China Warns West Not to Enforce Sanctions against Russia

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“Sanctions could lead to retaliatory action, and that would trigger a spiral with unforeseeable consequences,” warns China’s envoy to Germany adding that “we don’t see any point in sanctions.” On the heels of Merkel’s warning that Russia risked “massive” political and economic damage if it did not change course, Reuters reports ambassador Shi Mingde urged patience saying “the door is still open” for diplomacy (though we suspect it is not) ahead of this weekend’s referendum. Russia’s Deputy Economy Minister Alexei Likhachev responded by promising “symmetrical” sanctions by Moscow. So now we have China joining the fray more aggressively.

Via Reuters,

China’s top envoy to Germany has warned the West against punishing Russia with sanctions for its intervention in Ukraine, saying such measures could lead to a dangerous chain reaction that would be difficult to control. In an interview with Reuters days before the European Union is threatening to impose its first sanctions on Russia since the Cold War, ambassador Shi Mingde issued the strongest warning against such measures by any top Chinese official to date.
“We don’t see any point in sanctions,” Shi said. “Sanctions could lead to retaliatory action, and that would trigger a spiral with unforeseeable consequences. We don’t want this.”
…
Using her [Merkel's] toughest rhetoric since the crisis began, she warned in a speech in parliament on Thursday that Russia risked “massive” political and economic damage if it did not change course in the coming days.
Russia’s Deputy Economy Minister Alexei Likhachev responded by promising “symmetrical” sanctions by Moscow. But Shi urged patience, saying the door for talks should remain open even after a referendum on Sunday in which Ukraine’s southern region of Crimea could vote to secede and join Russia. Merkel and other western leaders have denounced the referendum as illegal and demanded that it be canceled.
“We still see a chance to avoid an escalation. The door to talks is still open. We should use this possibility, also after the referendum,” Shi said.

After the Referendum, so when Russia is already in control. More importantly, China joins the fray with threats over West’s sanctions. Perhaps BTFWWIIID will make a re-appearance any minute now.

(ZeroHedge)

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Chinese Army (PLA) mobilizes 100,000 Troops for North Korean 'Border Exercise'

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PLZ-07 self-propelled howitzers of the 39th Army Group conduct a drill during the Iron Flow 134 exercise in December 2013. (Photo/Xinhua)

Nearly 100,000 Chinese soldiers and thousands of vehicles from the 16th and 39th Army Groups of the Shenyang Military Region have been mobilized for a winter exercise near the North Korean border to prepare for a potential crisis over the Korean peninsula, reports the Seoul-based Chosun Ilbo.

The exercise launched on Jan. 10 is being held in the border region between the Changbai mountain and Heilongjiang river, the paper said.

The drill is a normal military exercise to train soldiers to fight in winter and long-range conditions, according to national state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). However, a source from the People's Liberation Army said that it is very rare to see 100,000 military personnel mobilized for a regular exercise. The 39th Army Group has only just completed its "Iron Flow 134" exercise in the region late last year, the source added.

Chinese authorities have declared that no civilian vessels are allowed to enter the waters of the Bohai Strait and northern part of the Yellow Sea between Jan. 10-17 due to the military operation. Observers claim that the PLA chose to launch the military exercises after the execution of Jang Sung-taek, former vice chairman of North Korean National Defense Commission, by order of North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un. The latest political struggle and execution in the reclusive nation has concerned many in China as Jang was in charge of economic affairs and cooperation with China.

The CCTV report said that the current exercise is being held only 220 kilometers away from North Korea's Sinuiju Special Administrative Region. Observers said that it is a move to show strength and maintain regional security and stability on the Korean peninsula.

(WantChinaTimes.com)

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China vs US-Japan Pacific War "Just Weeks Away", warns Russia

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An “urgent” report issued today to the General Staff from the highly secretive Deputy Defense Minister General Pavel Popov is warning that war can be expected to erupt between the Pacific Powers of the United States, Peoples Republic of China and the State of Japan “within weeks” due to a power struggle currently “exploding” within the Communist Party of China (CPC).

