By Timothy Grose, James Leibold
Foreign Policy - February 5, 2015
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Thursday, February 5, 2015
China’s Ban on Islamic Veils Is Destined to Fail
A symbol of Uighur identity is likely to become a touchstone of resistance to the Party-state.
By Timothy Grose, James Leibold
Foreign Policy - February 5, 2015
Regional authorities have now outlawed Islamic veils from all public spaces in Urumqi, the regional capital of China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The Urumqi ban, which went into effect on Feb. 1 (coincidentally the third annual “World Hijab Day”), empowers Chinese police to punish violators and dole out fines of up to $800 for those who fail to abide by the prohibition. In recent years, the veil has emerged as a key battleground in the struggle to regain stability in Xinjiang. Stripping women of their head and body coverings provides the Chinese Communist Party with a rare measure of what it sees as progress in the struggle against what it calls “Islamic extremism” in this far western region. However, as officials seek to eliminate veiling, they risk further straining an already fragile relationship between the Uighur ethnic minority, a predominantly Muslim group for whom Xinjiang is their homeland, and a party machine dominated by the Han ethnic majority and its cultural values.
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By Timothy Grose, James Leibold
Foreign Policy - February 5, 2015
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Anti-terror drill held at national winter games stadiums in Xinjiang
(People's Daily Online) February 06, 2015
About 100 SWAT members take part in an anti-terror drill at the stadiums for the 13th National Winter Games in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on Feb. 4, 2015. The 13th National Winter Games will be held in January 2016 in Urumqi. The construction of the sports venues has already been completed. (CNS/Fang Tao)
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About 100 SWAT members take part in an anti-terror drill at the stadiums for the 13th National Winter Games in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on Feb. 4, 2015. The 13th National Winter Games will be held in January 2016 in Urumqi. The construction of the sports venues has already been completed. (CNS/Fang Tao)
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Commentary: Mr. Obama, playing the Dalai Lama card backfires
(Xinhua) February 06, 2015
BEIJING, Feb. 5 -- Though the degree to which U.S. President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama will interact Thursday during the National Prayer Breakfast is unclear, any possible meeting or encounter between the two is sure to have negative consequences because the Dalai Lama is a political liability which backfires.
Issues regarding Tibet concern China's core interests and national sentiments. Beijing has long made it clear that the Dalai Lama, who has for decades tried to separate Tibet from China, should never be hosted by leaders of other countries.
Chumming with a secessionist is playing with fire, which severely harms the mutual trust between China and the United States, and downgrades Obama's credit as a national leader for breaking his commitments to China on the Tibet issue.
There may be self-claimed friendship between Obama and the Dalai Lama as individuals, but a meeting between a U.S. president and a political fugitive goes beyond personal domain. What lies under their hypocritical relationship is nothing but political deals and cold calculations.
Frankly speaking, Obama needs the Dalai Lama not because the latter is respectful, as Obama claimed, but because the Dalai Lama is useful. For one thing, he is a separatist. For another, he comes from China and is against his own motherland.
READ MORE....
BEIJING, Feb. 5 -- Though the degree to which U.S. President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama will interact Thursday during the National Prayer Breakfast is unclear, any possible meeting or encounter between the two is sure to have negative consequences because the Dalai Lama is a political liability which backfires.
Issues regarding Tibet concern China's core interests and national sentiments. Beijing has long made it clear that the Dalai Lama, who has for decades tried to separate Tibet from China, should never be hosted by leaders of other countries.
Chumming with a secessionist is playing with fire, which severely harms the mutual trust between China and the United States, and downgrades Obama's credit as a national leader for breaking his commitments to China on the Tibet issue.
There may be self-claimed friendship between Obama and the Dalai Lama as individuals, but a meeting between a U.S. president and a political fugitive goes beyond personal domain. What lies under their hypocritical relationship is nothing but political deals and cold calculations.
Frankly speaking, Obama needs the Dalai Lama not because the latter is respectful, as Obama claimed, but because the Dalai Lama is useful. For one thing, he is a separatist. For another, he comes from China and is against his own motherland.
READ MORE....
Saturday, January 31, 2015
As Muslim Uighurs Flee, China Sees Jihad
Risk As Homeland Grows Violent, Some Uighurs Seek Haven in Turkey
By Jeremy Page And Emre Peker
The Wall Street Journal - Jan. 30, 2015
KAYSERI, Turkey—In hindsight, it was a soccer match that kindled Mehmet’s hatred of Chinese rule and set him on the path to exile.
In 2002, Mehmet was at university in Xinjiang, the northwest corner of China that is home to his Uighur ethnic group and the source of a wave of deadly violence in the past two years. He and some other Uighurs decided to support Turkey in the soccer World Cup, he said.
Most Uighurs are Muslim, speak a Turkic language and consider themselves part of a broad family of ethnic Turks.
But students from China’s ethnic Han majority were offended, Mehmet said. A fight erupted, leading university authorities to expel six of his friends.
So began a political awakening that led Mehmet to a prison labor camp in Xinjiang and ultimately to Turkey, following a perilous two-month voyage, mostly without a passport, through Central and Southeast Asia.
READ MORE....
By Jeremy Page And Emre Peker
The Wall Street Journal - Jan. 30, 2015
In 2002, Mehmet was at university in Xinjiang, the northwest corner of China that is home to his Uighur ethnic group and the source of a wave of deadly violence in the past two years. He and some other Uighurs decided to support Turkey in the soccer World Cup, he said.
Most Uighurs are Muslim, speak a Turkic language and consider themselves part of a broad family of ethnic Turks.
But students from China’s ethnic Han majority were offended, Mehmet said. A fight erupted, leading university authorities to expel six of his friends.
So began a political awakening that led Mehmet to a prison labor camp in Xinjiang and ultimately to Turkey, following a perilous two-month voyage, mostly without a passport, through Central and Southeast Asia.
READ MORE....
China Accuses Turks of Aiding Illegal Travel
Ten Turkish Nationals to Be Tried for Allegedly Helping Citizens Cross Borders
By Emre Peker And Chun Han Wong
The Wall Street Journal - Jan. 15, 2015
Chinese authorities are preparing to put 10 Turkish nationals on trial on allegations they aided illegal travel, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday, as a security clampdown on unrest in western China buffets the two countries’ otherwise strengthening ties.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Chinese prosecutors have accused two of the suspects with “organizing people to illegally cross borders,” and the other eight people with “selling travel documents.” Though the ministry didn’t say whom the Turkish nationals were accused of assisting, China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, which first reported the arrests this week, identified them as Uighurs, a Turkic group from western China.
China’s foreign and police ministries declined to comment on the arrests, which the Turkish government said took place in November.
News of the arrests of the Turkish nationals comes amid persisting troubles in Xinjiang, a Chinese territory abutting Central Asia that the mainly Muslim Uighurs regard as their homeland.
READ MORE....
By Emre Peker And Chun Han Wong
The Wall Street Journal - Jan. 15, 2015
Chinese authorities are preparing to put 10 Turkish nationals on trial on allegations they aided illegal travel, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday, as a security clampdown on unrest in western China buffets the two countries’ otherwise strengthening ties.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Chinese prosecutors have accused two of the suspects with “organizing people to illegally cross borders,” and the other eight people with “selling travel documents.” Though the ministry didn’t say whom the Turkish nationals were accused of assisting, China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, which first reported the arrests this week, identified them as Uighurs, a Turkic group from western China.
China’s foreign and police ministries declined to comment on the arrests, which the Turkish government said took place in November.
News of the arrests of the Turkish nationals comes amid persisting troubles in Xinjiang, a Chinese territory abutting Central Asia that the mainly Muslim Uighurs regard as their homeland.
READ MORE....
Türkiye’ye terörle mücadele işbirliğini güçlendirme çağrısı
Çin, Türkiye’ye terörle mücadele işbirliğini daha da güçlendirme çağrısı yaptı.
Emniyet Genel Müdürü M. Celalettin Lekesiz,
Pekin’deki Zhongnanhai hükümet yerleşkesinde, Çin Komünist Partisi (ÇKP)
Merkez Siyaset ve Hukuk Komisyonu Sekreteri Meng Jianzhu ile Salı günü
görüştü.Çin’in devlet medyasına yansıyan habere göre, görüşmede, kolluk kuvvetleri, güvenlik ve diğer konularda işbirliğinin güçlendirmesini masaya yatırıldı.
Çin’in resmi Xinhua Haber Ajansı, görüşmede Meng’ın, terörizm, insan kaçakçılığı ve diğer sınır ötesi suçlarla mücadelede Türkiye ile daha güçlü işbirliği çağrısı yaptığını duyurdu.
2007-2012 yılları arasında Kamu Güvenliği Bakanlığı da yapan Meng, görüşmede, Çin’in, Türkiye ile birlikte çalışmaya, iki ülke liderlerinin fikir birliğini vardıkları konuları uygulamaya, siyasi karşılıklı güveni geliştirmeye, ekonomik ve ticari alışverişi güçlendirmeye, iki tarafın çekirdek çıkarları ve kaygılarını anlamaya devam etmeye ve karşılıklı destek vermeye hazır olduğunu söyledi.
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5 Things to Know About Turkey and the Chinese Uighurs
Growing numbers of people from China’s mostly Muslim Uighur ethnicity have been fleeing via Southeast Asia in the last year, as China conducts a sweeping counterterrorist campaign in their homeland of Xinjiang. Many of them find refuge in Turkey, which has strong cultural links to the Uighurs, threatening an otherwise robust Turkey-China relationship, The Wall Street Journal reports. Here are five things to know about Turkey’s relationship with China’s Uighurs.
