作者別: RG21管理者

China’s Ministry of Defense has categorically denied reports that the Chinese military is patrolling on the Afghanistan side of their border.

Stories  in foreign media about Chinese troops and military vehicles cross-border were said to be untrue. The explanation given for the alleged military activity was that joint anti-terrorism drills were taking place.

At a regular press conference on February 23, the MOD spokesperson, Colonel Ren Guoqiang declared:

 Question: There have been reports about China’s military forces patrolling inside eastern Afghanistan. Could you please confirm and brief us on relevant details?

 Answer18: My colleague has already responded to this question before. According to the information provided by relevant departments, the law-enforcement departments of China and Afghanistan, in accordance with the agreement of strengthening border law enforcement cooperation between the two sides, have been conducting joint law enforcement operations in areas bordering both countries in recent years, in order to jointly prevent and fight against terrorism activities and organized transnational crimes.

I’d like to point out that the report of some foreign media that the Chinese military vehicles entered Afghanistan for patrol is untrue.

Does the MOD explanation makes sense, or could there be another explanation? Please let us know you opinion.

Photo: mod.gov.cn/Li Aiming

Mystery Deepens over Chinese Forces in Afghanistan (Financial Times)

                                by David Parmer

The photo above captures forever the moment when Richard M. Nixon, 37th President of The United States extended his hand to China’s premier, Zhou Enlai. President Nixon called his trip “the week that changed the world” and this handshake was the start of that week.

For more than 20 years the US and the PRC had not been talking. The US backed the Republic of China (ROC) during the bloody civil war following the defeat of Japan. The US had also fought Chinese troops in the Korean War. So, in short, there was no love lost. Americans were imperialists and the PRC were “Red Chinese.”  What’s more, during his long political career, Richard Nixon had made no secret of his strong anti-communist convictions.

Later, some said that, precisely because of those anti-communist credentials, only Nixon could have made this gesture and this trip. While Mr. Nixon spoke of making a safer world and a world of peace during the public ceremony in Washington before his departure on February 17th, deeper political realities were underneath, particularly an attempt to gain leverage on the Soviet Union by making peace with the PRC. Some commentators suggest that the US also hoped to get some leverage on the North Vietnamese with the aid of Chinese help.

China itself had had border disputes with it colossal neighbor to the north, and just a few years before had engaged in a drawn-out shooting incident along their Ussuri River border. So perhaps both the US and China  saw some tactical advantages in their relations with the Soviets in addition to other hoped-for benefits.

No sooner had Nixon and his party arrived at their guesthouse on that February day than Chairman Mao sent Premier Zhou to tell the president that the chairman would see them. Now. Mr. Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Winston Lord and one Secret Service agent motored over to see the chairman for a two-hour meeting. (The minutes of the meeting as taken by Mr. Lord can be read here.) Nixon and Mao had a frank discussion, but Mao was in turn philosophical, jovial and obscure. The aging and frail Mao had made his point, and now it was up to Premier Zhou to work out the details (and keep Chairman Mao updated on the proceedings.)

In the week that followed there were predictably speeches and toasts and meetings and sightseeing for the Nixons and their party. They went to West Lake in Hangzhou, to the Beijing Zoo, and to the Great Wall outside of Beijing. At the Great Wall, it was Mr. Nixon who waxed philosophical, giving the opinion that it was a great people who built the Great Wall. He also noted his party had travelled 17,000 miles, to get to China, but he felt that “it was worth coming.”

For the final stop on the trip the president’s party returned to Shanghai, and there, at the Jin Jiang Hotel, the Shanghai Communiqué was written and agreed upon. The document pointed out areas of agreement between the two countries and laid out a roadmap for normalization of relations.

Of particular note was the statement concerning Taiwan that became the “One China Policy.” This could be seen as the second most important outcome of Mr. Nixon’s visit coming very close to the sheer audacity of making the trip at all.

In his closing remarks the president said, “generations will look back and thank us.” It is now 45 years later. Does this generation realize the significance of February 1972, or will more time have to pass before there is clarity on this game-changing event?

Photo: Richard Nixon and  Zhou Enlai February 21, 1971.  Beijing/Public Domain

by Bill Lee

Like God, US President Donald Trump tried to create his own world in seven days. Did he succeed? He signed executive orders — thunderbolts from God — paving the way for construction of the Dakota XL pipeline — bury my heart at Wounded Knee — starting construction on his beloved border wall — “I’ll get Mexico to pay for it” — and pulling the United States out of the TPP. He also made an odd speech at the CIA, making false claims about the size of his inauguration crowd, and on and on. It is difficult to remember it all since there was such a torrent of news. He and his minions succeeded in doing what they apparently do best — creating chaos. But was it gross incompetence, or cunning calculation? Is there method in his madness? Is the flood of action meant to keeps his opponents off balance and distract them from the more important minutiae of change, the fine print, like what he’s actually going to do with Obamacare? His order banning — “extreme vetting” as they tried to recast it — anyone from his designated Muslim-majority countries entering the US ignited virulent protests, but the ban could very well be a precursor to greatly escalated military action by the United States in Iraq and Syria. Trump knows that such action would trigger waves of more refugees, and so he wanted to put a ban on refugees in place to prevent any from fleeing the increased violence. Trump and his advisors had two months to plan their program after entering the White House, and perhaps they are playing it out just the way it was planned.

Photo: antefixus21 via Flickr

Soon the year 2017 will dawn and we will all face a new year filled with promise and hope and many challenges. Opportunities for new advances in science and technology and new ideas and creativity in the arts will flow. At the same time we will be faced with the prospect of wars and tensions worldwide. Global warming, poverty and a global environment under constant threat are all issues that will persist in 2017. So we are faced with both challenges and hope in the coming year. Please log in and give us your thoughts on what will happen in 2017, and what is important to you.

Photo: Jerryang via flickr