According to this report, the recent decision by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to prosecute retired security tsar Zhou Yongkang’s son Zhou Bin for corruption is the “leading impetus” that has lead to a fracturing of loyalties in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) between those advocating immediate strikes against Japan and those cautioning a more strategic and diplomatic course of action in a number of territorial disputes between these two nations.

Zhou Yongkang, this report says, is a retired senior leader of the CPC and “no small fish” from the province of Sichuan where he was once the top official and headed the “petroleum mafia,” the once-impregnable fortresses of the big state-owned oil giants, which have deep military connections; and ruled the state security establishment under former Chinese leader Hu Jintao.

Since assuming power in November 2012, this report continues, President Xi Jinping began a largely secret war against Zhou Yongkang, but which broke into the open last year with the prosecution of Yongkang’s protégé and Central Politburo Member Bo Xilai who was sentenced to life imprisonment last September (2013) for corruption.

Because of President Xi Jinping’s fears of Zhou Yongkang, Russian military analysts in this report state, this past week he promoted as the new commander of the strategically important Beijing Garrison General Pan Liangshi, a veteran military commander with expertise in anti-terror maneuvers, and yet another move to consolidate his grip of the armed forces.

General Pavel Popov

General Popov, however, in his report warns the General Staff that President Xi Jinping’s moves against Zhou Yongkang, and for his consolidation of control over the PLA, are “too little and too late” as Chinese military forces still loyal to the former Security Minister are even now planning “deliberate and provocative” actions against Japan and threatening military force against the Philippines in order to start a Pacific War they believe will unseat the President Xi Jinping.

One such provocative action against the United States by PLA forces loyal to Zhou Yongkang cited by General Popov in this report lists a 5 December 2013 confrontation in the South China Sea between Chinese and US naval warships that nearly led to conflict and which President Xi Jinping was unaware of until protests against China were lodged by the US State Department.

Even worse, this report says, was the warning issued to Japan earlier today by PLA factions loyal to Zhou Yongkang that a “firm response” could be expected if Japan attacks Chinese ships, should Tokyo decide to take provocative action on the Senkaku Islands issue.

As Japanese military drills and deployments into the South China Sea area increase, General Popov further notes in his report, the stern words issued by Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera (who was overseeing the drills, and who vowed to protect the territory around the islands, which Japan considers to be its own) yesterday should not go unheeded, and who said:

“We can never overlook China’s repeated entries into our territorial waters. In addition to diplomatic efforts, we will cooperate with the Coast Guard to securely defend our territory and waters around the Senkaku islands.”

Even though China requires large food imports from the US, Brazil, Argentina and Australia to feed its growing middle class and urbanized elite, this report says, nevertheless a Chinese-Japanese war could break out over matters Westerners deem inconsequential.

And, according to this report, it would be a coalition war, and it could be big, bad, and long. The US-Japan alliance might appear solid in the early going, obscuring subterranean fractures within the alliance. Yet transpacific unity might dissipate should the struggle wear on and American resolve flag — exposing these fissures, all matters worth clarifying, General Popov warns, in allied circles now, “before things turn ugly.”

With China saying to America that they’re so serious about this conflict that they’re prepared to take the risks of being provocative in order to persuade the Obama regime to take seriously that they want to change the current order, but with no one truly knowing who speaks for the PLA, this report warns that even though the United States military remains the world’s most fearsome fighting force, unbeatable on a one-on-one basis, it could very well find itself in a protracted war that could end in nuclear Armageddon.

China is keenly aware of that fact too, this report concludes, so rather than orienting itself towards a total war it cannot win, China’s military strategy serves a smaller, but shrewder purpose — pushing the United States out of China’s backyard, a move that matches both President Xi Jinping’s and Zhou Yongkang’s goals too, no matter who wins out in this power struggle.

