Xinhua recently reported on the assassination of the Libyan rebel’s military commander. The report emphasized that the victim died as a result of infighting. It quoted Gaddafi’s spokesman as saying “For the U.K. this is a resounding slap in the face.” The timing of the event was very unfortunate for the U.K. since it happened only 24 hours after the U.K. diplomatically acknowledged the rebels. The BBC reported the assassination as “totally exposing” the internal disagreements among the rebels. Despite the infighting among the rebels, on July 30, NATO bombed the Libyan National Television Station. The article referred to several newspapers in Egypt, Hong Kong, and Russia whose comments questioned whether the rebels can actually control and manage post-Gaddafi Libya.

Source: Xinhua, August 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-08/01/c_121754127.htm

People’s Daily recently published its own commentary (in addition to other media) on ASEAN’s (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) attempt to get China to sign the “Guidelines of Peaceful Conduct in the South China Sea.” The commentary suggested that this is a new attempt by Vietnam and the Philippines to force China to acknowledge their actual occupation of some islands. The author expressed the belief that these two countries are, wit U.S. help, testing China’s bottom line. This new attempt seeks an agreement on binding guidelines which were designed to eliminate China’s military option. The U.S. support called for all parties to follow the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; however, the U.S. Congress itself has not approved it. The commentary suggested that, at the end of the day, there will be no win-win situation and the military option must remain on the table. The author also suggested that attacking pirates and conducting rescue missions could be used as excuses to maintain a military presence in the South China Sea.

Source: People’s Daily, August 4, 2011
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/15326005.html

During his visit in Poland, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the media that China pays close attention to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. China supports the measures that the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have taken to stabilize the situation. “China continues to have confidence in the Euro zone and the Euro. In recent years, China has increased its holdings of Euro bonds.” Yang said that China will continue to support Europe and the Euro.

Yang also hoped that “the United States adopt a responsible monetary policy,” and that “the U.S. implement practical measures to insure the safety of other countries’ assets in the U.S.”

Source: China News Service, August 5, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2011/08-05/3236891.shtml