If China had honoured the political commitments it made before taking control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, it is likely there would be no protests in the city streets and no crackdown over the weekend by riot police… Read More ›
Month: September 2014
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, September 29
Inside Report—Hong Kong has one problem that is unaddressed in the media: Hong Kong can’t and doesn’t have its own military. Military service is the unwritten rule of any democracy. As much as Hong Kong needs freedom, they aren’t big… Read More ›
China’s Xi Jinping unable to rule if unaware of conservative faction’s strength
Some analysts are nervous when they hear Chinese President Xi Jinping upholding Mao Zedong Thought. Will Xi resume Mao’s policies of class struggle and constant revolution, they wonder. Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao tried to omit Mao Zedong Thought, but enabled… Read More ›
China’s neighbours are going on a military shopping spree – in Japan
It’s no secret that China’s rise as an economic power has been miraculous. Over the past few decades, hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty, BMWs have replaced many bicycles on the streets of Beijing, and China’s… Read More ›
China claims diplomatic victories in easing tensions with India and Japan
According to a popular Chinese article, China is certain to fight six wars in the coming five decades with seven of its neighbours: Russia, Taiwan, Japan, India, Mongolia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Russia is China’s close ally. As for the… Read More ›
India and China’s pragmatism to challenge U.S. superpower status
When Narendra Modi greeted Xi Jinping with the idea of “INCH (India and China) towards MILES (Millennium of Exceptional Synergy)” [Note 1], the new age of “pragmatism”-based multi-polarity has taken another great step to replace the fading age of liberalism-based… Read More ›
China to build 200,000-ton fish farming ship at Mischief Reef, territory claimed by Philippines
The following is translated from Chinese media: Chinese scientists are planning to intensify China’s exploitation of fish resources in the South China Sea. Lei Jilin, a research fellow at Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, repeatedly stressed in an interview with… Read More ›
China refuses carbon emissions reductions, unless western countries pay for it
While President Obama challenged China at the United Nations to follow the U.S. lead in pushing for drastic reductions in national carbon emissions to save the planet from “climate change,” it appears that China has dramatically different ideas. As in: no…. Read More ›
China seeks to be centre of Asian Union, world’s largest Free Trade Zone
As far back as January 2012, I pointed out “China’s desire to establish an East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere,” which Japan shed a lot of blood to establish decades ago, but failed. ASEAN plus China, Japan and Korea (APT – ASEAN Plus… Read More ›
Taiwan declares itself an independent country, despite threats of war from China if it did so
Taiwan’s premier, Jiang Yi-huah, said Friday the government will not hold a referendum on independence similar to the one held Thursday in Scotland. Unlike Scotland, the Republic of China (Taiwan) is an independent and sovereign state, and there is no… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, September 22
When Ma stepped on board Taiwan’s frigate and smiled for the camera, he wasn’t smiling for the Taiwanese, he was smiling for Washington. Beijing has harboured too much friendliness with the KMT Nationalists and not enough with Taiwan’s DPP. Washington’s… Read More ›
Is China’s basic education a success, or does it destroy the morality of society?
Chinese educators and education experts believe China has extraordinary basic education. They think this education gives millions of students solid knowledge and basic skills, which is the point why our education is good. The experts think the only failure of… Read More ›
China working hard to woo India; Russia sees chance for new cold war with America
Chinese President Xi Jinping is showing China’s goodwill in India, especially China’s desire to resolve its border dispute with India peacefully and maintain peace along the disputed border so the dispute can be solved. Russia wants a Russia-China-India alliance to… Read More ›
Chinese army incursion into India’s territory
The fresh transgression by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in Ladakh‘s Chumur that began on Thursday morning — hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in India — tuned grave by late night. In terms of numbers, this is the… Read More ›
China plans nuclear submarines near US coast, miltary bases in South China Sea
The following is based on translations from Chinese media: So far there has been no news about Chinese nuclear submarine cruising near the US. There has been official confirmation from China that a Chinese nuclear submarine operated in the Indian… Read More ›
China’s Rainbow drone ready for delivery to PLA
As part of their ongoing efforts to become a world power, China has spared no investment when it comes to the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology. And after several successful missile tests, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is… Read More ›
China wants a military base on Maldives in Indian Ocean
When China’s President Xi Jinping visited Indonesia last year, he raised his idea on reviving the maritime silk road running from China through Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean to Europe. His true intention may well be to obtain trade… Read More ›
Is Chinese history only 5,000 years? Legends say 50,000 years!