The Wall Street Journal - 30 Jan 2015
By Jeremy Page and Emre Peker
1 Turkish nationalists consider Uighurs kin. Share on Twitter Many Turkish nationalists regard the Uighurs, who speak a Turkic language, as part of a broad family of ethnic Turks spread across Eurasia. They have lobbied successive Turkish governments to offer refuge to those fleeing Chinese rule and to allow Uighurs to campaign against Beijing’s policies from Turkish soil.
2 Turkey has sheltered Uighur leaders since at least the 1950s. Share on Twitter Turkey offered shelter in the 1950s to Isa Yusuf Alptekin, a Uighur nationalist who was a leader of the East Turkestan Republic established in southern Xinjiang from 1933 to 1934. A small park named after him can be found in Istanbul, near the Blue Mosque in the city’s historic center.
3 Turkish authorities helped establish Uighur communities in Turkey in 1965. Share on Twitter In 1965, Turkey offered sanctuary to a group of some 200 Chinese Uighurs who had escaped on foot to Afghanistan. Turkish authorities airlifted them out of Kabul and settled them mostly in the central Turkish city of Kayseri, where many still live today.
4 Uighurs fleeing China often head for Istanbul. Share on Twitter The Turkish government doesn’t provide official statistics for the number of Uighurs in Turkey. Uighur groups say there are about 20,000, many of whom have never been to China. About 1,500 are in Kayseri, while most others live in Istanbul, especially in the Zeytinburnu neighborhood near old town. There are also hundreds of thousands of Uighurs living in former Soviet Central Asia
5 The Uighur issue makes Turkey-China relations a delicate balance. Share on Twitter After inter-ethnic rioting in 2009 left at least 156 dead in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, Turkey’s then Prime Minister — now President — Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the violence as “genocide,” prompting an angry response from Beijing. In 2012, with relations improving, Mr. Erdogan made his first stop in Xinjiang during an official visit to China.
The Wall Street Journal - 30 Jan 2015
By Jeremy Page and Emre Peker
1 Turkish nationalists consider Uighurs kin. Share on Twitter Many Turkish nationalists regard the Uighurs, who speak a Turkic language, as part of a broad family of ethnic Turks spread across Eurasia. They have lobbied successive Turkish governments to offer refuge to those fleeing Chinese rule and to allow Uighurs to campaign against Beijing’s policies from Turkish soil.
2 Turkey has sheltered Uighur leaders since at least the 1950s. Share on Twitter Turkey offered shelter in the 1950s to Isa Yusuf Alptekin, a Uighur nationalist who was a leader of the East Turkestan Republic established in southern Xinjiang from 1933 to 1934. A small park named after him can be found in Istanbul, near the Blue Mosque in the city’s historic center.
3 Turkish authorities helped establish Uighur communities in Turkey in 1965. Share on Twitter In 1965, Turkey offered sanctuary to a group of some 200 Chinese Uighurs who had escaped on foot to Afghanistan. Turkish authorities airlifted them out of Kabul and settled them mostly in the central Turkish city of Kayseri, where many still live today.
4 Uighurs fleeing China often head for Istanbul. Share on Twitter The Turkish government doesn’t provide official statistics for the number of Uighurs in Turkey. Uighur groups say there are about 20,000, many of whom have never been to China. About 1,500 are in Kayseri, while most others live in Istanbul, especially in the Zeytinburnu neighborhood near old town. There are also hundreds of thousands of Uighurs living in former Soviet Central Asia
5 The Uighur issue makes Turkey-China relations a delicate balance. Share on Twitter After inter-ethnic rioting in 2009 left at least 156 dead in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, Turkey’s then Prime Minister — now President — Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the violence as “genocide,” prompting an angry response from Beijing. In 2012, with relations improving, Mr. Erdogan made his first stop in Xinjiang during an official visit to China.
Friday, January 30, 2015
China to curb phone, computer purchases in restive Xinjiang
Reuters - SHANGHAI Thu Jan 29, 2015
Anyone buying a mobile phone or a computer in the restive far-western Chinese region of Xinjiang will have to register their personal details with police, state media reported, in the latest sign of tightening government restrictions.
The measures were designed to "prevent people spreading harmful information and carrying out illegal activities", the English-language Shanghai Daily reported, citing government officials.
Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, has struggled with violence in recent years between majority Han Chinese and mostly Muslim Uighurs.
READ MORE....
Anyone buying a mobile phone or a computer in the restive far-western Chinese region of Xinjiang will have to register their personal details with police, state media reported, in the latest sign of tightening government restrictions.
The measures were designed to "prevent people spreading harmful information and carrying out illegal activities", the English-language Shanghai Daily reported, citing government officials.
Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, has struggled with violence in recent years between majority Han Chinese and mostly Muslim Uighurs.
READ MORE....
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
The Nature of Asian Politics By Bruce Gilley
Cambridge University Press
September 2014
The Nature of Asian Politics is a broad and thematic
treatment of the fundamental factors that characterize politics in the
fourteen key countries of Southeast and Northeast Asia. Bruce Gilley
begins with an overview of state-society relations, then moves on to the
fundamental questions of development and democracy, and finally shifts
to an exploration of governance and public policy in the region. This
book proposes an Asian governance model that is useful for understanding
politics from Japan to Indonesia. By reviving an earlier paradigm known
as oriental despotism and applying it to political theories on the
Asian region, this book is likely to attract wide debate among students
of Asian politics and among Western policy makers seeking to engage the
region.
Contents
READ MORE.....
September 2014
The Nature of Asian Politics is a broad and thematic
treatment of the fundamental factors that characterize politics in the
fourteen key countries of Southeast and Northeast Asia. Bruce Gilley
begins with an overview of state-society relations, then moves on to the
fundamental questions of development and democracy, and finally shifts
to an exploration of governance and public policy in the region. This
book proposes an Asian governance model that is useful for understanding
politics from Japan to Indonesia. By reviving an earlier paradigm known
as oriental despotism and applying it to political theories on the
Asian region, this book is likely to attract wide debate among students
of Asian politics and among Western policy makers seeking to engage the
region.- Provides a comprehensive look at the politics of fourteen key countries in Northeast and Southeast Asia
- Structured thematically with chapters on state and society, development, democracy, governance, and public policy
- Provides context for the rise of China
Contents
Introduction
1. Profit and Honor
Reclaiming the Far
East
The Asian Governance
Model
2. State and Society
The State of Pardons
Refined Oriental
Despotism
Money, Colonialism,
War, and Water
The Legitimacy
Premium
Hegel and Asian
Values
Integrative
Nationalism
3. Development
The Spinning Kingdom
An Inputs Miracle
Growth Alliances and
Regimes
The Rational State
Contentious
Development Politics
Recovering from
Failures
4. Democracy
New Orders in Old
Bottles
Oriental Democracy
Markets and
Modernization
Responsive
Transitions
Consolidation without
Kings
The Rights of the
Majority
The House of
Aspirations
Rethinking the Lee
Hypothesis
The China Wave
5. Governance
Shepherds of the
People
Macho Meritocracy
CEO Government
The Tokyo Consensus
Judge Pao and the
Dual State
Harmonious Networks
6. Public Policy
Big, Fast Results
Productivist Welfare
The Giri
of Public Works
Knowledge for Nature
Toward Eastphalia?
READ MORE.....
Sunday, January 25, 2015
China says fake pilgrims sent to Mecca
Officials accused after ‘unqualified’ people from heavily Muslim province of Xinjiang went on tightly regulated trips
The Guardian - Thursday 15 January 2015
China is investigating 32 officials from the western region of Xinjiang for graft linked to pilgrimages by Muslims to Mecca, state media said on Thursday.
Xinjiang is home to the mostly Muslim Uighur people. Hundreds of people have been killed there over the past two years in violence between Uighurs and ethnic majority Han Chinese that the government blames on Muslim separatists.
China’s Uighur Muslims can usually only make pilgrimages to Mecca on government-organised trips.
The China Daily, the country’s official English-language newspaper, said 14,000 such pilgrimages were organised in 2014 though some of the people who went to Mecca were “unqualified“. It did not explain what that meant.
“In addition to arranging pilgrimages for unqualified people, the investigated officials were found to have asked for and received bribes or neglected the inspection and management of pilgrimage work,” the China Daily said, citing the anti-graft watchdog.
READ MORE....
The Guardian - Thursday 15 January 2015
China is investigating 32 officials from the western region of Xinjiang for graft linked to pilgrimages by Muslims to Mecca, state media said on Thursday.
Xinjiang is home to the mostly Muslim Uighur people. Hundreds of people have been killed there over the past two years in violence between Uighurs and ethnic majority Han Chinese that the government blames on Muslim separatists.
China’s Uighur Muslims can usually only make pilgrimages to Mecca on government-organised trips.
The China Daily, the country’s official English-language newspaper, said 14,000 such pilgrimages were organised in 2014 though some of the people who went to Mecca were “unqualified“. It did not explain what that meant.
“In addition to arranging pilgrimages for unqualified people, the investigated officials were found to have asked for and received bribes or neglected the inspection and management of pilgrimage work,” the China Daily said, citing the anti-graft watchdog.
READ MORE....
Saturday, January 24, 2015
China's Silk Road strategy draws interest from over 50 countries: official
Xinhua - January 25, 2015
HAIKOU,-- China's initiative to build the Silk Road economic belt and the 21st century maritime Silk Road has received interest from more than 50 countries, an official said Saturday.
He Yafei, deputy head of the overseas Chinese affairs office of the State Council, made the remarks at a conference in the southern-most island province of Hainan.
Along the belt and road are many developing countries with a combined population of 4.4 billion and an annual economic output of 2.2 trillion U.S. dollars. Given complementary industrial structures, the economic belt has strong growth potentials, He said.
