India's deadly mountain-top showdown with China could lead to more military activity at sea

BusinessInsider.com - Clashes in June between India and China high in the western Himalayas saw the first deadly encounter between their forces there in four decades. Both sides appear to be disengaging, and India's northern border, parts of which are in dispute with Pakistan and China, will remain a point of focus for its military.

But India's southern maritime approaches, where increasing Chinese naval activity was already a concern, may gain even more attention from New Delhi in the wake of those clashes.

"On the military side, I think we have to stay on guard. The situation is very fragile, even tenuous," former Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, also former Indian ambassador to China and the US, said at an Asia Society Policy Institute event this week.

"Diplomatically, [India has to] keep our channels open with China, but at the same time, obviously, seek possibilities of closer convergence with friends and partners in the Indo-Pacific."

Beijing’s man lost by a shocking landslide in Taiwan’s presidential election

- Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen was re-elected today (Jan. 11), in a miraculous turnaround of fortunes thanks in no small part to China’s consistent threats.

Tsai won over 8 million votes, or 57% of the vote share, the biggest election victory since Taiwan held its first presidential election in 1996. Her main challenger, the Kuomintang party’s Han Kuo-yu, won 5.4 million votes. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also retained its majority in the legislative election.

Though the polls showed Tsai was the favorite to win, her large margin of victory was unexpected. A result made more shocking following the drubbing her party received in local elections a little over a year ago. In November 2018, the independence-leaning DPP lost seven of the 13 cities and counties it had held to the China-friendly Kuomintang. The result was seen as a rebuke of Tsai’s economic and social policies.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly threatened to use military might to force unification of the territories. Taiwan has never been under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. After Tsai was first elected in 2016, Beijing broke off ties with Taipei and attempted to restrict Taiwan’s economy through coercive measures, including limiting the number of Chinese tourists allowed to travel to the island. Han, currently the mayor of the southern city of Kaohsiung, promised a reset of relations with China if he was elected. He promised that warmer cross-strait relations would deliver a better economy to Taiwan.

This is China!: Xi Jinping says Taiwan 'must and will be' reunited with China

BBC.com - Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the people of Taiwan to accept it "must and will be" reunited with China.

In a speech marking 40 years since the start of improving ties, he reiterated Beijing's call for peaceful unification on a one-country-two-systems basis.

However, he also warned that China reserved the right to use force.

While Taiwan is self-governed and de facto independent, it has never formally declared independence from the mainland.

Beijing considers the island to be a breakaway province and Mr Xi's comments are in line with China's long-standing policy towards reunification.

But on Wednesday, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said the island would never accept reunification with China under the terms offered by Beijing.

"I want to reiterate that Taiwan will never accept 'one country, two systems'. The vast majority of Taiwanese public opinion also resolutely opposes 'one country, two systems', and this is also the 'Taiwan consensus'."

Under the "one country, two systems" formula, Taiwan would have the right to run its own affairs; a similar arrangement is used in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has its own legal system, and rights including freedom of assembly and free speech are protected - however, there are widespread concerns in the territory that those freedoms are gradually being eroded.

In his speech on Wednesday, Mr Xi said both sides were part of the same Chinese family and that Taiwanese independence was "an adverse current from history and a dead end".

Taiwanese people "must understand that independence will only bring hardship," Mr Xi said, adding Beijing would never tolerate any form of activity promoting Taiwanese independence.

Instead, unification was "an inevitable requirement for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people", he argued.

He also stressed that relations with Taiwan were "part of China's domestic politics" and that "foreign interference is intolerable".

Beijing "reserves the option of taking all necessary measures" against outside forces that interfere with peaceful reunification and Taiwanese separatist activities.

Related: China's population set to peak at 1.44 billion in 2029: government report

U.S. presses China to halt militarisation of South China Sea

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Standing side by side, top U.S. officials urged their Chinese counterparts on Friday to halt militarization of the disputed South China Sea, drawing a rebuke from the Chinese for sending U.S. warships close to islands claimed by Beijing.

During a round of high-level talks in Washington, the two sides aired in sometimes blunt terms many of their main differences, including a bitter trade dispute, freedom of navigation in Asia-Pacific waters, self-ruled Taiwan, and China’s crackdown on its Muslim minority in Xinjiang.

Two visiting senior Chinese officials also seized the opportunity to warn publicly that a trade war between the world’s two largest economies would end up hurting both sides and to call for keeping channels of communication open to resolve an issue that has unsettled global financial markets.