(WhatDoesItMean.com)

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Chinese Army to Establish "Death Star" Base on Moon

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The Chinese Long March-3B Rocket (File)

A report appearing in the pro-regime China Times brags that China’s launch of the Long March-3B rocket earlier this week is part of a long term plan to turn the moon into a Star Wars-style “death star” from which the PLA could launch missiles against any target on Earth.

It all sounds like something straight out of The Onion, but upon checking the sources it appears that this is indeed what Communist Party officials have been discussing this week following China’s flagship launch of a lunar rover, which is Beijing’s first spacecraft to land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.

The article appears on the Want China Times website, the English-language outlet of the The China Times Group, which is based in Taiwan and considered to be pro-unification and pro-Beijing. The article cites the Beijing Times, which is affiliated with the People’s Daily, as the source for the original report.

Under the headline PLA dreams of turning moon into Death Star, says expert, the report cites “experts in China” who are wargaming how the moon, “Can be transformed into a deadly weapon. Like the Death Star in Star Wars, the moon could hypothetically be used as a military battle station and ballistic missiles could be launched against any military target on Earth.”

“Various weapons testing sites could also be established on the moon,” the article adds, noting that the launch of the Long March-3B rocket is the start of “a more ambitious program.” This report again reminds us that some of Beijing’s most jingoistic and aggressive rhetoric is often hidden in plain view, with Chinese military planners perfectly willing to go on the record and brag about their agenda to turn China into a forceful military superpower.

Last month, Chinese state-run media released a map showing the locations of major U.S. cities and how they would be impacted by a nuclear attack launched from the PLA’s strategic submarine force. Top Chinese generals have also occasionally threatened America with nuclear strikes if the U.S. becomes embroiled in any future conflict involving Taiwan.

Tensions between the United States and China are currently running high after Beijing imposed an “air defense zone” over the disputed Senkaku Islands and hinted that it may shoot down any foreign aircraft entering the area. The U.S., Japan and South Korea quickly rendered this threat toothless by performing several overflights of the area without notifying Chinese authorities.

According to the Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, the escalating crisis represents a “watershed moment for the world,” could signal the start of a new cold war, and means “Asia is on the cusp of a full-blown arms race.”

China has acted with increasing military aggression in recent months, first by sending warships to the coast of Syria to in September to “observe” the actions of U.S. and Russian vessels in the region and then by sailing a surveillance ship through Hawaiian waters for the very first time in an unprecedented move which was described as a provocative retaliation to America’s naval presence in the East China Sea.

(InfoWars)

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Chinese Submarine Fires 2 Nuclear JL-2 Missiles off American Coastline near Oregon

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The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is reporting today that the Vityaz early-warning radar system deployed along the entire Russian border has confirmed the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) launching from their Type 092 Xia-class nuclear ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) of two atomic JL-2 missiles off the Northeast American coastline near the State of Oregon on Wednesday 30 October and Wednesday 20 November.

According to this report, these two latest sub-launched nuclear ballistic tests by China off the west coast of the United States were preceded by a similar test conducted on Monday 10 November 2010 when a Chinese Navy Jin class ballistic missile nuclear submarine, deployed secretly from its underground home base on the south coast of Hainan island, launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from international waters off the southern California coast in full view of Los Angeles.

As the Pentagon and their US mainstream media sycophants covered up the 10 November 2010 China missile launch, this MoD report continues, they have likewise labeled the 30 October missile launch as a fireball-meteor and the 20 November one as ‘maybe’ another fireball-meteor or contrail.

Important to note, Russian intelligence analysts in this report say, was that China “cryptically warned” the US about its planned 30 October launch test when on Sunday 27 October the world was given a rare glimpse into China's nuclear-powered submarine fleet, with State-owned media carrying extensive coverage of the previously mysterious strategic deterrence force.

Chinese Nuclear Submarine that fired the nuclear ballistic Missiles off American Coastline near Oregon

The unprecedented revealing of the underwater fleet was a demonstration of China's confidence in its sea-based nuclear strike capability and serves as a deterrent to any attempted provocation amid the changing geopolitical situation, said military observers.