With huge forex reserves and more frequent uses of the yuan in trade settlement, China could offer low-cost financing to the countries which participate in the drive, he said.
The countries should seek consensus on cooperation and step up cooperation in fields like infrastructure, tourism, energy and finance, he said.
READ MORE....
He Yafei, deputy head of the overseas Chinese affairs office of the State Council, made the remarks at a conference in the southern-most island province of Hainan.
Along the belt and road are many developing countries with a combined population of 4.4 billion and an annual economic output of 2.2 trillion U.S. dollars. Given complementary industrial structures, the economic belt has strong growth potentials, He said.
With huge forex reserves and more frequent uses of the yuan in trade settlement, China could offer low-cost financing to the countries which participate in the drive, he said.
The countries should seek consensus on cooperation and step up cooperation in fields like infrastructure, tourism, energy and finance, he said.
READ MORE....
Thursday, January 22, 2015
China's marginalised minorities
On the outside looking in Facing ethnic discrimination, China's Uighurs and Tibetans have fallen behind as the rest of the country surges ahead
The Economist - Jan 21st 2015
WATCH THE VIDEO.....
The Economist - Jan 21st 2015
WATCH THE VIDEO.....
China to Build 7,000 Km Moscow-Beijing Railway Estimated $242 Bln
Sputnik - 22.01.2015
The railway will ease travel between Beijing and Moscow and reduce travel times, Beijing's
municipal government announced.
MOSCOW, January 22 (Sputnik) – China will build a high-speed railway connecting Beijing and Moscow, estimated to cost 1.5 trillion yuan ($242 billion), Beijing's municipal government announced on Thursday.
The length of the railway will total 7,000 kilometers. The railway will pass through Kazakhstan, and the journey will take two days, Bloomberg reports, citing the government' announcement in the Weibo social network. The railway will ease travel between Beijing and Moscow and reduce travel times, the announcement notes.
According to Bloomberg, China is promoting its high-speed rail technology on an international level, adding that the construction of the railway is taking place as Russia's relations with the US and Europe cool over the Ukraine conflict.
READ MORE.....
The railway will ease travel between Beijing and Moscow and reduce travel times, Beijing's
municipal government announced.
MOSCOW, January 22 (Sputnik) – China will build a high-speed railway connecting Beijing and Moscow, estimated to cost 1.5 trillion yuan ($242 billion), Beijing's municipal government announced on Thursday.
The length of the railway will total 7,000 kilometers. The railway will pass through Kazakhstan, and the journey will take two days, Bloomberg reports, citing the government' announcement in the Weibo social network. The railway will ease travel between Beijing and Moscow and reduce travel times, the announcement notes.
According to Bloomberg, China is promoting its high-speed rail technology on an international level, adding that the construction of the railway is taking place as Russia's relations with the US and Europe cool over the Ukraine conflict.
READ MORE.....
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Turkey Chimes in on Uyghur Human Smuggling Case
Plus, Zhang Miao, securing the North Korean border, and China’s nuclear industry. Friday China links.
By Shannon Tiezzi
THE DIPLOMAT - January 17, 2015
First, there are two updates on my previous story about Turkish citizens being arrested for allegedly planning to help Chinese Uyghurs illegally leave China to join terror groups in Syria and elsewhere. First, as The New York Times reports, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that ten of its citizens were arrested in Shanghai for trying to smuggle Uyghurs out of the country. However, Turkey’s statement failed to mention “any of the terrorism-related charges” raised by Global Times’ initial report. As I mentioned in my original piece, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson who addressed the reports earlier this week also ignored the terrorism angle. That raises questions over whether the Turkish group truly intended to funnel Uyghurs to terrorist groups, or whether this was a case of would-be refugees — which would make the issue far more serious for China-Turkey relations. Meanwhile, China Daily reports that China will “strengthen law enforcement cooperation with Turkey to combat terrorist suspects from the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region entering the Eurasian country illegally.” As a Chinese official told the newspaper, China “will work closely with [Turkish authorities] to investigate Xinjiang suspects who enter Turkey illegally.” China also hopes to increase cooperation with Turkish police to prevent “cross-border criminal gangs who help Xinjiang terrorists to cross China’s borders illegally and assist them in obtaining fake Turkish passports.”
READ MORE....
By Shannon Tiezzi
THE DIPLOMAT - January 17, 2015
First, there are two updates on my previous story about Turkish citizens being arrested for allegedly planning to help Chinese Uyghurs illegally leave China to join terror groups in Syria and elsewhere. First, as The New York Times reports, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that ten of its citizens were arrested in Shanghai for trying to smuggle Uyghurs out of the country. However, Turkey’s statement failed to mention “any of the terrorism-related charges” raised by Global Times’ initial report. As I mentioned in my original piece, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson who addressed the reports earlier this week also ignored the terrorism angle. That raises questions over whether the Turkish group truly intended to funnel Uyghurs to terrorist groups, or whether this was a case of would-be refugees — which would make the issue far more serious for China-Turkey relations. Meanwhile, China Daily reports that China will “strengthen law enforcement cooperation with Turkey to combat terrorist suspects from the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region entering the Eurasian country illegally.” As a Chinese official told the newspaper, China “will work closely with [Turkish authorities] to investigate Xinjiang suspects who enter Turkey illegally.” China also hopes to increase cooperation with Turkish police to prevent “cross-border criminal gangs who help Xinjiang terrorists to cross China’s borders illegally and assist them in obtaining fake Turkish passports.”
READ MORE....
China bans burqa in biggest Muslim city
Violence increases between Uyghur majority, Han minority
WPBF - Jan 14, 2015
BEIJING (CNN) —Legislators in China's far-western Xinjiang province have passed a law to prohibit residents from wearing burqas in public, state media reported, in a continued campaign against what authorities view as religious extremism. The new ban in Urumqi was approved by local legislators last month, and given the greenlight by the regional legislature at the weekend. The ordinance name suggests it targets outer garments covering someone's full body including the face, which is called a burqa in some Islamic traditions. A spate of recent violent incidents has rocked Xinjiang, a resource-rich region long inhabited by the Turkic-speaking, largely Muslim Uyghurs. The arrival of waves of Han Chinese, the country's predominant ethnic group, over the past decades has fueled ethnic tensions.
READ MORE.....
WPBF - Jan 14, 2015
BEIJING (CNN) —Legislators in China's far-western Xinjiang province have passed a law to prohibit residents from wearing burqas in public, state media reported, in a continued campaign against what authorities view as religious extremism. The new ban in Urumqi was approved by local legislators last month, and given the greenlight by the regional legislature at the weekend. The ordinance name suggests it targets outer garments covering someone's full body including the face, which is called a burqa in some Islamic traditions. A spate of recent violent incidents has rocked Xinjiang, a resource-rich region long inhabited by the Turkic-speaking, largely Muslim Uyghurs. The arrival of waves of Han Chinese, the country's predominant ethnic group, over the past decades has fueled ethnic tensions.
READ MORE.....
China's Uyghurs and Islamic State
Chinese media report that a group of Uyghurs was arrested on suspicion of trying to join the global terror network.
By Shannon Tiezzi
THE DIPLOMAT - January 15, 2015
A report from China’s Global Times (picked up and summarized by Reuters) says that China has arrested 10 Turkish nationals in Shanghai for their role in assisting ethnic Uyghurs in illegally leaving China. According to Global Times, the Uyghurs intended to use fake Turkish passports to travel to Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to fight alongside Islamist militants. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei did not directly confirm the story, but told journalists that the Chinese media report “has gone into great details… I have nothing new to add.” Hong did elaborate a bit on China’s general position on the issue, saying that “cracking down on illegal immigration is an aspiration shared by the international community, and also the persistent stance taken by the Chinese government.” Interestingly, Hong made no mention of the reported connection with terrorism, which is a major focus of theGlobal Times story. The piece opens by saying that in November 2014, authorities in Shanghai uncovered a organization of Turkish nationals that provided “Chinese terrorists” with false Turkish passports that could then be used to illegally leave the country. Each fake passport cost 60,000 RMB ($9,680), according to the report.
READ MORE....
By Shannon Tiezzi
THE DIPLOMAT - January 15, 2015
A report from China’s Global Times (picked up and summarized by Reuters) says that China has arrested 10 Turkish nationals in Shanghai for their role in assisting ethnic Uyghurs in illegally leaving China. According to Global Times, the Uyghurs intended to use fake Turkish passports to travel to Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to fight alongside Islamist militants. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei did not directly confirm the story, but told journalists that the Chinese media report “has gone into great details… I have nothing new to add.” Hong did elaborate a bit on China’s general position on the issue, saying that “cracking down on illegal immigration is an aspiration shared by the international community, and also the persistent stance taken by the Chinese government.” Interestingly, Hong made no mention of the reported connection with terrorism, which is a major focus of theGlobal Times story. The piece opens by saying that in November 2014, authorities in Shanghai uncovered a organization of Turkish nationals that provided “Chinese terrorists” with false Turkish passports that could then be used to illegally leave the country. Each fake passport cost 60,000 RMB ($9,680), according to the report.
READ MORE....
‘In China, it’s never like this’: An interview with Peter Hessler
By William Wan
The Washington Post - September 23, 2013
BEIJING – Recently transplanted to Egypt after many years in China, New Yorker correspondent Peter Hessler has a unique perspective on both countries. To many China watchers, Hessler represents a kind of gold standard for intimately reported pieces on lesser-known people and parts of the country. He’s out with his fourth and latest book – published this spring – a compilation of standalone pieces written both from China and after his return to United States in 2008. I caught up by phone with Hessler this summer, just before the military-led coup against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, to talk about his brand of reporting, life in Egypt and what it would take and look like for an Egyptian-style political movement to come to China.