Despite the airing of grievances, the talks appeared aimed at controlling the damage to relations that has worsened in recent months and at paving the way for an encounter between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina at the end of November.

“The United States is not pursuing a Cold War or containment policy with respect to China,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a joint news conference.

Even as the United States and China confront difficult challenges, “cooperation remains essential on many issues,” he said, citing efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme.

China opens world’s longest sea bridge and tunnel to connect Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland

abcnews.com - Chinese President Xi Jinping inaugurated China’s latest mega-infrastructure project on Tuesday: The world’s longest sea crossing.

The 34.2-mile bridge and tunnel that have been almost a decade in the making for the first time connect the semi-autonomous cities of Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai by road.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge spans the mouth of the Pearl River and significantly cuts the commuting time between the three cities. The previously four-hour drive between Zhuhai and Hong Kong will now take 45 minutes.

One section of the crossing dives underwater into a 4.2 mile tunnel that creates a channel above for large cargo ship containers to pass through.

The project came in over budget -- with Hong Kong alone investing $15 billion in it -- and delayed, as it was originally slate to open in 2016.

At the opening ceremony, Han Zheng, the top Chinese official who oversees Beijing’s at-times tense relationship with Hong Kong, proclaimed that the bridge marked the first time that Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland had jointly cooperated on a major infrastructure project.\

The bridge will help Hong Kong and Macau become more integrated with mainland China, he said.

But for some in Hong Kong, which maintains a separate legal system from China's, the bridge is the just the latest example of Beijing exerting more influence on them. Just in September a high-speed rail-link connected the heart of Hong Kong directly to China’s vast railway network.

Hong Kong lawmaker Claudia Mo has given multiple interviews this year likening the new bridge to a symbolic umbilical cord tethering Hong Kong to the motherland. ContinueReading

US VP Pence accuses China of interfering in US policies, politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence is accusing China of trying to undermine President Donald Trump as the administration deploys tough new rhetoric over Chinese trade, economic and foreign policies.

In prepared remarks for an appearance Thursday at the Hudson Institute, Pence says China is using its power in "more proactive and coercive ways to interfere in the domestic policies and politics of the United States."

"China wants a different American president," Pence says.

Pence's speech comes a week after Trump accused China during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council of interfering in American elections to help his Democratic rivals.

"Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election," Trump said. "They do not want me, or us, to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade." As proof, Trump later referenced a paid advertising insert in The Des Moines Register by Chinese government-affiliated entities.

In the prepared remarks provided by his office, Pence charges that China is targeting "industries and states that would play an important role in the 2018 election" as it responds to Trump's protectionist trade tariffs on China. "By one estimate, more than 80 percent of U.S. counties targeted by China voted for President Trump in 2016; now China wants to turn these voters against our administration," Pence says.

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to boost Trump over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton through hacking and releasing sensitive documents and social media manipulation.

Trump signed an executive order in September authorizing sanctions against those found to be involved in election interference, but U.S. officials have said repeatedly they have not seen nearly the same level of activity by Russia and others in the midterms as in 2016.

Much of Pence's remarks are meant to inform the public of what the U.S. government terms as China's covert and overt influence campaign.

Since Trump took office last year, his administration has escalated pressure on China, most recently with several rounds of tit-for-tat economic trade tariffs on hundreds of billions in goods. And Trump's first national security strategy released last year labeled China a "revisionist power" alongside Russia.

In his prepared remarks, Pence quotes an assessment from the U.S. intelligence community that "China is targeting U.S., state and local governments and officials to exploit any divisions between federal and local levels on policy. It's using wedge issues, like trade tariffs, to advance Beijing's political influence." ContinueReading

Bomb detonated near US embassy in Beijing, but no major injuries reported

- A single attacker detonated a bomb near the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Thursday, an embassy spokesperson told NBC News.

There were no injuries, other than to the bomber, the official & Chinese police said.

"There was an explosion at approximately 1 p.m. today in the public space off the South East corner of the Embassy compound," the spokesperson told NBC. "According to the Embassy's Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, there were no injuries. The local police responded."

Chinese police said a suspect detonated a firework-like device near the embassy and injured his hand. Police identified the bomber as a 26-year-old man surnamed Jiang from the Inner Mongolia region of the country. Officials did not provide a suspected motive.

The New York Times reported that the blast was heard blocks away in the city.

Chinese media outlet Global Times reported on Twitter that a witness said police took away a woman "spraying gasoline on herself" outside the embassy around 11 a.m. The state-run outlet said in a subsequent Twitter post that it was not "proved yet" that the incident was connected to the explosion near the embassy that occurred later.

