Geo-Strategic Trend - 244. page

China News Service (CNS) reported that, on September 24, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)’s military joint exercises, entitled “Peace Mission – 2010," entered into the 3rd stage, which is combat simulation, at the Matybulak range in the southern part of Kazakhstan.

This is the 7th joint anti-terror military exercise held by SCO. More than 5,000 troops from Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China participated in the exercises supported by over 1,600 armored vehicles and tanks, 100 artillery pieces and rocket launchers, 50 combat aircraft, and armed helicopters.

Source: China News Service, September 24, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2010/09-24/2551334.shtml

According to Xinhua on September 16, 2010, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security launched an “Action Plan to Encourage Overseas Chinese to Serve the Country.”

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security will set up a special fund to provide a variety of financial incentives to the Serving the Country Activities listed in the “Action Plan to Encourage Overseas Chinese to Serve the Country.” At the same time, it will provide a communication platform for information exchange, expert recommendations, and talent networking; it will also facilitate the ability of high level overseas students to enter and exit China.

Source: Xinhua, September 16, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/16/c_13515367.htm

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on September 21, that it would be “inappropriate” for Wen Jiabao to meet Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in New York when Wen visits the United Nations. This is a continuation of the escalation of the Sino-Japan conflict following Japan’s September 7 arrest and subsequent detention of the captain of a Chinese trawler near the Diaoyu Islands (called the Senkaku islands in Japan). Early on September 19, China suspended all contact with Japan at the level of Minister and above.

In China, patriotic fervor has been stirred up in an anti-Japan campaign. The Japanese Consulate in Guangzhou said that, on September 9, some Chinese threw beer bottles into the consulate. On September 18, there was a protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing. That day marked the anniversary of Japan’s invasion of China in 1931. The number of police present at the site was several times that of the protestors, but they didn’t take any action to stop the protest. The protestors shouted, “Down with the Japanese! Kick the U.S. out of Asia! Kick the U.S. back to the U.S. …”

Source:
1. Reuters, September 21, 2010
http://cn.reuters.com/article/cnMktNews/idCNnCN132143920100921
2. Xinhua, September 19, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/19/c_12587473.htm
3. Mingpao, September 16, 2010
http://inews.mingpao.com/htm/INews/20100916/ca41525i.htm
4. Boxun, September 18, 2010
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/09/201009181144.shtml

The International Herald Leader published an article by Lin Xiaoguang, a professor at the CCP Central Party School, stating that in the past China has been soft in claiming sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands (called the Senkaku Islands in Japan), but that it is now time to include its claim in its formal diplomatic agenda with Japan. Lin argued that China’s former strategy of “putting aside disputes and jointly developing” didn’t work. Taking the issue to international court won’t work either. So the best way is to include it in the Sino-Japan East Sea Diplomatic Discussion. This will restrict Japan from taking actual control of the island on its own, and will also avoid the shocking effect on the Sino-Japan relationship from any emergent incident.

Source: International Herald Leader, September 20, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-09/20/c_13521094.htm

China and Russia started a joint oil refinery project in Tianjin, China, on September 21. China National Petroleum Corp. owns this project, with a 51% share of the joint venture, and Russia’s OAO Rosneft has a 49% share. The two companies agreed to invest 30 billion Yuan ($5 billion) to build a 13 million tons-a-year (260,000 barrels-a-day) refinery.

Source: Xinhua, September 21, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/21/c_12595893.htm

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson said that after being hit by the financial crisis, the greatest amount of financial aid that Iceland received was not from Europe or any other Western country, but from China. Grímsson took the interview while attending the Summer Davos Meeting, an annual meeting organized by the World Economic Forum, which was held in Tianjin on September 13 of this year.

Source: Xinhua, September 15, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/15/c_12552884.htm

According to China News Service,the sixth training seminar for overseas media executives started in Beijing on August 28. Forty Chinese-language media executives and representatives from 23 countries attended the two-day training class, which was on Tibetan & Xinjiang history and culture, and then went to Xinjiang for a visit. 

Zhao Yang, deputy director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, said at the class opening ceremony that Chinese media must strive for the right to have a voice internationally. They play a unique role in increasing China’s capacity for external communication. 

Source: China News Service, August 28, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/hr/2010/08-28/2497639.shtml