READ MORE....
The Washington Post - September 23, 2013
BEIJING – Recently transplanted to Egypt after many years in China, New Yorker correspondent Peter Hessler has a unique perspective on both countries. To many China watchers, Hessler represents a kind of gold standard for intimately reported pieces on lesser-known people and parts of the country. He’s out with his fourth and latest book – published this spring – a compilation of standalone pieces written both from China and after his return to United States in 2008. I caught up by phone with Hessler this summer, just before the military-led coup against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, to talk about his brand of reporting, life in Egypt and what it would take and look like for an Egyptian-style political movement to come to China.
READ MORE....
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Ethnic minorities Don’t make yourself at home
Uighurs and Tibetans feel left out of China’s economic boom; ethnic discrimination is not helping
The Economist - Jan 17th 2015
BEIJING
CHINA is urbanising at a rapid pace. In 2000 nearly two-thirds of its residents lived in the countryside. Today fewer than half do. But two ethnic groups, whose members often chafe at Chinese rule, are bucking this trend. Uighurs and Tibetans are staying on the farm, often because discrimination against them makes it difficult to find work in cities. As ethnic discontent grows, so too does the discrimination, creating a vicious circle.
Breaking this circle is crucial to China’s efforts to defuse unrest in Xinjiang, Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas of other provinces, which collectively account for nearly one-third of China’s land area. In Xinjiang, Uighur grievances have triggered numerous outbreaks of violence. On January 12th, in what appeared to be the latest such example, six people were shot dead after allegedly attacking police in Shule, a town near China’s border with Central Asia. Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim, minority who number about 10m in Xinjiang. In 2000, 80% of them were farmers; ten years later 83% of them were.
READ MORE....
The Economist - Jan 17th 2015
BEIJING
CHINA is urbanising at a rapid pace. In 2000 nearly two-thirds of its residents lived in the countryside. Today fewer than half do. But two ethnic groups, whose members often chafe at Chinese rule, are bucking this trend. Uighurs and Tibetans are staying on the farm, often because discrimination against them makes it difficult to find work in cities. As ethnic discontent grows, so too does the discrimination, creating a vicious circle.
Breaking this circle is crucial to China’s efforts to defuse unrest in Xinjiang, Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas of other provinces, which collectively account for nearly one-third of China’s land area. In Xinjiang, Uighur grievances have triggered numerous outbreaks of violence. On January 12th, in what appeared to be the latest such example, six people were shot dead after allegedly attacking police in Shule, a town near China’s border with Central Asia. Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking, mostly Muslim, minority who number about 10m in Xinjiang. In 2000, 80% of them were farmers; ten years later 83% of them were.
READ MORE....
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Introducing the Middle East-Asia Project (MAP)
From: "Calabrese, John" <jcalabrese (at) mei.edu>
Reply-To: Sociology of Islam <SOCIOLOGY_OF_ISLAM@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at 7:27 AM
To: Sociology of Islam <SOCIOLOGY_OF_ISLAM@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Subject: [Sociology_of_Islam] Introducing the Middle East-Asia Project (MAP)
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to introduce you to the Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).
In brief, the MAP is a platform for exploring:
the roots and dynamics of the multidimensional ties that currently exist between the Middle East and Asia;
the ways in which key developments taking place within the Middle East have reverberated in Asia, and the other way around; and
the extent to which insights/lessons from recent past experiences in Asia might be applicable to the Middle East, and vice versa.
Over the past year, the MAP has launched several essay series, including:
Contemporary Patterns in Transregional Islam
Sectarianism in Muslim Majority/Minority States in the Middle East and Asia
"Civilianizing" the State in the MENA and Asia Pacific Regions
Pathways to Transitional Justice in the Arab World -- Reflections on the Asia Pacific Experience
In the coming months, the MAP will release several new essay series:
Jihadi Recruitment and Return
"Harm Reduction" Strategies
All About China
Civil Society in Transitions
The MAP Cyber Library contains an extensive list of articles on Middle East-Asian affairs with links to full-text versions free of charge.
I encourage you to share the links to the MAP with your students.
Contact me at jcalabrese (at) mei.edu if you would like to
learn more about the MAP
subscribe to the monthly MAP Bulletin
propose topics for new series
write short essays for existing or forthcoming series
Healthy, rewarding 2015 to you all!
Regards,
John Calabrese
American University / Middle East Institute
--
Dr. John Calabrese
202-785-1141 ext. 208
Reply-To: Sociology of Islam <SOCIOLOGY_OF_ISLAM@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at 7:27 AM
To: Sociology of Islam <SOCIOLOGY_OF_ISLAM@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Subject: [Sociology_of_Islam] Introducing the Middle East-Asia Project (MAP)
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to introduce you to the Middle East-Asia Project (MAP).
In brief, the MAP is a platform for exploring:
the roots and dynamics of the multidimensional ties that currently exist between the Middle East and Asia;
the ways in which key developments taking place within the Middle East have reverberated in Asia, and the other way around; and
the extent to which insights/lessons from recent past experiences in Asia might be applicable to the Middle East, and vice versa.
Over the past year, the MAP has launched several essay series, including:
Contemporary Patterns in Transregional Islam
Sectarianism in Muslim Majority/Minority States in the Middle East and Asia
"Civilianizing" the State in the MENA and Asia Pacific Regions
Pathways to Transitional Justice in the Arab World -- Reflections on the Asia Pacific Experience
In the coming months, the MAP will release several new essay series:
Jihadi Recruitment and Return
"Harm Reduction" Strategies
All About China
Civil Society in Transitions
The MAP Cyber Library contains an extensive list of articles on Middle East-Asian affairs with links to full-text versions free of charge.
I encourage you to share the links to the MAP with your students.
Contact me at jcalabrese (at) mei.edu if you would like to
learn more about the MAP
subscribe to the monthly MAP Bulletin
propose topics for new series
write short essays for existing or forthcoming series
Healthy, rewarding 2015 to you all!
Regards,
John Calabrese
American University / Middle East Institute
--
Dr. John Calabrese
202-785-1141 ext. 208
Friday, January 2, 2015
BBC visits China's Xinjiang province - home of the Uighurs
BBC - JANUARY 2, 2015
China says it is facing a growing threat from militant Islam and it is in the midst of a year-long crackdown on what it describes as terrorism driven by religious extremism.
The campaign is focused on the western province of Xinjiang, home to China's Uighur ethnic minority who are predominantly Muslim.
Despite doubling the policing budget in the province and jailing hundreds of Uighurs, violent attacks have continued.
Critics say China is exacerbating its problems by religious repression.
Widespread intimidation makes reporting from the region extremely difficult as the BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie reports.
READ MORE....
China says it is facing a growing threat from militant Islam and it is in the midst of a year-long crackdown on what it describes as terrorism driven by religious extremism.
The campaign is focused on the western province of Xinjiang, home to China's Uighur ethnic minority who are predominantly Muslim.
Despite doubling the policing budget in the province and jailing hundreds of Uighurs, violent attacks have continued.
Critics say China is exacerbating its problems by religious repression.
Widespread intimidation makes reporting from the region extremely difficult as the BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie reports.
READ MORE....
Xinjiang: Has China's crackdown on 'terrorism' worked?
BBC - 1 January 2015
Carrie Gracie BBC China editor
It was the answer to my question: "Why are there so many armoured trucks, so many armed officers, so many police dogs?"
A history scarred by civil war and foreign invasion makes many Chinese citizens hanker for strong central government.
But for security, they pay a high price in civil liberties.
Especially in border areas like this which are so different from mainstream China and where the pressure to show loyalty is correspondingly immense.
The government is watching every citizen.
READ MORE....
Carrie Gracie BBC China editor
"Kashgar is not stable."
The words of a paramilitary police officer as he marched past me under the statue of Chairman Mao in China's westernmost city. It was the answer to my question: "Why are there so many armoured trucks, so many armed officers, so many police dogs?"
A history scarred by civil war and foreign invasion makes many Chinese citizens hanker for strong central government.
But for security, they pay a high price in civil liberties.
Especially in border areas like this which are so different from mainstream China and where the pressure to show loyalty is correspondingly immense.
The government is watching every citizen.
READ MORE....
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
China, Kuwait to open consulates in Erbil
Rudaw - December 29, 2014
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – China plans to open a consulate in
Erbil to take advantage of the Kurdistan Region’s economic boom, the
Chinese consul general in Iraq said in a meeting with Kurdish Prime
Minister Nechirvan Barzani.
The diplomat said his country wanted to boost economic and cultural ties with Kurdistan.
By opening a consulate China joins the other four members of the UN Security Council, which all have operating consulates in Erbil.
Barzani said that Erbil values its relations with China and its position in the world, and is therefore keen to boost relations.
Meanwhile, Kuwait’s foreign minister told a news conference in Baghdad that his country will soon open a consulate in Erbil, as well as one in the city of Basra in southern Iraq.
Subah Khalid Hamad Subah said that the consulates will facilitate visits and travel between Iraq and Kuwait, which enjoys good ties with Kurdistan and has a sizeable Kurdish population that has lived there for decades.
Kurdistan, which remains the only prosperous and stable portion of war-torn Iraq, has attracted many multinational corporations that have invested in the energy, construction and tourism sectors.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – China plans to open a consulate in
Erbil to take advantage of the Kurdistan Region’s economic boom, the
Chinese consul general in Iraq said in a meeting with Kurdish Prime
Minister Nechirvan Barzani.The diplomat said his country wanted to boost economic and cultural ties with Kurdistan.