Despite that earlier altercation, local media reported that a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the afternoon's explosion was an isolated incident.

A witness told Reuters they saw Chinese police examining a vehicle outside the embassy, and another witness said there were seven to eight police vehicles near the embassy and the road next to the complex had been closed off.

Images and videos posted on Twitter showed a large amount of smoke and what appeared to be police vehicles surrounding the vast structure in northeastern Beijing on Thursday afternoon.

Police did not immediately respond to the incident, the Associated Press reported. ContinueReading

China is waging a 'quiet kind of cold war' against US, top CIA expert says

cnbc.com - China is waging a "quiet kind of cold war" against the United States, using all its resources to try to replace America as the leading power in the world, a top CIA expert on Asia said Friday.

Beijing doesn't want to go to war, he said, but the current communist government, under President Xi Jinping, is subtly working on multiple fronts to undermine the U.S. in ways that are different than the more well-publicized activities being employed by Russia.

"I would argue ... that what they're waging against us is fundamentally a cold war -- a cold war not like we saw during THE Cold War (between the U.S. and the Soviet Union) but a cold war by definition," Michael Collins, deputy assistant director of the CIA's East Asia mission center, said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

Rising U.S.-China tension goes beyond the trade dispute playing out in a tariff tit-for-tat between the two nations.

There is concern over China's pervasive efforts to steal business secrets and details about high-tech research being conducted in the U.S. The Chinese military is expanding and being modernized and the U.S., as well as other nations, have complained about China's construction of military outposts on islands in the South China Sea.

"I would argue that it's the Crimea of the East," Collins said, referring to Russia's brash annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which was condemned throughout the West.

Collins' comments track warnings about China's rising influence issued by others who spoke earlier this week at the security conference. The alarm bells come at a time when Washington needs China's help in ending its nuclear standoff with North Korea.

On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said China, from a counterintelligence perspective, represents the broadest and most significant threat America faces. He said the FBI has economic espionage investigations in all 50 states that can be traced back to China.

"The volume of it. The pervasiveness of it. The significance of it is something that I think this country cannot underestimate," Wray said.

PR China: The US has started 'the biggest trade war' in history

CNN - China on Friday accused the United States of starting "the biggest trade war in economic history" as the two sides imposed steep new tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of each other's exports.

The Trump administration's 25% tariffs affect more than 800 Chinese products worth $34 billion such as industrial machinery, medical devices and auto parts. They kicked in just after midnight ET, which is noon in Beijing.

China's tariffs on US goods came into effect immediately afterward, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Trump and his advisers argue the tariffs are necessary to pressure China into abandoning unfair practices such as stealing intellectual property and forcing American companies to hand over valuable technology.

Beijing insists it's the injured party.

"China is forced to strike back to safeguard core national interests and the interests of its people," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Friday. It accused the United States of "typical trade bullying."

The government said previously it would hit more than 500 US export items — including cars and major agricultural goods such as soybeans and meat — worth the same as the Chinese products targeted by the United States.

Thousands Protest in Hong Kong on Anniversary of Handover to China

HONG KONG — Thousands of Hong Kong residents marched on Sunday to observe the 21st anniversary of the territory’s return to China from Britain, a public demonstration of their dissatisfaction with the local government and their fears about the Chinese Communist Party’s growing influence in the territory.

Previously a British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 with the promise that it could maintain for 50 years its own political and economic systems, including civil liberties that the Chinese government denies to citizens on the mainland. But many in the city believe that its freedoms and relative autonomy are already eroding.

Organizers said about 50,000 people attended the protest this year, one of the lowest totals since the march was first held in 2003; the police had not released their estimate as of Sunday evening, although the figures from Hong Kong law enforcement tend to be much lower than those provided by pro-democracy groups.

According to some estimates, about 60,000 people participated last year, when China’s president, Xi Jinping, came to Hong Kong to observe the 20th anniversary of the handover, though he left the city hours before the march started.

Hong Kong residents march every year on the anniversary of the handover, demonstrating for democratic values and usually calling attention to particular causes. In a first, this year’s march, which was organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, explicitly called for the end of one-party rule in China.