Starting on Sunday 27 October, China Central Television carried serial coverage two days in a row on the submarine force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's Beihai fleet in its flagship news program Xinwen Lianbo.

The People's Daily, the PLA Daily and the China Youth Daily on Monday all carried front-page stories, features and commentaries on the submarine force, applauding its achievements since the launch of China's first nuclear-powered submarine in December 1970.

To the most chilling warning to the Obama regime from China regarding these missile tests the Washington Times News Service further reports:

“Chinese calculations for nuclear attacks on the U.S. are chillingly macabre.“Because the Midwest states of the U.S. are sparsely populated, in order to increase the lethality, [our] nuclear attacks should mainly target the key cities on the West Coast of the United States, such as Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego,” the Global Times said.“The 12 JL-2 nuclear warheads carried by one single Type 094 SSBN can kill and wound 5 million to 12 million Americans,” the Global Times reported.China also has developed land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles — notably the DF-31A, which has a range of 7,000 to 7,500 miles.“If we launch our DF 31A ICBMs over the North Pole, we can easily destroy a whole list of metropolises on the East Coast and the New England region of the U.S., including Annapolis, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Portland, Baltimore and Norfolk, whose population accounts for about one-eighth of America’s total residents.”All the state-run press reports stressed the point that the PLA’s missile submarines are now on routine strategic patrol, “which means that China for the first time has acquired the strategic deterrence and second strike capability against the United States.”

Though the American people themselves have been kept in near total ignorance of the coming war between them and China, the same cannot be said of the rest of the world, including Doug Saunders of The Globe and Mail, Canada's leading newspaper, who reported in its 15 July edition that the United States and China have been preparing for an all-out war and which we, in part, quote from The Nation News Service:

“Both the Pentagon and the People's Liberation Army are building up their military strategies. It appears that a global war is in the making.Saunders wrote that the Pentagon is proceeding with war preparations without oversight from the White House or Congress. This gives the impression that the Pentagon is operating as an independent state within the state. The Pentagon is relying on the AirSea Battle strategy, in which the US Army and Air Force will stand ready to support 320,000 military personnel in a simultaneous land and air attack against China in the event of a spillover war in the South China Sea or surrounding areas.President Obama has spoken of a pivot to Asia, followed by the US Defence Department's plan to move most of the US naval capability to the Asia Pacific to counter the rise of China. We can feel that the US military, in spite of the turmoil in Syria, Egypt and the Middle East, is re-asserting its influence in the Asia-Pacific. The US and China are now engaging in a full-scale currency war. A physical war could be the inevitable course. A rise of China threatens the US dollar as the world's reserve currency and the US supremacy.On China's side, we can assume that the Chinese leadership has ordered a full preparation for a war with the United States. China has secretly built up its military capability, with modern weapons and sophisticated technology. China said it is ready to develop an anti-AirSea Battle strategy. China's President has urged the military to prepare for the war and to fight to win.”

To how soon open warfare between China and the US will break out this report doesn’t say.  However, it does note that China’s “bombshell move” against the US Dollar this week makes its likelihood much sooner than later. In further reporting on China’s move against the US Dollar the dissident American website InfoWars.com states:

“China just dropped an absolute bombshell, but it was almost entirely ignored by the mainstream media in the United States.  The central bank of China has decided that it is “no longer in China’s favor to accumulate foreign-exchange reserves”.  During the third quarter of 2013, China’s foreign-exchange reserves were valued at approximately $3.66 trillion.
For years, China has been systematically propping up the value of the U.S. dollar and keeping the value of the yuan artificially low.  This has resulted in a massive flood of super cheap products from across the Pacific that U.S. consumers have been eagerly gobbling up.And now China has apparently decided that there is not much gutting of our economy left to do and that it is time to let the dollar collapse.”