By opening a consulate China joins the other four members of the UN Security Council, which all have operating consulates in Erbil.
Barzani said that Erbil values its relations with China and its position in the world, and is therefore keen to boost relations.
Meanwhile, Kuwait’s foreign minister told a news conference in Baghdad that his country will soon open a consulate in Erbil, as well as one in the city of Basra in southern Iraq.
Subah Khalid Hamad Subah said that the consulates will facilitate visits and travel between Iraq and Kuwait, which enjoys good ties with Kurdistan and has a sizeable Kurdish population that has lived there for decades.
Kurdistan, which remains the only prosperous and stable portion of war-torn Iraq, has attracted many multinational corporations that have invested in the energy, construction and tourism sectors.
Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900-1949
The author also demonstrates that the modern Uyghur intelligentsia regarded political emancipation and social modernization as the two most important interests of their nation, and that they envisaged Uyghurs as citizens of a modern republican state founded on the principles of representative government. This book thus presents a new perspective on Uyghur intellectual history and on Republican Xinjiang.
Table of contents
Chronology of Major Political Events Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Protonational Identity and Interest (1900s)
Chapter 2: Emergence of National Idea and National Agitation (1910s–1920s)
Chapter 3: Politicization of National Interest (1930s) 3.1. Turkic Insurgency (1930–34) 3.2. Administration of Sheng Shicai (1934–44)
Chapter 4: The Significance of a National Boundary in Flux (1940s) 4.1. Republican Turkic Nationalism (1930s–49) 4.2. The Three Districts’ Revolution (1944–49)
Chapter 5:
Conclusion
READ MORE....
Monday, December 29, 2014
Cairo in Chinese
Alison Klayman
When Shen Yitong left her home in China to study French at Cairo University in 2008, she didn’t know that she would come to think of Egypt as a second home, or that she would see revolution come upon the country so suddenly. Her parents came from peasant backgrounds and they devoted everything to supporting her education, including moving from a smaller city in Jilin Province to the capital city, Changchun, in 2004. I met Shen while in Cairo for an arts festival in the spring of 2013. Interested in how Mubarak’s toppling reverberated through the small Chinese expat community (whose members number in the thousands), I was drawn to how Shen and others perceived the joy and despair that Egypt has undergone. Outsiders to the factional disputes, Chinese expat fates are still intertwined with their outcomes—in part because they live in Egypt but also because they are Chinese citizens, for whom the tradeoff between political freedoms and the uncertainty of regime change has immediate resonance. I thought Yitong and her friends’ stories would reveal a side of globalization that American audiences don’t often think about—a globalization that is not centered on the West—and would help illuminate the Egyptian revolution’s global significance. I filmed Shen last January and February as part of a larger project I am working on. She has since left Cairo to start a Master’s degree in Paris. This short film produced for ChinaFile focuses on a conversation Shen has with a close Egyptian friend, Asma El Nagar. El Nagar works for a Chinese company in Egypt after having studied Mandarin at Cairo University. The two friends laugh over a meal of Lanzhou noodles and converse in rapid fire, relaxed Mandarin with occasional Arabic mixed in. As their conversation turns to current events, the two friends draw parallels between the Rabaa Square massacre and the Tiananmen Square massacre. Neither is a historian, political commentator, expert, or activist, and this film does not aim to portray them as authorities. In fact, before coming to Cairo, Shen, like many of her peers at home, had never heard of the events that transpired in Tiananmen Square in 1989. There are of course many strong distinctions between the Rabaa Square massacre and the Tiananmen Square massacre. What they do have in common is they are both examples of overwhelming state violence against civilians. In both Egypt and China, these events are marked by an inability to freely discuss or even commemorate them without fear of retribution. Ultimately that is what this short film is about, a conversation about free speech, about the idea of freedom itself. For me, it’s an example of the kinds of commonalities and tough questions that will necessarily materialize when such cross-cultural connections, exchanges, and friendship are made between young people.
When Shen Yitong left her home in China to study French at Cairo University in 2008, she didn’t know that she would come to think of Egypt as a second home, or that she would see revolution come upon the country so suddenly. Her parents came from peasant backgrounds and they devoted everything to supporting her education, including moving from a smaller city in Jilin Province to the capital city, Changchun, in 2004. I met Shen while in Cairo for an arts festival in the spring of 2013. Interested in how Mubarak’s toppling reverberated through the small Chinese expat community (whose members number in the thousands), I was drawn to how Shen and others perceived the joy and despair that Egypt has undergone. Outsiders to the factional disputes, Chinese expat fates are still intertwined with their outcomes—in part because they live in Egypt but also because they are Chinese citizens, for whom the tradeoff between political freedoms and the uncertainty of regime change has immediate resonance. I thought Yitong and her friends’ stories would reveal a side of globalization that American audiences don’t often think about—a globalization that is not centered on the West—and would help illuminate the Egyptian revolution’s global significance. I filmed Shen last January and February as part of a larger project I am working on. She has since left Cairo to start a Master’s degree in Paris. This short film produced for ChinaFile focuses on a conversation Shen has with a close Egyptian friend, Asma El Nagar. El Nagar works for a Chinese company in Egypt after having studied Mandarin at Cairo University. The two friends laugh over a meal of Lanzhou noodles and converse in rapid fire, relaxed Mandarin with occasional Arabic mixed in. As their conversation turns to current events, the two friends draw parallels between the Rabaa Square massacre and the Tiananmen Square massacre. Neither is a historian, political commentator, expert, or activist, and this film does not aim to portray them as authorities. In fact, before coming to Cairo, Shen, like many of her peers at home, had never heard of the events that transpired in Tiananmen Square in 1989. There are of course many strong distinctions between the Rabaa Square massacre and the Tiananmen Square massacre. What they do have in common is they are both examples of overwhelming state violence against civilians. In both Egypt and China, these events are marked by an inability to freely discuss or even commemorate them without fear of retribution. Ultimately that is what this short film is about, a conversation about free speech, about the idea of freedom itself. For me, it’s an example of the kinds of commonalities and tough questions that will necessarily materialize when such cross-cultural connections, exchanges, and friendship are made between young people.
Steel roses train in harsh winter in Xinjiang
People's Daily Online - December 29, 2014
Female SWAT team members in Xinjiang train under harsh weather
condition, Dec. 25, 2014. Members of this team are all with excellent
physical qualities and educational backgrounds. After a long-term
systematic training, they will undertake the mission of protecting the
people and maintaining safety of the society. (Chinanews/Fan Xinyu)
READ MORE.....
READ MORE.....
From "Arab Spring" to a cold winter
People's Daily Online - December 29, 2014
READ MORE....
The “Arab Spring” in the Middle East has brought much unrest, and neither stability nor prosperity. Egypt has undergone regime change; Libya is in a state of chaos; Syria is embroiled in a civil war which has left millions of people homeless. The truth is that the “Arab Spring” was another kind of “Color Revolution” manipulated by western forces.
During the “Cold War”, western countries contributed to the collapse of Soviet Union. Subsequently, the western countries promoted the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union. With the resurgence of Russia, this enlargement was impeded. The west then diverted its attention to the Middle East.
In 2011, the Middle East was already riven by conflict. The West took advantage of the disorder to expand its influence there. The Western media hailed the revolutionary wave of demonstrations and revolutions as the “Arab Spring”, and Western governments interfered in events with the intention of exporting their values to the region, and promoting developments in the Middle East that would be favorable to Western interests.
But instead of helping to restore stability to the Middle East, the West has sown the seeds of chaos. The “Arab Spring” that was manipulated by western countries, has brought nothing but trouble to Egypt, Libya and Syria.
The protests in Hong Kong in 2014 are another farce which western countries have sought to manipulate with the intention of harming the development of China. China should beware of the ulterior motives of the West.
This article was edited and translated from 《落入寒冬的“阿拉伯之春”》, source: People's Daily Overseas Edition, Author: Tian Wenlin
During the “Cold War”, western countries contributed to the collapse of Soviet Union. Subsequently, the western countries promoted the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union. With the resurgence of Russia, this enlargement was impeded. The west then diverted its attention to the Middle East.
In 2011, the Middle East was already riven by conflict. The West took advantage of the disorder to expand its influence there. The Western media hailed the revolutionary wave of demonstrations and revolutions as the “Arab Spring”, and Western governments interfered in events with the intention of exporting their values to the region, and promoting developments in the Middle East that would be favorable to Western interests.
But instead of helping to restore stability to the Middle East, the West has sown the seeds of chaos. The “Arab Spring” that was manipulated by western countries, has brought nothing but trouble to Egypt, Libya and Syria.
The protests in Hong Kong in 2014 are another farce which western countries have sought to manipulate with the intention of harming the development of China. China should beware of the ulterior motives of the West.
This article was edited and translated from 《落入寒冬的“阿拉伯之春”》, source: People's Daily Overseas Edition, Author: Tian Wenlin
READ MORE....
Beijing names new culture chief to drive soft-power push
Beijing promotes senior propaganda official to head up ministry as the country seeks to present itself abroad as a modern major nation.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - Monday, 29 December, 2014
Beijing appointed a senior propaganda official as its culture
minister yesterday, making him one of the spearheads of the government's
drive to project China's soft power abroad.
The national legislature approved the appointment of 59-year-old Luo Shugang, the top deputy chief of the Communist Party's Publicity Department, as it concluded a bi-monthly session.
Luo has written extensively in party publications on reform of the culture sector, proposing the area be further opened up and its overseas links expanded to burnish China's soft power. Introducing the nation to the world as a modern major country has been part of President Xi Jinping's much-touted "China Dream". But Luo's official biography is brief compared with those of other ministers.
READ MORE....