This year, marchers protested the local government’s decision to let mainland Chinese police operate in part of a new train station scheduled to open this year. They also demonstrated against the house arrest in China of Liu Xia, the widow of the Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, that has restricted her movements since 2010. ContinueReading

China’s Xi Jinping Warns Mattis Beijing Won’t Back Down on Disputed Territories

- Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a stern warning to U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis that Beijing will not give up “one inch” of territory on disputed lands. Xi reportedly made his remarks directly to Mattis when the pair met in Beijing on Wednesday, the first visit by a U.S. defense chief in several years. “Our stance is steadfast and clear-cut when it comes to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. “We cannot lose one inch of territory passed down by our ancestors. Meanwhile, we want nothing from others,” he said. The warning appeared to be in response to Washington’s recent complaints about China’s increased military presence in the disputed South China Sea. Amid tensions over trade, some U.S. lawmakers have also irked Beijing with calls for expanded ties with Taiwan, which the Chinese government considers part of its territory.

U.S. shows new de facto embassy in Taiwan amid China tensions

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The United States unveiled a new $256 million representative office in Taiwan’s capital on Tuesday, a de facto embassy that underscores Washington’s strategic ties with the democratic, self-ruled island as it faces escalating tensions with China.

Washington cut diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979 but remains the island’s strongest ally and sole foreign arms supplier. It opened the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) to conduct relations between the two sides after severing ties.

In comments certain to rile Beijing, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said the new complex was a reaffirmation of both sides commitment to a “vital relationship”.

“The friendship between Taiwan and the U.S. has never been more promising. The great story of Taiwan-U.S. relations remains to be filled with the efforts of those that will one day occupy this building,” Tsai said.

So long as both sides stood together, nothing could come between them, she added.

The new complex, a major upgrade from the low-key military building the AIT had used for decades, will serve as the representative office later this summer, said AIT Director Kin Moy.

Marie Royce, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, said at a ceremony to mark the unveiling that the complex was a symbol of the strength and vibrancy of the U.S.-Taiwan partnership.

“We have faced many trials along this journey, but we have risen to the challenge at every turn, knowing that our shared commitment to democracy would see us through,” said Royce, the highest-ranking State Department official to visit Taiwan since 2015.

In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry said they had lodged “stern representations” with Washington about the new building and the visit of the senior U.S. diplomat.

“We urge the United States to scrupulously abide by its promises to China over the Taiwan issue, correct their wrong actions, and avoid damaging China-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing.

The sprawling new site occupies 6.5 hectares, including Chinese gardens, in Taipei’s Neihu district. AIT’s Taipei office has nearly 500 American and local employees, while its Kaohsiung branch has more than 30 staff.

The ceremony was attended by high-ranking Taiwan officials and senior business executives, including Morris Chang, the former chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s biggest contract chip maker.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan under its “one China” policy and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring what it sees as a wayward province under its control.

China’s hostility towards Taiwan has grown since President Tsai was elected in 2016. Beijing suspects Tsai wants to push for formal independence, which would cross a red line for Communist Party leaders in Beijing.

Move Over, China: U.S. Is Again Home to World’s Speediest Supercomputer

nytimes.com - The United States just won bragging rights in the race to build the world’s speediest supercomputer.

For five years, China had the world’s fastest computer, a symbolic achievement for a country trying to show that it is a tech powerhouse. But the United States retook the lead thanks to a machine, called Summit, built for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

Summit’s speeds, announced on Friday, boggle the mind. It can do mathematical calculations at the rate of 200 quadrillion per second, or 200 petaflops. To put in human terms: A person doing one calculation a second would have to live for more than 6.3 billion years to match what the machine can do in a second.

Still stupefying? Here is another analogy. If a stadium built for 100,000 people was full, and everyone in it had a modern laptop, it would take 20 stadiums to match the computing firepower of Summit.

China still has the world’s most supercomputers over all. And China, Japan and Europe are developing machines that are even faster, which could mean the American lead is short-lived.

Supercomputers like Summit, which cost $200 million in government money to build, can accelerate the development of technologies at the frontier of computing, like artificial intelligence and the ability to handle vast amounts of data.

Those skills can be used to help tackle daunting challenges in science, industry and national security — and are at the heart of an escalating rivalry between the United States and China over technology.

For years, American tech companies have accused China of stealing their intellectual property. And some Washington lawmakers say that Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei pose a national security risk. ContinueReading

Taiwan loses second ally in a month amid China pressure

Reuters - Taiwan now has only one diplomatic ally left in Africa – the tiny kingdom of Swaziland - and formal relations with just 18 countries worldwide, many of them poor nations in Central America and the Pacific like Belize and Nauru.

The Burkina foreign ministry’s statement made no direct mention of China, but said “the evolution of the world and the socio-economic challenges of our country and region push us to reconsider our position”.