(WhatDoesItMean.com)

(Mildly edited by Pakistan Cyber Force Web Desk)
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Pakistan-China Bilateral Trade Crosses $12 Billion Mark

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The overall bilateral trade between Pakistan and China in 2012 crossed the figure of $12 billion for the first time according to the latest data released by China Customs.

“This puts us firmly on track to achieve the target of $15 billion in the next two to three years, said Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Khalid following the news.

 “The leadership of the two countries has paid special attention in augmenting and cementing trade relations between our two countries and bringing them at par with our strategic partnership and political relations,” the Ambassador added.

 The data shows that Pakistan-China trade increased by 17.6% to a total of $12.4 billion in 2012. In a welcome development, Pakistan’s exports to China increased by 48.2% to $3.14 billion while imports from China increased by 9.9% to $9.2 billion. The two way trade in 2011 was $10.6 billion.

 The biggest increase in Pakistan exports to China in 2012 has been in textiles and textile articles, vegetable products, ores and mineral products, leather goods and base metals. Similarly, major imports from China include machinery and mechanical appliances, textiles and textile products, metals, chemical products, mineral ores, plastic scrap and transport equipment.

 Ambassador Khalid praised the role played by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and the Pakistan Federation of Chambers and Commerce in boosting the trade between the two countries.

 He said Pakistan also actively participated in a number of fairs last year such as the Eurasia Expo, Canton Fair and Kunming Fair which provided exhibitors from Pakistan to display their products and helped boost exports. Pakistan traders have been especially focusing on textiles, leather, sports goods, precious stones and handicrafts, he said.

 “We hope to build on this momentum and further increase our trade in future,” said Ambassador Khalid. More trade delegations from Pakistan would be encouraged to visit China and participate in the fairs, he said.

“We have an excellent and broad economic architecture in place between our two countries. In order to exploit it fully, it is vital to diversify our export basket, introduce value addition and provide better quality of goods and services,” he added.

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China planning manned space mission for June 2013

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This file photo taken on June 16, 2012 shows
the Shenzhou-9 -- China's fourth manned space
mission -- blasting off from the Jiuquan space
base, in northwest China's Gansu province in
the remote Gobi desert. (AFP Photo)

China’s next manned orbital mission is to take place in June next year, the country’s top space official said. Beijing's rapid rise as a space-faring nation is part of its global ambition to cement its superpower status. ­The Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, which is to be launched in June 2013, will most likely carry a crew of two men and a woman, just like its predecessor Shenzhou-9, the deputy commander-in-chief of China's manned space program said on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party.

"They will stay in space for 15 days, operating both automated and manual space dockings with the target orbiter Tiangong-1, conducting scientific experiments in the lab module and giving science lectures to spectators on Earth," Niu Hongguang told China National Radio. Tiangong-1 is the country's first experimental space station developed, among other things, to test docking capabilities and ultimately place a larger modular station into orbit by 2020. To achieve this, Tiangong-1 is planned to be taken out of orbit in 2013 and substituted by bigger modules, the Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3.

"Tiangong-1, with a design life of two years, will likely remain in orbit for further operations after the space docking with Shenzhou-10," Niu said. For now, Tiangong-1, which has been in space since September 2011, successfully docked to the Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft last November and the manned Shenzhou-9 craft, with Liu Yang, China's first woman in space, on board, this past June. That mission will most likely see another Chinese woman reach for the stars, Niu speculated. In the coming mission, Shenzhou-10 aims to test the lab module's functions, as well as the abilities of the taikonauts, China's astronauts, in space. "The success of this mission might enable China to construct a space lab and a space station," Niu added.

Continuing its ambitious space plans, China's latest white paper, published in late 2011, also calls for a manned moon mission – an achievement that only the USZ has managed to tackle. "China will conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human lunar landing," the State Council white paper said, calling for exploration of planets and asteroids. But before taikonauts step on the moon, Beijing has said it will also attempt to land an exploratory craft on the lunar surface in the second half of 2013 to transmit data on the topography of our closest celestial neighbor. China sees its space program as a symbol of national pride, rising global influence and growing technical expertise.