If you ask a Chinese person about the length of Chinese history, it is easy for them to tell you we have 5,000 years history. But I suspect this easy answer is because so many historical materials were lost in… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, September 15
The main topic in the press, though strange: China vs the Environment. Hong Kong’s democracy movement progresses, their opposition (mostly professors and members of government) also get louder. The US even piped in, stating that they were likely to endorse… Read More ›
India being hotly courted internationally; difficult for China to woo
The US wants India to encircle China in China’s west; Japan wants India to join it in confronting China, Russia wants to have a Russia-China-India alliance while China wants to solve border disputes to improve ties with India. When Modi… Read More ›
China’s supersonic submarine
Researchers in China are reporting that they’ve taken a big step towards creating a truly revolutionary submarine. For years, the nation has been dedicated to the expansion of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Submarine Force. Aside from wanting a… Read More ›
China asserts paternal rights over Hong Kong in democracy clash; tells Hong Kong it must obey
Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing’s most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing’s… Read More ›
Observations from Tibet: Part 2 Chinese rule
The Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950 with the Dali Lama fleeing in 1959: I am not going to go into the rights and wrongs of China‘s involvement in Tibet other than to state the Chinese have had cultural and political links with… Read More ›
Space station by 2022 for China military’s integrated space-air capabilities
In my book Space Era Strategy: The Way China Beats The U.S., I point out that China’s ambitious space program is carried out by its military while the U.S. space program is managed by an agency independent from its military…. Read More ›
Observations from Tibet: Part 1 Buddhism
As an atheist, Buddhism held some promise of being able to salvage a modicum of respect for mainstream religions worldwide; unfortunately I was to be bitterly disappointed. Buddhism, in the West has a carefully cultivated image of respect for life,… Read More ›
Japanese people hate China more than ever
People in Japan overwhelmingly have a poor opinion of China and vice versa, according to new polls, although Chinese views of Japan have become slightly less chilly. The percentage of Japanese respondents who said they had a negative impression of… Read More ›
Do the Chinese love China?
The following are the views of a Chinese netizen: Do the Chinese love China? For this question, the answer is easy – no! Perhaps you are shocked by seeing my answer because you may think the Chinese are really united… Read More ›
China sends warships to escort oil rig to waters claimed by Japan near Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands
The following is a translation from Chinese media: China’s qianzhan.com says in its report today that China’s Kaixuan-1 oil rig is on its way to the area near the disputed Diaoyu Islands (known as Senkakus in Japan), accompanied by quite… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, September 8
The Taiwan military rhetoric of last week was compounded by a food oil scandal affecting many large Taiwan food suppliers. The ultimate effect will hurt the pockets of the de facto pro-Beijing KMT Nationalist party controlling Taiwan. As the spirits… Read More ›
Ghosts of China’s Maoist past haunt the present
The Chinese film “Red Amnesia” shown in Venice is partly a ghost story that may or may not have a ghost, but its portrayal of how the Cultural Revolution left a trail of twisted lives that haunts China today is… Read More ›
Philippines General seeks arms upgrade as China threat expands
Philippine military chief Gregorio Pio Catapang likens his task to a boxing match. Dwarfed by neighbours like China, with whom ties are strained, he’d like his forces to last at least a few rounds in the ring. “Even if we… Read More ›
Revamping defence strategy vital for US to prevent being surpassed by China
Reuters reports today that US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel recently said that Russia and China are trying to close the technology gap with the US. Realisation of the fierce arms race the US faces is certainly good, but the idea… Read More ›
China’s new education reform will fail again
China‘s Education Department published the new rules of the college entrance examination. Shanghai and Zhejiang provinces are going to be the experimental regions of the new system. Unfortunately, no matter how the Chinese government acts on the education system, all… Read More ›
China sends armoured carriers into Hong Kong Streets amidst democracy protests
If there is one issue sure to make the business community nervous about the future of Hong Kong, it is the prospect of the leaders in Beijing miscalculating the political situation in the city. This looms as a larger concern… Read More ›
How to buy Chan Kai Yee’s new book ‘Space Era Strategy – The Way China Beats The U.S.’
Some readers of my posts have made enquiries about purchase of my new book “Space Era Strategy”. The book is interesting to them perhaps because of my special Chinese perspectives that make some of my readers believe that I take… Read More ›
Japan and India pledge to strengthen ties as China rises
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged an upgrade of economic and security ties with India, saying Japan would double investment and expand defense cooperation amid concerns about China’s growing influence in the region. Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at… Read More ›
Hong Kong braces for protests as China rules out full democracy
Pro-democracy activists vowed on Sunday to bring Hong Kong’s financial hub to a standstill after China’s parliament rejected their demands for the right to freely choose the former British colony’s next leader in 2017. The Standing Committee of the National… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, September 1
You know that point… where you’ve been trying to persuade a friend to get smart, think about his actions, and change his ways… and you’ve finally convinced him to open his eyes and he sees his situation… but then he… Read More ›
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