Speaking at a hastily arranged news conference in Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not engage in “dollar diplomacy” and denounced Beijing’s methods.

“China toys with dollar diplomacy and promises huge sums of money to entice many countries to build relations,” Tsai said.

“I want to emphasize again that China’s pressure will only lead to Taiwan’s ties with its partners in the international community getting closer. We will not cower at all.”

Taiwan has accused China of luring its friends away with offers of generous aid packages. China denies this, and says Taiwan is a part of China with no right to formal diplomatic ties with any other country.

Speaking shortly before the president, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said he had offered his resignation to her.

Wu said that Taiwan cannot compete with China’s financial resources.

“I along with our country’s people feel sad, angry and regretful,” he said.

“China grabbing our allies and giving us pressure in the diplomatic space will not shrink the distance across the (Taiwan) strait and will not let cross-strait relations walk on a peaceful, friendly path.”

China’s foreign ministry said in a brief statement it welcomed Burkina to “join in China-Africa friendly cooperation as soon as possible”.

Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping meet: China is 'wooing' India because Donald Trump's moves have left it no choice

- As Narendra Modi lands in Wuhan for a much-anticipated one-on-one with Xi Jinping, it is worth exploring the motivations that have driven China to the discussion table. It is a stretch to assume that Beijing, which refuses to consider India as its equal and never fails to be condescending about the economic and military power differential, would suddenly warm up to its neighbour out of "goodwill". China doesn't do "goodwill".

Its actions (not just under Xi but specially under him) are guided by a pragmatic cost-benefit ratio, and are based on a Sino-centric geopolitical strategy that seeks — through assertive maritime, expansionist and revisionist policies — to restore the Middle Kingdom to its "lost glory".

As Stratfor contributor Zhixing Zhang writes in Forbes: "Beijing's assertive maritime policy is an attempt to secure its access to overseas markets and prevent a challenger from emerging to threaten its multiplying interests around the world. And like the Han and Tang dynasties before it, China today will run up against other empires as it pursues its geopolitical strategy in the surrounding region and farther afield.

A 'great power aspirant' that aims to challenge and eventually replace America's global dominance in every field from ideology, culture, geopolitics, military, technology to political system and economy — replacing the dollar with renminbi as the premier mode of global exchange for one — it is inconceivable that China would court 'middle power' India out of goodwill. Xi is more likely to interpret such a gesture as weakness.

India should be under no illusion that this "reengagement" or "reset" (whatever it's called) is borne out of China's desire to listen to India or try and understand its concerns and red lines in the path of mutual growth and development. These might be good slogans for framing the dialogue but we should look for motivations elsewhere. A good starting point would be the flux in international order and two recent developments that have thrown a challenge at Xi and diminished his ability to play the power broker in Korean Peninsula.

The first one pertains to Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on Chinese imports to correct an imbalance in bilateral trade. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's decision to suspend all testing of nuclear weapons ahead of his proposed meeting with the US president presents the second challenge for Xi. Both developments are inextricable and demand a set of hard choices from the Chinese president.

Limiting the irritants in India-China bilateral ties may result in a more manageable relationship, which in turn should allow China more legroom to exploit the world's fifth largest and fastest growing major economy. Xi's decision to sit across the table with Modi arises primarily from this compulsion.

To a certain extent, Trump's faith in direct threats than quiet diplomacy has constrained China's hands and squeezed Xi's bargaining space. The US President's move to slap tariffs worth $50 billion on Chinese imports and threats to slap another $100 billion unless China gives better market access to American firms and allows the US to export more cars, aircraft, soybeans and natural gas into China to remedy the $375 billion deficit has prompted a conflicting response from China.

Xi has made some conciliatory noises on lowering tariffs on American cars and opening the domestic market but he has simultaneously moved to impose a retaliatory $50 billion tariff on American goods, raising the spectre of a trade war.

A set of action and reactions have followed. The US has announced that it is ready to talk to China over the issue and accordingly a meeting was set up in Beijing between Xi, vice-president Wang Qishan and Chinese officials on one side and US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council head Larry Kudlow on the other on 3 and 4 May. Latest reports, however, indicate that a resolution might not be in sight. Trump has added two more hawks to the US delegation amid a buzz of "more action" against Beijing. ContinueReading

China to Encourage Horse Racing, Expand Sports Lottery in Hainan

- China said it would encourage horse racing and expand sports lotteries in the southernmost island of Hainan, moves that may eventually open the door to gaming on the nation’s mainland for the first time.