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - Monday, 29 December, 2014
The national legislature approved the appointment of 59-year-old Luo Shugang, the top deputy chief of the Communist Party's Publicity Department, as it concluded a bi-monthly session.
Luo has written extensively in party publications on reform of the culture sector, proposing the area be further opened up and its overseas links expanded to burnish China's soft power. Introducing the nation to the world as a modern major country has been part of President Xi Jinping's much-touted "China Dream". But Luo's official biography is brief compared with those of other ministers.
READ MORE....
China to Open Consulate in Erbil
Consul to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Kurdistan Region
Mewan Dolamari
Basnews | 28.12.2014
Official delegates from China are
expected to arrive in the Kurdistan Region soon to open the Consulate
General of China in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Region.
READ MORE....
Mewan Dolamari
Basnews | 28.12.2014
ERBIL
According to a Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) announcement on Sunday, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan
Barzani met Tan Banglin, an envoy from China’s Foreign Ministry
appointed to be the first Chinese consul general in the Kurdistan
Region.
In the meeting, Banglin said that he was
very pleased to visit the Kurdistan Region, stating that he has arrived
in the Region during this difficult time to express China’s solidarity
and support for Kurdistan and to determine how China can aid the
Kurdistan Region in assisting refugees and the displaced.
He added that in the framework of
China’s relations with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, China’s Consulate
General in Erbil will be inaugurated in the next two months and that he
will be appointed as his country’s first consul general in the Kurdistan
Region.
READ MORE....
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Turkey's diplomatic steps save lives of Uyghur refugees in Thailand
DAILY SABAH - DEC. 27, 2014
Thanks to diplomatic actions taken by Turkey and the United Nations, some 300 Uyghur refugees in Thailand will not be sent to China, from where they had escaped and face death if they return. Seyit Tümtürk, the vice president of the World Uyghur Congress, visited the captured refugees during his visit to Thailand. He told media that Turkey had taken the necessary steps to bring nearly 300 Uyghurs to Turkey, who were found at a human smuggling camp in Thailand a few months ago.
Stating that the Turkish embassy officials in Thailand are closely following the case, Tümtürk said China's pressure prevents the Thai government from sending Turkic Uyghurs to Turkey. He also expressed his concerns regarding the democratic gap caused by the military coup ruling in Thailand and said the current administration might send refugees back to China.
READ MORE...
Thanks to diplomatic actions taken by Turkey and the United Nations, some 300 Uyghur refugees in Thailand will not be sent to China, from where they had escaped and face death if they return. Seyit Tümtürk, the vice president of the World Uyghur Congress, visited the captured refugees during his visit to Thailand. He told media that Turkey had taken the necessary steps to bring nearly 300 Uyghurs to Turkey, who were found at a human smuggling camp in Thailand a few months ago.
Stating that the Turkish embassy officials in Thailand are closely following the case, Tümtürk said China's pressure prevents the Thai government from sending Turkic Uyghurs to Turkey. He also expressed his concerns regarding the democratic gap caused by the military coup ruling in Thailand and said the current administration might send refugees back to China.
READ MORE...
China's Foreign Policy in 2014: A Year of 'Big Strokes'
A look at China’s foreign policy moves in 2014, and what’s in store for 2015.
By Xie Tao
The Diplomat - December 27, 2014
The Chinese have a phrase to describe plans or actions that are eye-catching or have far-reaching impact. It is “da shou bi,” which may be translated into English as “big strokes.” The past year was undoubtedly a year of “big strokes” for Chinese foreign policy.
In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited 18 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. He also hosted the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai and the APEC summit in Beijing. The former was attended by 11 heads of state, two heads of government, and ten leaders of international organizations, and the latter by 20 heads of state or government. Whether a home game or a road game, China’s top leader apparently managed to make it a big stroke game.
Frequent travels abroad and high-profile summits at home certainly add to China’s international influence, but the real big strokes lie in monetary terms. The Chinese government pledged $10 billion and $41 billion for the BRICS Development Bank and the BRICS Emergency Fund respectively. It also founded the 21-member Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and made an initial contribution of $50 billion. Last but not least, China contributed $40 billion to establish the Silk Road Fund. As many governments around the world are struggling with severe fiscal shortfalls, the Chinese government’s largesse is all the more eye-catching.
READ MORE......
By Xie Tao
The Diplomat - December 27, 2014
The Chinese have a phrase to describe plans or actions that are eye-catching or have far-reaching impact. It is “da shou bi,” which may be translated into English as “big strokes.” The past year was undoubtedly a year of “big strokes” for Chinese foreign policy.
In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited 18 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. He also hosted the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai and the APEC summit in Beijing. The former was attended by 11 heads of state, two heads of government, and ten leaders of international organizations, and the latter by 20 heads of state or government. Whether a home game or a road game, China’s top leader apparently managed to make it a big stroke game.
Frequent travels abroad and high-profile summits at home certainly add to China’s international influence, but the real big strokes lie in monetary terms. The Chinese government pledged $10 billion and $41 billion for the BRICS Development Bank and the BRICS Emergency Fund respectively. It also founded the 21-member Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and made an initial contribution of $50 billion. Last but not least, China contributed $40 billion to establish the Silk Road Fund. As many governments around the world are struggling with severe fiscal shortfalls, the Chinese government’s largesse is all the more eye-catching.
READ MORE......
Friday, December 26, 2014
China extends high-speed rail network to Xinjiang
China tied the
restive far-western region of Xinjiang closer to the rest of the country
Friday, opening a high-speed rail line between its capital Urumqi and
Lanzhou, in neighbouring Gansu, nearly 1,800 kilometres away.
A slick bullet train took off from Lanzhou West Railway Station at
10:49 am (0249 GMT), with female attendants in Uighur and other ethnic
costumes serving 622 passengers, live footage on state broadcaster China
Central Television (CCTV) showed. The line, the first high-speed railway in China's remote and poor northwest, stretches through the high-altitude Qilian mountain range, an ancient section of the Great Wall and five strong wind zones, slashing travel time between the two cities by half to less than 12 hours, CCTV said.
Another train left Urumqi for Lanzhou two minutes later, according to the report.
READ MORE....
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Just How Successful Is Xi Jinping?
IAN JOHNSON, TREY MENEFEE
ChinaFile - 12.19.14
Arthur Kroeber’s essay is a good corrective for the mostly delusional idea that the Chinese government is about to collapse. He also lists a series of technocratic successes of the Xi administration, showing it to be a worthy successor to the Deng Xiaoping model of a development dictatorship. These successes have allowed the Communist Party to transform itself over the past four decades, as the political scientist Richard Lowenthal put it, from “utopia to development,” while confounding predictions that regime change must follow.
It was also refreshing to read his point that not all problems in China are existential. For too long we’ve been told that economic growth must be at least 8 percent (remember those predictions?) or the regime would collapse. Arthur argues compellingly that while the government isn’t legitimized democratically, it is able to deliver many services and probably has more support than people realize.
READ MORE....
ChinaFile - 12.19.14
Arthur Kroeber’s essay is a good corrective for the mostly delusional idea that the Chinese government is about to collapse. He also lists a series of technocratic successes of the Xi administration, showing it to be a worthy successor to the Deng Xiaoping model of a development dictatorship. These successes have allowed the Communist Party to transform itself over the past four decades, as the political scientist Richard Lowenthal put it, from “utopia to development,” while confounding predictions that regime change must follow.
It was also refreshing to read his point that not all problems in China are existential. For too long we’ve been told that economic growth must be at least 8 percent (remember those predictions?) or the regime would collapse. Arthur argues compellingly that while the government isn’t legitimized democratically, it is able to deliver many services and probably has more support than people realize.
READ MORE....
China, Qatar announce strategic partnership
Xinhua - 2014-11-04
BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, on Monday. They decided to build a strategic partnership between the two countries and promote bilateral practical cooperation to a higher level.
"Qatar is an important country that plays a unique role in the Middle East and Gulf region, and a major partner of China in the region," Xi said during the talks.
Xi said it was a milestone for the two sides to upgrade their bilateral ties to a strategic relationship during Tamim's visit.
"We need to plan our comprehensive cooperation from a strategic perspective," said the Chinese president.
According to a joint statement on establishing the partnership, the two sides pledged to increase communication between the leaders of the two countries, support each other on issues involving national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, boost cooperation in trade, investment, energy, finance, fighting terrorism, the military industry and other sectors as well as step up people-to-people exchanges.
They also agreed to make joint efforts to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
READ MORE....
BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, on Monday. They decided to build a strategic partnership between the two countries and promote bilateral practical cooperation to a higher level.
"Qatar is an important country that plays a unique role in the Middle East and Gulf region, and a major partner of China in the region," Xi said during the talks.
Xi said it was a milestone for the two sides to upgrade their bilateral ties to a strategic relationship during Tamim's visit.
"We need to plan our comprehensive cooperation from a strategic perspective," said the Chinese president.
According to a joint statement on establishing the partnership, the two sides pledged to increase communication between the leaders of the two countries, support each other on issues involving national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, boost cooperation in trade, investment, energy, finance, fighting terrorism, the military industry and other sectors as well as step up people-to-people exchanges.
They also agreed to make joint efforts to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
READ MORE....
China, Egypt establish comprehensive strategic partnership
English.news.cn | 2014-12-23
BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China and Egypt on Tuesday in Beijing announced the establishment of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed a joint document on establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership.
BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China and Egypt on Tuesday in Beijing announced the establishment of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed a joint document on establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership.
 |
| Chinese President Xi Jinping (L front) holds a welcoming ceremony for visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R front) before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 23, 2014. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) |
The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State By Weiwei Zhang
World Century Publishing - 2012
This is a best-seller in China and a geopolitical book for our
times. As a leading thinker from China, Zhang Weiwei provides an
original, comprehensive and engrossing study on the rise of China and
its effective yet controversial model of development, and the book has
become a centerpiece of an unfolding debate within China on the nature
and future of the world's most populous nation and its possible global
impact. China's rise, according to Zhang, is not the rise of an ordinary
country, but the rise of a different type of country, a country sui
generis, a civilizational state, a new model of development and a new
political discourse which indeed questions many of the Western
assumptions about democracy, good governance and human rights. The book
is as analytical as it is provocative, and should be required reading
for everyone concerned with the rise of China and its global
implications.
Contents:
This is a best-seller in China and a geopolitical book for our
times. As a leading thinker from China, Zhang Weiwei provides an
original, comprehensive and engrossing study on the rise of China and
its effective yet controversial model of development, and the book has
become a centerpiece of an unfolding debate within China on the nature
and future of the world's most populous nation and its possible global
impact. China's rise, according to Zhang, is not the rise of an ordinary
country, but the rise of a different type of country, a country sui
generis, a civilizational state, a new model of development and a new
political discourse which indeed questions many of the Western
assumptions about democracy, good governance and human rights. The book
is as analytical as it is provocative, and should be required reading
for everyone concerned with the rise of China and its global
implications. Contents:
- Not Misreading Oneself:
- A Fast-Changing World
- The Unusual Ascent
- Surpassing Japan
- The GDP Paradox
- To the Top
- China's 1+1 > 2:
- The “Quasi-Developed Countries” within China
- The Size of China's Middle Class
- The “Emerging Economies” within China
- Why China's 1 + 1 > 2?
- The Rise of a Civilizational State:
- China's Rocky Path towards a Nation-State
- The Rise of a Civilizational State
- A New Perspective
- Looking at China Afresh
- The Rise of a Development Model:
- Reflections after the Crises
- The China Model May Win Out
- Shaping the Chinese Standards
- The Rise of a New Political Discourse:
- Political Reform, the Chinese Way
- Debating Human Rights
- The Rise of a New Political Discourse
- The End of the End of History:
- The Western Model: from India to Eastern Europe
- The Western Model: East Asia and Beyond
- Debating with Fukuyama: The End of the End of History
Monday, December 22, 2014
Is democracy wrong for China?
Mehdi Hasan challenges Chinese scholar Dr Zhang Weiwei on whether China can afford Western-style democracy.
Al-Jazeera - 19 Dec 2014
Al-Jazeera - 19 Dec 2014
Reading Chinese in the Mideast
Andrew Korybko
Sputnik - 22.12.2014
The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Ibrahim Jafari, has confirmed that China has been assisting with airstrikes in the country, but did not specify the details except to say that it is not involved with the current coalition. The arrangement has been going on since September when he met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, at a UN anti-terrorism meeting.
MOSCOW, December 22 (Sputnik) — China has always been staunchly against terrorism, and it is currently involved in its own year-long anti-terror operation in Xinjiang. The news that it would be assisting Iraq against the Islamic State (IS) came as a surprise for many, since this marks the first major commitment China has made to combating terror outside of the country.
The timing of the announcement may have been deliberately arranged to underscore Beijing’s seriousness towards this issue as it ramps up operations in Western China. Commenting on Jafari’s confirmation of China’s agreement with Iraq to exchange intelligence and train Iraqi soldiers, Foreign Minister Spokesman Hong Lei said that:
“China has been fighting terrorism and has been providing support and assistance to Iraq, including the Kurdish region, in our own way, and will continue to do so within the best of our capabilities”, without providing any additional information.
READ MORE......
Sputnik - 22.12.2014
The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Ibrahim Jafari, has confirmed that China has been assisting with airstrikes in the country, but did not specify the details except to say that it is not involved with the current coalition. The arrangement has been going on since September when he met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, at a UN anti-terrorism meeting.
MOSCOW, December 22 (Sputnik) — China has always been staunchly against terrorism, and it is currently involved in its own year-long anti-terror operation in Xinjiang. The news that it would be assisting Iraq against the Islamic State (IS) came as a surprise for many, since this marks the first major commitment China has made to combating terror outside of the country.
The timing of the announcement may have been deliberately arranged to underscore Beijing’s seriousness towards this issue as it ramps up operations in Western China. Commenting on Jafari’s confirmation of China’s agreement with Iraq to exchange intelligence and train Iraqi soldiers, Foreign Minister Spokesman Hong Lei said that:
“China has been fighting terrorism and has been providing support and assistance to Iraq, including the Kurdish region, in our own way, and will continue to do so within the best of our capabilities”, without providing any additional information.
READ MORE......
The 3rd Symposium on Turkish-Sino Relations" has started in cooperation by SAM & CASS in Beijing
SAM-CASS Workshop
A workshop entitled “The Vision of the 100th Year and Sino-Turkish Strategic Cooperation” was organized by SAM and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on 19 December 2014 in Beijing.
The participants shared their ideas and
suggestions, and responded to various questions from each side during
the Q&A segments at the end of every session.
A workshop entitled “The Vision of the 100th Year and Sino-Turkish Strategic Cooperation” was organized by SAM and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on 19 December 2014 in Beijing.
Within the framework of the workshop,
diplomatic perspectives and opportunities for enhancing Turkish-Chinese
relations were evaluated within the context of centennial visions of
both countries and projects of mutual significance such as Contemporary
Silk Road Project.
The participants shared their ideas and
suggestions, and responded to various questions from each side during
the Q&A segments at the end of every session.
During their time in Beijing, SAM
delegation held talks with Development Research Center of the State
Council (DRC) on a prospective Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between
two institutions. SAM delegation then visited Institute of
International & Strategic Studies of Peking University and
were briefed about the Center's research fields, where they also had
been able to meet Chinese students taking Turkish courses.
Confucius Institutes – Quo Vadis?
Representatives gather in China to discuss the future of the occasionally controversial Confucius Institutes.
By Falk Hartig
THE DIPLOMAT - December 21, 2014
Since the first institute opened ten years ago, 475 Confucius Institutes (CIs) and 851 smaller Confucius Classrooms (CCs) have been established in 126 countries. In 2014 alone, 35 CIs and 205 CCs have been opened worldwide, according to Hanban, the Chinese organization in charge of the institutes.
These numbers raise concerns outside of China about the institute’s intentions, and have prompted some to consider the future of China’s most prominent and most controversial cultural diplomacy initiative.
After the University of Chicago suspended negotiations for the renewal of the agreement for a second term of its Confucius Institute, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on December 4 on whether academic freedom is threatened by China’s influence on U.S. universities, with the Confucius Institute receiving particular attention.
Debates about the “Confucius Institute Dilemma” of foreign universities – whether CIs are “hardly a threat to academic freedom” or whether they are “academic malware” – is nothing new and the December hearing was not the first of its kind: A 2010 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing was followed by the release of the so-called Lugar Report in February 2011, which concluded that the United States was continuing to fall farther behind China in public diplomacy. In March 2012, the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation held a hearing on “The Price of Public Diplomacy with China,” focusing on Chinese propaganda efforts in the U.S., including Confucius Institutes.
READ MORE....
By Falk Hartig
THE DIPLOMAT - December 21, 2014
Since the first institute opened ten years ago, 475 Confucius Institutes (CIs) and 851 smaller Confucius Classrooms (CCs) have been established in 126 countries. In 2014 alone, 35 CIs and 205 CCs have been opened worldwide, according to Hanban, the Chinese organization in charge of the institutes.
These numbers raise concerns outside of China about the institute’s intentions, and have prompted some to consider the future of China’s most prominent and most controversial cultural diplomacy initiative.
After the University of Chicago suspended negotiations for the renewal of the agreement for a second term of its Confucius Institute, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on December 4 on whether academic freedom is threatened by China’s influence on U.S. universities, with the Confucius Institute receiving particular attention.
Debates about the “Confucius Institute Dilemma” of foreign universities – whether CIs are “hardly a threat to academic freedom” or whether they are “academic malware” – is nothing new and the December hearing was not the first of its kind: A 2010 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing was followed by the release of the so-called Lugar Report in February 2011, which concluded that the United States was continuing to fall farther behind China in public diplomacy. In March 2012, the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation held a hearing on “The Price of Public Diplomacy with China,” focusing on Chinese propaganda efforts in the U.S., including Confucius Institutes.
READ MORE....
China’s Big Diplomacy Shift
China signals a change in priorities, raising the risk of tension with the developed world.
By Timothy Heath
THE DIPLOMAT - December 22, 2014
China’s decision to elevate in priority its relationship with its neighbors over that with the United States and other great powers, confirmed at the recently concluded Central Work Conference on Foreign Relations, heralds a major shift in its diplomacy. The decision reflects Beijing’s assessment that relations with countries in Asia and with rising powers will grow more important role in facilitating the nation’s revitalization than relations with the developed world. This suggests that over time, China may grow even less tolerant of Western interference in PRC interests and more confident in consolidating control of its core interests and pressing demands to reform the international order. Washington may need to step up coordination with its Asian partners to encourage Chinese behavior that upholds, rather than challenges, the principle tenets of the international order.
“General Framework for Foreign Relations”
At the Central Work Conference, Xi Jinping changed the order of the general framework for foreign relations (zongti waijiao buju). The general framework is a simple, but authoritative, list of broad categories of countries. It provides the conceptual schema upon which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hangs general instructions on how to approach foreign policy. In itself, the general framework says very little about how to conduct foreign policy. It does, however, provide one important clue- the list’s order has long been understood to suggest a sense of priority, especially in the reform era. Relations with country types at the top of the list, in other words, are understood to have a stronger bearing on China’s prospects than those at the bottom of the list. The general framework frames virtually all official analyses, documents, and policy directives related to diplomacy. This schema thus provides a simple, easily identifiable layout to help officials and bureaucrats prioritize foreign policy work and interpret directives from central leaders.
