countries should not overreact to the map part of the passport.

Source: Jinghua Times, November 30, 2012
http://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2012-11/30/content_1908282.htm

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2012 EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue Concluded

The EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue concluded in Beijing on October 30, 2012. The opening ceremony of the 2012 Dialogue was held in Brussels in February 2012. Since then, close to 300 collaborative projects were completed in areas such as literature, art, philosophy, and language. A total of 22 municipal and provincial regions in China and 27 EU countries participated. A joint statement issued by both parties said that the two regions wished to continue further collaboration in the future.

Source: Xinhua, November 30, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-11/30/c_124031139.htm

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Former Chinese Diplomat Comments on U.S. Middle East Strategy

Liu Baolai, former Vice President of The Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and former ambassador to the Middle East, published a commentary in Xinhua on the U.S. strategy in the Middle East titled, “The U.S Is Eating the Bitter Fruit of Its Middle East Strategy.” Liu said that in 2012, the U.S. Middle East strategy suffered one loss after another. He summarized them in five areas: 

1) The U.S. declined in soft power and lost the regional support of the people. (Liu’s article cited a poll that showed that 78 percent of Arabs hate Americans). 2) As the Islamic forces rise, they only use "American democracy" to attain power but they actually oppose "American democracy." They are against the U.S.-led international policies; they want to be independent. 3) Iran is growing in power. Over the past year, in the face of the U.S. threat, Iran has built up its military power, developed military enterprises, greatly strengthened its national defense, and also held a number of military exercises. 4) The four transformed Arabian countries distanced themselves from the United States. The new regimes of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen learned lessons and have adjusted their foreign policies. They changed their previous pro-American policy to one that is relatively independent and balanced. 5) The Iraq "example" effect has disappeared. Since the U.S. troops left Iraq at the end of 2011, the American model has become an empty shell. 
In the end, Liu remarked that "the Universal values" of the United States are not working. The U.S. can only eat the bitter fruits of its own acts. 
Source: Xinhua, November 28, 2012 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2012-11/28/c_124012685.htm
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Huanqiu: China Has to Get Used to the U.S. Diplomatic Activities in Southeast Asia

On November 20, 2012, Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times) published an article commenting on U.S. President Obama’s 6-hour visit to Burma. The article said that the Chinese Foreign Ministry is fully confident that China-Burma relations will deepen. “For the greater national interest, Burma is opening to the West. Even an elementary school pupil can see the foolishness of replacing China with the West. The IQ of the Burma leaders will not be so low, whether it is the current leader or ‘the democracy icon’ Aung San Suu Kyi, who is widely supported to be the future leader.”

The article concluded, “The United States has been engaged in big diplomatic activities in Southeast Asia. China has to get used to it. If we think too much, we are looking for trouble.”

Source: Huanqiu, November 20, 2012
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2012-11/3292142.html

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