Opinion

As Xi Jinping takes on an offensive mode, let’s pray for China
19Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

As Xi Jinping takes on an offensive mode, let’s pray for China

What a difference a year makes! A year ago, on June 4, Xi Jinping – the boss of China and the unelected master of the country’s fate – was confident enough to brush off the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square atrocity, and was gearing up to push back against a rampaging US President who seemed to have the roughest of touches on the delicate issues of diplomacy.Today, after a complete year, Xi is besieged due to the outright lies and cover-up of the novel coronavirus since late 2019.As in any country, it is the domestic situation that tends to be a catalyst for foreign overtures, and so is the case with China.Millions of Chinese today believe even less the lies coming out from the leadership of the Communist Party of China. They know that their leaders kept mum when hundreds of thousan
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A China-India clash would be Xi Jinping’s grand mistake
18Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

A China-India clash would be Xi Jinping’s grand mistake

President Xi Jinping has moved forward with his plans to impose Beijing’s National security legislation and strip Hong Kong of its separate status given to it by the British. Xi’s action highlights China’s fundamental dishonesty and should give all states a good enough reason to not trust any agreement with the People’s Republic of China given that this was not a simple political deal but a formal Sino-British treaty ratified by both governments in which both agreed to allow Hong Kong to govern itself for 50 years, the basis of the so-called, “One China, Two Systems” policy.The ease of Xi’s take-over of Hong Kong and the lack of meaningful international reaction may have only whetted the Chinese leader’s appetite.The People’s Republic of China has long claimed Taiwan as an integral part of
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Killing 20 Indian soldiers, China provokes a nationalist tiger
18Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Killing 20 Indian soldiers, China provokes a nationalist tiger

India is left enraged after China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) beat to death 20 Indian soldiers. The clash occurred after India said that PLA forces attempted to "change the status quo" along the two countries' disputed Line of Actual Control.The violence did not involve an armed engagement, instead, the PLA physically attacked a smaller number of Indian soldiers led by Colonel Santosh Babu. But if, the news reports and analysts are correct, and 20 soldiers, including a regiment commanding officer, were killed, Indian nationalist anger will be unleashed. Considering that both China and India possess nuclear weapons, this concern should not be underestimated.Nor should we forget that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's power flows from this nationalist base. Shaping a foreign policy vision o...
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What happened to Tibet could also happen to India, warns Tibetan PMexile
5Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

What happened to Tibet could also happen to India, warns Tibetan PMexile

Lobsang Sangay, President of the Tibetan government-in exile, has warned that Ladakh is the latest addition to China’s expansionist policy and that “what happened to Tibet, could also happen to India”.Lately, China’s People’s Liberation Army has made alarming advances towards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which extends from Ladakh in the north to as far as Arunachal Pradesh in the north-east.Since the beginning of May, the Chinese army has been attempting to encroach into Indian Territory which has also led to multiple face-offs between troops from both sides.Looking back at the shared history between China, India and Tibet, Sangay said: “If we look at history, India never shared a border with China, but it has always shared a border with Tibet. During that period, Indo-Tibetan border w
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China attempts to shape European media outlets to propagate its narratives
4Jun By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

China attempts to shape European media outlets to propagate its narratives

In the wake of its drowning international image due to coronavirus spread, China has been found investing billions every year in European media firms to present its own narrative through tactics like funding paid-for advertorials and sponsored journalistic coverage.During 2008-2018, China made an investment of Euro 2.8 billion focusing on acquisition of shares in European media firms accounting for about 1% of its total European investments.In its efforts to reshape the global information environment with massive infusions of money, China has resorted to tactics like mergers and acquisitions of media organizations, commercial cooperation with media outlets, hiring PR companies to project Chinese views in mainstream media, cooperation by Chinese agencies with local news agencies, increasing...
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China- based group hacks official site of Indonesian State Intelligence Agency
19May By Desk TeamNo Comments

China- based group hacks official site of Indonesian State Intelligence Agency

China bases Nikon APT group has been found to have hacked the official site of Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (BIN) with the use of hacking tool Aria-Bodu (Body). The BIN has clarified thaht the hacker could not get hold of the confidential information, as it was stored in some other place. Yet, anticipatory steps have been taken in the wake of threat pose by the hacker’s technology, a BIN spokesperson said. The hacking failed as the BIN had implemented the latest security norms to protect the information. Now the BIN taken the necessary measures to further protect its site, the spokesperson said. People in Indonesia are already angry toward China after Indonesian crew members, who died onboard, were thrown into the sea by Chinese vessels without taking any permission from the famil
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Pro- democracy groups in China fear of control by China
18May By Desk TeamNo Comments

Pro- democracy groups in China fear of control by China

Hong Kong on Monday saw ruckus over the consideration of legislation that pro-democracy politicians fear would tighten China’s control over the semiautonomous territory. It was the second such incident in this month-- on May 8, the lawmakers had argued over the leadership of the committee. The pro-democracy camp made allegations that the establishment lawmakers were trying to seize control of the committee illegitimately, which for months has been led by Dennis Kwok, a pro-democracy lawmaker. ON other hand, Chinese officials and pro-Beijing lawmakers slammed Mr. Kwok of blocking new legislation, including a bill that would criminalize disrespecting the Chinese national anthem. In 1997, Hong Kong officially adopted the Chinese national anthem after when the former British colony returned t
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Feeding zoo animals may put NH woman behind bars in Thailand
2May By Desk TeamNo Comments

Feeding zoo animals may put NH woman behind bars in Thailand

A Chester mother says her daughter faces up to five years in prison in Thailand after she and three others were arrested trying to feed zoo animals they thought were abandoned. “I am hoping that the U.S. officials can help in any way that they have the ability to do so,” said Marie Somers, who has contacted the offices of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas. Joy Somers, 33, who grew up in Sandown, was charged with a computer crime for posting a video of Phuket Zoo’s conditions on Facebook. Joy Somers said she stumbled across the zoo on April 14 during a walk with friends. Somers, who has lived in Phuket for more than four years and is a CrossFit coach and nutritional counselor, said she lives behind the zoo and heard animals crying over the past month. “We walk
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WHO convenes meeting of vaccine manufacturers
2May By Desk TeamNo Comments

WHO convenes meeting of vaccine manufacturers

Gearing up for the much needed Covid-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization on Wednesday convened a meeting of vaccine manufacturers and national regulatory authorities from its South-East Asia Region. "The manufacturing capacity that exists in our Region is of the quality and scale required to produce and roll-out a Covid-19 vaccine globally. This Region is a vaccine manufacturing powerhouse, and it must now also play a lead role in overcoming the ongoing pandemic,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia. At the virtual meeting, leading manufacturers from India, Indonesia, and Thailand discussed timelines and production capacity, while regulatory bodies deliberated on adjustments that would be needed in processes to make Covid-19 vaccines availab
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