Beijing began its manned space program in 1992, and within a year successfully sent Yang Liwei, the country's first taikonaut, into orbit onboard the Shenzhou-5. Further success followed in 2005 and in 2008, when Zhai Zhigang became the first taikanout to conduct extra-vehicular activities. The announcement of the 2013 space mission comes as China prepares for once-in-a-decade power transition at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party.

 (RT)

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China Blasts Japan on "Stealing" Disputed Islands

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Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi says Japan “stole” from China a group of islands in the East China Sea, disputed by Beijing and Tokyo.

“China strongly urges Japan to immediately stop all activities that violate China’s territorial sovereignty, take concrete actions to correct its mistakes and return to the track of resolving the dispute through negotiation,” Yang said in an address to the 67th session of the UN General Assembly in New York City on Thursday.

“The moves taken by Japan are totally illegal and invalid. They can in no way change the historical fact that Japan stole Diaoyu and its affiliated islands from China and the fact that China has territorial sovereignty over them.”

On September 11, Tokyo signed a deal to buy three of the islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, from their private Japanese owner in line with plans to nationalize the archipelago.

The move has angered the Chinese government and led to several anti-Japan demonstrations in China.

Yang’s remarks came after Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Wednesday that Tokyo will not compromise on the territorial dispute with Beijing, adding that the islands “are an integral part of our territory in the light of history and of international law.”

Japan and China have long been in a dispute over the sovereignty of the uninhabited islands, which are located near a crucial shipping lane and would give the owner exclusive oil, mineral and fishing rights in the surrounding waters.

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Chinese Destroyer Enters Mediterranean via Suez

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A Chinese destroyer sailed through Egypt's Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea, Egyptian daily Al-Shuruk reported on Sunday.

The destroyer could be on its way to the Syrian coast, the Egyptian newspaper reported, adding that the warship is planning to hold naval manoeuvres in the area.

Al Shuruk daily further claimed that the canal authority authorized the Chinese ship's crossing through the canal following permission from the Egyptian armed forces.

Meanwhile, Egypt's Al-Wafd website reported that high security measures were taken during the ship's crossing of the canal.

Beijing, an ally of Syria, has repeatedly blocked Western-backed Security Council attempts to increase pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to end the violence sparked by a government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Last month reports claiming that the armies of Iran, China, Russia and Syria are planning to hold naval manoeuvres in the Mediterranean Sea were circling the media outlets. According to the report, 90,000 soldiers from the four countries will take part in the large-scale maritime war games, which will be held off the Syrian coastline. 

In February, two Iranian naval ships sailed through Egypt's Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, and according to Iranian reports, the ships docked in Syria.

Just last month, Russia said that it had dispatched a flotilla of 11 warships to the eastern Mediterranean, some of which would dock in Syria.

Moscow's gesture was the largest display of Russian military power in the region since the Syrian conflict began. Nearly half of the ships were capable of carrying hundreds of marines.

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China Threatens With Furious Retaliation In Growing Trade Wars

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Last week it was the Fairness Distributor In Chief threatening China with WTO action over its unfair duties on US car imports. Before that it was Europe trying to protect its crumbling trade at all costs with its primary trade partner. Now, it is China’s turn to retort to the world’s beggars, and all those who just happen to ravenously import its iWares with the reckless abandon of a gadget junkie.

FT reports: “Beijing has threatened swift retaliation against a range of European Union industries if Brussels presses ahead with an investigation into government subsidies granted to two Chinese telecoms equipment companies.

The Chinese threat was delivered at a meeting with EU trade officials in Beijing late last month that was arranged at the behest of Chen Deming, China’s commerce minister, to try to defuse a brewing trade dispute that is straining commercial relations between the two sides. Instead, it collapsed into acrimony, with the Chinese warning their EU visitors that they would respond to any investigation of Huawei and ZTE Corp by probing subsidies granted to European agriculture, automotive, renewable energy and telecoms companies. “Put it this way: it’s not like they went for a beer after and watched football,”one person briefed on the meeting said.” None of this is new: recall China Lays Out Conditions Under Which It Will Bail Out Europe; Does Not Want To Be Seen As“Source Of Dumb Money“ in which Li Daokui “added that Beijing might also ask European leaders to refrain from criticising China’s currency policy, a frequent source of tension with trade partners.” Looks like we can scrap those “China bails out Europe” (ignore the fact that the Chinese economy itself is imploding for a second) rumor in perpetuity.

