Opinion – Page 18 – The Singapore Post

Is Xi’s persecution of China’s Uighur Muslims a genocide in the making?

15Jul

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Is Xi’s persecution of China’s Uighur Muslims a genocide in the making?

From the mid-1970s Deng Xiaoping and his successors sought consensus at home and trade and rapprochement with the west after the abominations of Mao’s “cultural revolution”. There was a golden moment when even this one-party state might have been negotiable, but it was tragically crushed when the tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989.Even then, however, it was tyranny tempered by trade, capitalism and a degree of circumspection, including term limits on communist party bosses. By contrast, XI is an unfettered emperor in the tradition of Mao.The world now faces not a pragmatic one-party state but a doctrinaire one-man dictatorship. And the dictator, into his second decade of power, is determined to stamp out latent as well as actual dissent, even at the price of western trade an

PLA veterans, hurt cadres could launch ‘armed’ action against CCP regime: Chinese dissident

13Jul

By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

China, Opinion

PLA veterans, hurt cadres could launch ‘armed’ action against CCP regime: Chinese dissident

Chinese dissident Jianli Yang has said that disgruntled retired Army veterans and serving China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) cadres, who are hurt by the treatment meted out by the government, can form a formidable force capable of challenging the leadership of Xi Jinping and launch a collective and "armed" anti-regime action.In an opinion piece, Jianli, son of a former Communist Party leader, said that Beijing, which reels under the fear that the admittance that it had lost troops, that too more in number than its opponent, could lead to such major trouble and domestic unrest, that the very regime of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be put at stake."The PLA has long been a key pillar of the CCP's power. If the sentiments of the serving PLA cadres are hurt and they get together w...

China leverages Tibetan Plateau’s water wealth

12Jul

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

China leverages Tibetan Plateau’s water wealth

While the international attention remains on China’s criminal activities in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, Beijing is also quietly focusing its attention on the waters of rivers that originate in the Chinese-controlled territory of Tibet.For a long time now, China has pursued a broader strategy to corner natural resources. This has driven its expanding presence in places like Africa and Latin America. China’s newer obsession is freshwater, whose growing shortages are casting a cloud over Asia’s economic future.Peace and security in Asia both hinge on China’s willingness to embrace rules-based cooperation, which includes ceasing activities that threaten to turn internationally shared river-water resources into a Chinese political weapon.Most of Asia’s great rivers originate on

China is so fixed on the US, it may lose India

12Jul

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

China is so fixed on the US, it may lose India

Mid-June witnessed two significant events related to China's foreign relations: a deadly clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers along the disputed border killing soldiers on both sides, and a special meeting in Hawaii between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Yang Jiechi, director of the Office of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission.Indian news and public discussions have been dominated by the border clash since it happened but it barely made headlines in China. Meanwhile, the meeting between Pompeo and Yang garnered significant attention by Chinese official media and social media. This is telling of China’s diplomatic priority.China is obviously of paramount importance to India's foreign policy. China's every move is scrutinized by Indians, and every is

10Jul

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

Is China weaponizing the free press?

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in a recent report has claimed China has built its discourse power beyond borders and engineered a change in the global news landscape.The new report, titled, “The China Story: Reshaping the World’s Media” was launched on June 25, by IFJ, the world’s largest voice for journalists.In its report, the IFJ did not hesitate to say that Red Republic’s media-warriors is increasing its global footprint in the world’s media and its strategy showed clear signs of targeting journalists to “outsource its influence” in developing countries with ineffective or repressive governments, yet also clearly cut across both the developed and developing world.Journalists from 58 countries were asked whether they received overtures from Beijing. The

Chinese companies prohibit Pakistani employees from namaz

10Jul

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Asia, Opinion

Chinese companies prohibit Pakistani employees from namaz

A Muslim cleric has claimed that Chinese companies in Pakistan have been prohibiting their employees from offering Namaz, one of the five basic tenets of Islam."We cannot ignore namaz. People are afraid that they will lose their jobs. But it has now become a matter of self-respect for us," the cleric said.In a video that surfaced on social media on June 26, the cleric, while delivering a sermon, also urged Pakistanis to be firm and tell the Chinese that in Pakistan "they'll have to follow local laws and the country does not belong to them."China is considered to be a 'dearest friend' of Pakistan, from playing a central role in Asia's geopolitics to being the greatest economic hope and the most trusted military partner.However, this is not the only time Chinese companies in Pakistan have fo...

‘Steele Dossier’ law firm peddles misinformation for JamaatIslami linked charity

9Jul

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

‘Steele Dossier’ law firm peddles misinformation for JamaatIslami linked charity

India has been on the hot-seat ever since it revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and the subsequent security measures taken to fight jihadi groups.Members of Congress, prominent media outlets, and even senior State Department officials are suddenly tasked with trying to understand complicated situations with little or no background in the history or politics of South Asia.This is a situation ripe for abuse by rivals who would seek to use this lack of information to manipulate policymakers through disinformation.Last year, a US Congressional hearing on Kashmir went poorly for India. This is in significant part due to the fact that US franchises of Jamaat-e-Islami (recently banned in Kashmir for working with terrorist groups), mainly the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a...

UK Minister urges Britain to act against China’s intention to destroy HK autonomy

8Jul

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Opinion, World

UK Minister urges Britain to act against China’s intention to destroy HK autonomy

United Kingdom MP Stewart McDonald has asked the UK government to act against China's intention to impose its draconian national security law which intends to destroy Hong Kong's autonomy and punish people for criticizing Beijing."China has recently decided to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, bypassing its legislature, which will criminalize any act of secession, subversion, terrorism and its broad scope could see people punished for criticizing Beijing - as they are in mainland China", McDonald said in an opinion piece in Hong Kong Free Press."I call on the UK government to match the courage of the protesters and not kowtow to China's bullying," he added.The controversial legislation comprises six chapters and 66 articles. The chapters, inter alia, cover general provisions, du...

CCP using pandemic as cover for expansionist agenda

8Jul

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

CCP using pandemic as cover for expansionist agenda

As coronavirus continues to threaten millions of lives across the world, there has been plenty of discussion among China observers about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sought to use the pandemic to its advantage.Would the CCP use the country's control of a large proportion of the medical supplies market to hold the world to ransom over personal protective equipment (PPE)? Will it miraculously discover a vaccine sold to the world at a sky-high price, while simultaneously claiming credit for vanquishing the disease?The answer is simple and much more serious. The pandemic has provided the perfect cover for Xi Jinping’s regime to pursue its expansionist agenda more aggressively than ever before.The Communist Party’s National People’s Congress recently passed a controversial piece of

8Jul

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

How China eats the World

China’s economic miracle, of the last 15-20 years, built on the back of debt and liquidity, and investing for an export driven economy have defined commodity prices, and global geopolitics. As per some estimates, China's total debt in the 21st century tops 300% of its GDP, and at an estimated US$40 trillion accounts for 15% of all global debt.But arguably, between the year 2006 and 2019, the export miracle never really materialized with net exports accounting for only about 2% of the total rise in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).However, there is yet another aspect of the China story which is not as appreciated as one believes it should be - Chinese investments in other countries, a strategy that appears to be driven by foreign policy, than economic considerations. As per data compiled by the

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