China will support the development of horse racing and other projects including beach and water sports in Hainan, according to a reform agenda approved by China’s cabinet and announced in the official Xinhua News Agency Saturday. The province should also “explore the development of sports lottery and instant lottery on large-scale international games,” it said, without elaborating.

While the government bans all forms of gambling, it officially allows two types of lotteries -- including one in which players predict the outcomes of international soccer matches. It also permits some horse racing, though betting is banned and the central government had previously refrained from promoting the sport.

“Horse racing has grown quickly in China in recent years, but it’s the first time the central government has promoted the game for a city and simultaneously encouraged further development of sports lottery,” said Su Guojing, chairman of China Lottery Industry Salon, a business group. “Although it still takes time to explore, Hainan may try to launch a lottery for more sporting events, including horse racing and rowing, to help boost Hainan’s tourism.”

Any shift in China’s approach toward gambling could end up threatening the $33 billion casino industry in Macau -- the world’s largest gaming center-- as well as other casino hubs in Asia. Macau has been shifting to attract Chinese tourists and families to the territory, which is the same market that Hainan currently draws. ContinueReading

Proposal to Scrap China's Term Limits Could Allow President Xi Jinping to Stay in Office

(BEIJING) — China’s ruling Communist Party has proposed scrapping term limits for the country’s president, the official news agency said Sunday, appearing to lay the groundwork for party leader Xi Jinping to rule as president beyond 2023.

The party’s Central Committee proposed to remove from the constitution the expression that China’s president and vice president “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms,” the Xinhua News Agency said.

“Xi Jinping has finally achieved his ultimate goal when he first embarked on Chinese politics — that is to be the Mao Zedong of the 21st century,” said Willy Lam, a political analyst at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, referring to the founder of communist China.

Xi, 64, cemented his status as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao in the 1970s at last year’s twice-a-decade Communist Party congress, where his name and a political theory attributed to him were added to the party constitution as he was given a second five-year term as general secretary.

It was the latest move by the party signaling Xi’s willingness to break with tradition and centralize power under him. Xi has taken control of an unusually wide range of political, economic and other functions, a break with the past two decades of collective leadership.

“What is happening is potentially very dangerous because the reason why Mao Zedong made one mistake after another was because China at the time was a one-man show,” Lam said. “For Xi Jinping, whatever he says is the law. There are no longer any checks and balances.”

Xi is coming to the end of his first five-year term as president and is set to be appointed to his second term at an annual meeting of the rubber-stamp parliament that starts March 5. The proposal to end term limits will likely be approved at that meeting.

Term limits on officeholders have been in place since they were included in the 1982 constitution, when lifetime tenure was abolished.

Political analysts said the party would likely seek to justify the proposed removal of the presidential term limit by citing Xi’s vision of establishing a prosperous, modern society by 2050.

“The theoretical justification for removing tenure limits is that China requires a visionary, capable leader to see China through this multi-decade grand plan,” Lam said.

“But the other aspect of it could just be Mao Zedong-like megalomania; he is just convinced that he is fit to be an emperor for life,” he said.

Hu Xingdou, a Beijing-based political commentator, said while Xi might need an extra five-year term or two to carry out his plans, the country is unlikely to return to an era of lifetime tenure for heads of state.

“President Xi may be in a leading position for a relatively long time,” Hu said. “This is beneficial to pushing forward reforms and the fight against corruption, but it’s impossible for China to have lifetime tenure again.”

“We have drawn profound lessons from the system of lifetime tenures,” Hu said, referring to the chaos and turmoil of Mao’s 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.

Xi’s image dominates official propaganda, prompting suggestions that he is trying to build a cult of personality, and evoking memories of the upheaval of that era. Party spokespeople reject such talk, insisting Xi is the core of its seven-member Standing Committee, not a lone strongman.

At last year’s party congress, Xi hailed a “new era” under his leadership and laid out his vision of a ruling party that serves as the vanguard for everything from defending national security to providing moral guidance to ordinary Chinese. At the close of the congress, the party elevated five new officials to assist Xi on his second five-year term, but stopped short of designating an obvious successor to him.

Political analysts said the absence of an apparent successor pointed to Xi’s longer-term ambitions.

Sunday’s announcement on term limits came before the Central Committee was to begin a three-day meeting in Beijing on Monday to discuss major personnel appointments and other issues.

The son of a famed communist elder, Xi rose through the ranks to the position of Shanghai’s party leader before being promoted to the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee in 2007.

When Xi did assume the top spot in 2012, it was as head of a reduced seven-member committee on which he had only one reliable ally, veteran Wang Qishan. He put Wang in charge of a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown that helped Xi eliminate challengers, both serving and retired, and cow potential opponents.