FromFT:

Karel De Gucht, the EU trade commissioner, declined to comment. An EU official sought to play down the meeting, saying that Brussels would wait to see what level of co-operation the Chinese would provide in an effort to ward off a formal trade complaint.

Nonetheless, concerns about the Chinese reaction – and pressure from worried member states –appear to have put on ice a case that once seemed imminent, according to several EU diplomats. They said it was now unlikely that Mr De Gucht would act before September.

In the meantime, both sides are bracing for another trade confrontation in the solar industry. European solar companies have been preparing a complaint accusing Chinese competitors of using improper government subsidies to underprice them, and requesting punitive tariffs. That complaint could materialise as early as this week, according to people familiar with the matter, and could also trigger Chinese retribution.

Combating Chinese government subsidies has been one of Mr De Gucht’s top priorities. The cutting-edge telecoms equipment industry, in which Huawei and ZTE have quickly gained market share, would be a signature case.

Yet it is one thing for bureaucrat to sabre rattle, it is something totally different for idiotic trade war proposals to get traction with corporations:

Mr De Gucht’s case has been undermined by a lack of support from European telecoms companies – Ericsson, Siemens-Nokia, and Alcatel-Lucent – which fear that any action from Brussels could harm their own business interests in China’s fast-growing market.

In an effort to get around that, he has drawn up plans to launch the complaint at the commission’s initiative – and not based on a complaint from a company –setting a new precedent in EU trade defence.

Trade analysts in Brussels said that some member states had also expressed reservations about the case after receiving complaints from Beijing. Germany is understood to be wary of igniting a trade war with China before a planned visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel in August.

And now that China has told Europe what it can do with its empty threats, it is time for it to shift its attention to the US.

(infowars)

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Nuclear cooperation with Pakistan: China rejects western pressure

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China has rejected US and western pressure for cooperation with Pakistan in neuclear field.

The USZ and several western countries have expressed reservations on Pak-China cooperation in the nuclear field during Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting.

The meeting was held in Setal, USZ on June 21-22.The western countries have raised several questions on construction of two new nuclear reactors at Chasma Power Plant in Pakistan with collaboration of China. However, China rejected all their concerns and refused to provide any information in this regard.

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China Launches 2 Satellites with Single Rocket into Space

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China successfully launched two satellites into space for its Beidou global navigation and positioning network, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, referring to the launch center. The Beidou-2 satellites, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan at 4:50 a.m. Beijing Time Monday, were lifted into space by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and have entered the scheduled orbit. It is the first time China has launched two navigation satellites, the 12th and 13th of its indigenous global navigation and positioning network, with one rocket.

“The two satellites will help improve the accuracy of the Beidou, or Compass system,” the agency quoted the center as saying in a statement. China will launch three more satellites for the Beidou network this year and its global satellite positioning and navigation system will be completed in 2020 with more than 30 orbiters. Beidou currently provides navigation services within China and the neighboring regions. After completion, the project would become an equivalent of the USZ Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Glonass, and Europe's Galileo.

(Agencies)

Enticing Fury

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China Tests multi-role J-10 fighters near disputed Indian border

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China has conducted a massive military exercise in the high altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, close to the disputed borders with India, during which it has for the first time tested the multi-role J-10 fighter jets. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force have conducted ground attack training over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the "first operation of its kind", official media reported on Thursday. According to a report and photos released by PLA Daily, the ground crew of J-10 regiment fuelled the fighters and loaded ammunition on the 3,500-meter-high plateau at temperatures below -20 C. The fighters scrambled and attacked the targets with conventional as well as laser-guided bombs.