READ MORE....
By Timothy Heath
THE DIPLOMAT - December 22, 2014
China’s decision to elevate in priority its relationship with its neighbors over that with the United States and other great powers, confirmed at the recently concluded Central Work Conference on Foreign Relations, heralds a major shift in its diplomacy. The decision reflects Beijing’s assessment that relations with countries in Asia and with rising powers will grow more important role in facilitating the nation’s revitalization than relations with the developed world. This suggests that over time, China may grow even less tolerant of Western interference in PRC interests and more confident in consolidating control of its core interests and pressing demands to reform the international order. Washington may need to step up coordination with its Asian partners to encourage Chinese behavior that upholds, rather than challenges, the principle tenets of the international order.
“General Framework for Foreign Relations”
At the Central Work Conference, Xi Jinping changed the order of the general framework for foreign relations (zongti waijiao buju). The general framework is a simple, but authoritative, list of broad categories of countries. It provides the conceptual schema upon which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hangs general instructions on how to approach foreign policy. In itself, the general framework says very little about how to conduct foreign policy. It does, however, provide one important clue- the list’s order has long been understood to suggest a sense of priority, especially in the reform era. Relations with country types at the top of the list, in other words, are understood to have a stronger bearing on China’s prospects than those at the bottom of the list. The general framework frames virtually all official analyses, documents, and policy directives related to diplomacy. This schema thus provides a simple, easily identifiable layout to help officials and bureaucrats prioritize foreign policy work and interpret directives from central leaders.
READ MORE....
Confucius institute: The hard side of China's soft power
By John Sudworth BBC News, Shanghai
BBC - 22 December 2014
But given that unelected Chinese officials do not need to court their own domestic media, let alone the international press, it is rare to be invited in at all. And it is even rarer to find an official who is prepared to be interviewed in English.
But Ms Xu stands out from Chinese officialdom for yet another reason.
In contrast to the caution and conformity that are hallmarks of the Communist Party system, she has found herself at the centre of a storm of controversy.
Ms Xu heads Hanban, a Chinese government-controlled agency that, on the face of it, would appear to be uncontentious. It is tasked with promoting the learning of the Chinese language overseas.
But during the 10 years that Ms Xu has been in charge, this mission has been coupled with a wider foreign policy goal - the bid to make China a cultural superpower, not just an economic one.
READ MORE.....
BBC - 22 December 2014
Xu Lin is an unusual kind of Chinese official.
For starters she accepted a request for a BBC interview.
Admittedly she came quickly to regret it, demanding that we delete a
large section of our recording. But given that unelected Chinese officials do not need to court their own domestic media, let alone the international press, it is rare to be invited in at all. And it is even rarer to find an official who is prepared to be interviewed in English.
But Ms Xu stands out from Chinese officialdom for yet another reason.
In contrast to the caution and conformity that are hallmarks of the Communist Party system, she has found herself at the centre of a storm of controversy.
Ms Xu heads Hanban, a Chinese government-controlled agency that, on the face of it, would appear to be uncontentious. It is tasked with promoting the learning of the Chinese language overseas.
But during the 10 years that Ms Xu has been in charge, this mission has been coupled with a wider foreign policy goal - the bid to make China a cultural superpower, not just an economic one.
READ MORE.....
US seen more positively than China in Europe, Latin America but Not in MIddle East
PEW RESEARCH - July 14, 2014
The Middle East is the clear exception. China’s favorability in the region is not especially high, but is higher than that for the U.S. Anti-Americanism has been common in many Middle Eastern nations throughout the Obama presidency, as was the case during the George W. Bush era. And again this year some of the lowest ratings for the U.S. are found in the region. Only 19% of Turks and 12% of Jordanians offer a favorable opinion of the U.S., and at 10% Egypt gives the U.S. its lowest rating in the survey.
The Middle East is the clear exception. China’s favorability in the region is not especially high, but is higher than that for the U.S. Anti-Americanism has been common in many Middle Eastern nations throughout the Obama presidency, as was the case during the George W. Bush era. And again this year some of the lowest ratings for the U.S. are found in the region. Only 19% of Turks and 12% of Jordanians offer a favorable opinion of the U.S., and at 10% Egypt gives the U.S. its lowest rating in the survey.
Curbs on religious extremism beefed up in Xinjiang
China Daily - November 30, 2014
A regulation prohibiting people from wearing or forcing others to wear clothes or logos associated with religious extremism was passed in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Friday.
The revised regional regulation on religious affairs is the first in the country to target religious extremism.
The measure was approved unanimously by the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang People's Congress, and is due to come into force on Jan 1 next year. It is intended to protect legal religious activities.
"An increasing number of problems involving religious affairs have emerged in Xinjiang," said Ma Mingcheng, deputy director of the Xinjiang People's Congress and director of its legislative affairs committee.
"The old regulation, which was passed 20 years ago, just cannot handle new situations, such as the spreading of terrorist or extreme religious materials via the Internet or social media, and using religion to interfere in people's lives."
READ MORE....
A regulation prohibiting people from wearing or forcing others to wear clothes or logos associated with religious extremism was passed in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Friday.
The revised regional regulation on religious affairs is the first in the country to target religious extremism.
The measure was approved unanimously by the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang People's Congress, and is due to come into force on Jan 1 next year. It is intended to protect legal religious activities.
"An increasing number of problems involving religious affairs have emerged in Xinjiang," said Ma Mingcheng, deputy director of the Xinjiang People's Congress and director of its legislative affairs committee.
"The old regulation, which was passed 20 years ago, just cannot handle new situations, such as the spreading of terrorist or extreme religious materials via the Internet or social media, and using religion to interfere in people's lives."
READ MORE....
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Çin ve Yeni İpek yolu projesi
Altay Atli
Analist - 2014 Ekim Sayısı
İpek Yolu tarih boyunca Doğu ile Batı arasında malların, insanların ve
fikirlerin taşındığı bir ticaret ve etkileşim kanalı olmuştu. Yüzyıllar
boyunca dünya ekonomisinin ana ekseni olarak faaliyet gösteren bu yol,
sonraları daha güvenli alternatif hatların ortaya çıkması ve
taşımacılıkta verimliliği artıran yeniliklerin gerçekleşmesiyle önemini
yitirdi. Bugün ise Çin’in öncülüğünde İpek Yolu’nun yeniden ve 21.
yüzyılın şart ve imkânlarına uygun şekilde canlandırılmasına yönelik bir
projenin ortaya koyulduğunu görüyoruz. Son olarak geçtiğimiz haftalarda
Urumçi’de gerçekleştirilen Çin-Avrasya Fuarı’nın da ana teması olan bu
proje, Avrupa ile Asya arasında yeni bir ekonomik kuşak oluşturulmasını
öngörüyor ve bu açıdan küresel ekonomi için önem arz ediyor. Bununla
birlikte, proje Çin’in jeoekonomik ve jeopolitik hedefleri açısından
anlam taşıyor.
DEVAMINI OKUMAK ICIN.....
Analist - 2014 Ekim Sayısı
DEVAMINI OKUMAK ICIN.....
Roundtable Meeting between SAM and SIIS
A roundtable meeting entitled
“Turkish-Sino Cooperation for Peace and Security in Eurasia and Middle
East” was organized by SAM and SIIS in Ankara, on 11 December 2014.
The meeting was moderated by SAM
Chairman Prof. Dr. Ali Resul Usul ve SIIS President Chen Dong Xiao with
participation of Turkish and Chinese Academicians as well as authorities
in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
Within the framework of the meeting,
security in Eurasia and in the Middle East, Iranian nuclear program, and
energy issues were discussed. Furthermore, Contemporary Silk Road
Project and Opportunities for the Turkish-Chinese Relations, Changing
Diplomacy Perspectives were evaluated. SIIS Delegation was also briefed
by high level authorities from Department of Bilateral Economic
Relations of MFA on Turkey Process of the Silk Road Project.
The participants shared their ideas and
suggestions, and responded to various questions from each other during
the Q&A segments at the end of every session.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Reconfiguring Iran-China relations
Can China maintain its privileged partnership with Iran if a nuclear accord is reached?
Richard Javad Heydarian
AL-JAZEERA - 01 Dec 2014
As many analysts anticipated, Iran and the great powers, the so-called P5+1 (France, UK, Germany, the US, China, and Russia), fell short of hammering out a comprehensive deal before the November 24 deadline, necessitating a second extension of an increasingly high stakes series of negotiations to July 2015. Understandably, much of the media coverage of the nuclear talks focused on unprecedented and wide-ranging bilateral talks between Tehran and Washington. The two powers are contemplating the possibility of a "neither foes, nor friends" relationship in the coming years. The emerging consensus is that an Iran-US entente is critical to the stabilisation of a fragile regional order in the Middle East, which has been ravaged by sectarian conflict. Fewer analysts, however, have paid close attention to the motivations and ambiguous interest of Eastern powers such as China in the Iranian nuclear talks. Generally, China has been the most low-key participant in the Iran-P5+1 talks, with its diplomats largely confined to the sidelines of the negotiations. Although China is seen as sympathetic to Iran, and it has an interest in the stability of the oil supply in the Middle East, it has also been among the biggest - if not the main - beneficiaries of Iran's isolation in recent years.
READ MORE.....
Richard Javad Heydarian
AL-JAZEERA - 01 Dec 2014
READ MORE.....
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