Xi, whose titles include head of the armed forces, has lavished attention on the military with parades and defense budget increases. But he’s also led a crackdown on abuses and a push to cut 300,000 personnel from the 2.3 million-member People’s Liberation Army, underscoring his ability to prevail against entrenched interests. ContinueReading

Terracotta army: Chinese officials demand punishment for American accused of stealing thumb off of ancient statue

independent.co.uk - Chinese officials are demanding punishment for the alleged theft of a thumb from an ancient terracotta warrior statue on display at an American museum.

The FBI has charged 24-year-old Michael Rohana with snapping the thumb off of the 2,000-year-old Chinese sculpture during an 'ugly Christmas sweater' party at the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia museum that is currently displaying 10 of China’s famed terracotta warriors.

The agency claims Mr Rohana walked into the exhibit through an unlocked door during the party on 21 December. He perused the dark exhibit using the light from his cell phone, then posed for a selfie with the statue in question, according to an arrest affidavit. Before leaving, he tore off the statue’s thumb as a souvenir, the affidavit said.

An attorney for Mr Rohana could not immediately be reached for comment.

Wu Haiyun, the director of the government-run organisation that loaned the statues out, criticised the Franklin Institute for being "careless" with the statues, according to CCTV.

"We ask that the US severely punish the perpetrator. We have lodged a serious protest with them," he said. ContinueReading

China seeks ‘healthy’ ties with troubled Maldives amid India rivalry

- Beijing has called for its partnership with the Maldives, where it has channelled significant aid and investment, to develop “in a healthy manner” as it vies with India for influence over the troubled Indian Ocean archipelago.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the Maldivian president’s special envoy Mohamed Saeed in Beijing that China was closely watching the political crisis in Male, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

“The international community should play a constructive role in promoting the Maldives’ stability and development on the basis of respecting the Maldives’ wishes,” Wang said.

“China has poured in unconditional aid and assistance for the Maldives’ socio-economic development. The cooperation between China and the Maldives benefits all people in the Maldives and we hope the cooperative partnership of the two nations can be developed in a healthy manner.”

Wang’s remarks came after Maldives President Abdulla Yameen announced a 15-day state of emergency in the luxury tourist hotspot on Monday, triggered by a Supreme Court ruling last week to free political prisoners and opposition politicians. Yameen rejected the ruling and detained two judges.

The Maldives sent envoys to China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to brief them on the political crisis, but no envoy went to India because the dates were not “suitable”, according to the Maldivian embassy in India.

The bid for support from Beijing came as the Maldives’ exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed – who was expected to stand for election under the opposition party later this year – called for military intervention from India, which has joined the United States and Britain in calling for Yameen to abide by the court ruling. ContinueReading

Ringing in 2018: The other side of the globe gets this party started

latimes.com - A look at how people around the world are saying adios to 2017 and ringing in 2018:

AUSTRALIA

Fireworks lighted up the sky above Sydney Harbour, highlighting the city's New Year's celebrations.

The massive fireworks display included a rainbow waterfall cascade of lights and colour flowing off the harbor's bridge to celebrate recently passed legislation legalising gay marriage in Australia.

Over a million people were expected to gather to watch the festivities. Security was tight, but officials said there was no particular alert.

Sydney officials said the event would generate some $170 million for the city and “priceless publicity.” Nearly half the revelers were tourists.

NEW ZEALAND

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders took to the streets and beaches, becoming among the first in the world to usher in 2018.

As the new year dawned in this southern hemisphere nation, fireworks boomed and crackled above city centers and harbors, and party-goers sang, hugged, danced and kissed.

In Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, tens of thousands gathered around Sky Tower as five minutes of nonstop pyrotechnics exploded from the structure's upper decks.

But on nearby Waiheke Island, 20 miles away, authorities canceled the planned fireworks display because of drought conditions and low water supplies for firefighters.

CHINA

Those willing to brave the cold in Beijing will join a countdown at the tower at Yongdingmen Gate, a rebuilt version of the Ming dynasty-era landmark gate at the southern end of the city's north-south axis.

Bells will be rung and prayers offered at temples in Beijing, but the Gregorian calendar's New Year's celebrations are typically muted in China compared to the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, a time of fireworks, feasts and family reunions.

Authorities throughout China are also on high alert for stampedes or terror attacks at large public gatherings. Police in the central city of Zhengzhou are putting 3,500 officers on duty across the city while residents gather to watch a light show and cultural performance in a public square.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that President Xi Jinping sent a New Year's greeting to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, saying Beijing is ready to boost cooperation with Russia in 2018.

JAPAN

Many Japanese are celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Dog in the traditional way of praying for peace and good fortune at neighborhood Shinto shrines, and eating New Year's food such as noodles, shrimp and sweet black beans.

Barbecued beef and octopus dumpling stalls were out at Tokyo's Zojoji Temple, where people take turns striking the giant bell 108 times at midnight, an annual practice repeated at other Buddhist temples throughout Japan.

North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes cast a shadow over Japan's hopes for peace, said 33-year-old cab driver Masaru Eguchi, who was ready to be busy all night shuttling shrine visitors.

“The world situation has grown so complex,” Eguchi said, adding that he also worried about possible terrorism targeting Japan. “I feel this very abstracted sense of uncertainty, although I really have no idea what might happen.”

SOUTH KOREA

After spending an exhausting year that saw a presidency toppled by a corruption scandal and nuclear-armed North Korea firing missile after missile, South Koreans enter 2018 in need of a happy distraction. The upcoming Winter Olympics just might do it.

Thousands of people are expected to fill the streets near Seoul's City Hall for a traditional bell-tolling ceremony to usher in the new year. The group of dignitaries picked to ring the old Bosingak bell at midnight includes Soohorang and Bandabi — the tiger and bear mascots for the Pyeongchang Winter Games and Paralympics in February and March.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to flock to eastern coastal areas, including Gangneung, the seaside city that will host the Olympic skating and hockey events, to watch the sun rise on 2018.

INDIA

Security was tight in the southern Indian city of Bangalore to prevent a repeat of incidents of alleged groping and molestation of several women during last year's New Year's Eve celebrations.

Sunil Kumar, the city's police commissioner, said at least 15,000 police officers were on duty and were being aided by drones and additional closed-circuit television cameras.

Last year, police first denied that any sexual harassment had taken place during the celebrations in Bangalore, India's information technology hub. But later, police detained at least six men after several video clips of women being attacked by groups of men spread on social media.

PHILIPPINES

Hours before midnight, authorities had already reported that at least 86 people had been injured by celebratory firecrackers in the Philippines, which has some of the most raucous new year's celebrations in Asia.

Although the number of injuries has tapered off in recent years, largely due to hard economic times and government scare campaigns, the figures remain alarming. President Rodrigo Duterte signed an order in June confining the use of firecrackers to community-designated areas, such as near shopping malls and parks.

Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune. But they have carried that superstition to extremes, exploding dangerously large firecrackers and firing guns to welcome the new year despite threats of arrest.

TURKEY

Security measures were ramped up across Turkey, which was hit by a New Year's Day attack a year ago that killed dozens.

In Istanbul alone, 37,000 officers were on duty, with multiple streets closed to traffic and large vehicles barred from entering certain districts. Several New Year's Eve street parties were canceled for security reasons.

Early on Jan. 1, 2017, an assailant shot his way into Istanbul's Reina nightclub, where hundreds were celebrating the new year. Thirty-nine people were killed — mostly foreigners — and 79 wounded. Islamic State claimed responsibility.

On Sunday, some 100 people gathered outside the nightclub to remember the victims of the attack.

ROMANIA

Romanians prepared to usher in a new year in which the focus is expected to be an anticorruption fight as the government seeks to push through legislation that critics say will make it harder to punish high-level graft.

Television stations broadcast live from supermarkets full of last-minute shoppers, while beauty salons reported full bookings as revelers geared up for traditional celebrations of copious meals that can run to hundreds of euros.

Others meditated and prayed at Orthodox churches and monasteries. In rural eastern Romania, villagers danced traditional pantomime-like jigs to welcome the new year, wrapping themselves in bear furs or dressing as horses.

In his new year message, President Klaus Iohannis praised Romanians who staged the largest protests since the end of communism.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Tens of thousands of revelers will ring in the new year in Las Vegas under the close eye of law enforcement just three months after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Tourism officials expect about 330,000 people to come to Las Vegas for the festivities, which are anchored by a roughly eight-minute fireworks display at the top of seven hotel-casinos.

Acts including Bruno Mars, Britney Spears, Celine Dion and the Foo Fighters will keep partiers entertained before and after midnight at properties across Sin City.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will have every officer working Sunday, while the Nevada National Guard is activating about 350 soldiers and Air Force personnel.

The federal government also is sending dozens of personnel to assist with intelligence and other efforts.

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