Sorties were made both during the day and at night, the report said. It was the second time that the official media released photos of the home made J-10 fighter using laser-guided bombs. The exercises were highlighted today by another official daily - The Global Times. The rare display of the news about exercises was seen as a message to the Indian side, which is also beefing up its border regions along the Line of Actual Control, (LAC) by deploying its top end fighter aircraft. The J-10, which was also being sold to Pakistan, took part in exercises in October last year conducted by PLA incorporating air forces and air defence units as well as armour and artillery units in Tibet Autonomous Region.

(The Nation)

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New International Currency? Japan to buy 65 Billion Yuan of Chinese Govt. Debt

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Japan will buy 65 billion yuan ($10.3 billion) of Chinese government debt, the country's finance minister said on Tuesday, giving China a mark of approval in the credibility of the yuan as an international currency. Other countries are investing in China through state agencies, but Japan's investment is by far the biggest in the yuan. As a currency with limited convertibility, such bets are symbolic of the shift in global power towards China as the world's fastest-growing major economy. Despite sometimes rancorous political ties between the two neighbors, Japan's economic fortunes are increasingly tied to China's economic growth and consumer demand. China is already Japan's biggest trade partner and the two countries hold the world's biggest piles of foreign exchange reserves -- $3.2 trillion in China and $1.3 trillion in Japan.

"For China, the move is linked to its efforts to internationalize the yuan -- allowing foreign investments in its debt market will make the yuan more accepted internationally," said Zhang Yongjun, an economist at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, a government think tank. Japan's finance minister, Jun Azumi, said on Tuesday that Japan had received permission from China to buy 65 billion yuan in Chinese government debt. He said Tokyo needed to carry out some administrative steps in coming months before purchases could begin. "We feel this is an appropriate amount when considering our mutual goal of strengthening economic cooperation between Japan and China," Azumi told reporters.

AN INTERNATIONAL CURRENCY?
Japan and China agreed at a summit in December to strengthen financial cooperation and that included increased use of the yuan and yen in bilateral trade as well as Tokyo's buying of Chinese government bonds. The Japanese investment will be handled outside of China's Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) programme, a quota system and the primary channel for foreign portfolio investment, the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo said. Japan is likely to buy a small amount of debt at first and then increase purchases while considering possible market impact when choosing the timing of the transactions, Azumi added. "The market impact should be manageable because the amount isn't that large and the market for dollars is huge," said Junya Tanase, chief foreign exchange strategist at JPMorgan Bank in Tokyo.

"Still, this is significant for economic cooperation and reserves diversification. It's difficult to tell now, but it is possible for the amount of bond purchases to increase in the future." Japanese purchases of Chinese bonds would also be a sign of credibility in Beijing's long-term efforts to elevate the yuan's status as an international currency. That effort so far has involved China's promotion of the yuan to settle trade. Beijing has struck agreements with several nations from Malaysia to Belarus and Argentina on the use of the yuan in trade and other transactions. It has expanded a pilot programme started in 2009 into a nationwide one allowing firms to settle their trade in yuan. The result has been a relative surge in the use of the currency. More than 9 percent of China's total trade was settled in yuan in 2011, up from just 0.7 percent in 2010.

CROSS HOLDINGS
China said on Monday it would continue its purchases of Japanese government debt, but would reduce purchases when the yen is rising to avoid exacerbating the negative impact of a strong yen on exports. At 82.25 per dollar, the yen is off a record high reached last October of 75.31 yen, but corporate Japan is highly sensitive to the exchange rate. Japan hopes cross-holdings of investments between China and Japan will improve economic cooperation and communication between the two countries. Japan may gain more insight into Chinese thinking on the yuan through the cross-holdings, a source in Japan said. The risk for both China and Japan is that sudden big purchases of their debt could have a major impact on their respective markets, so communicating their investment intentions would be important.

China and Japan have been talking about diversifying their foreign assets, but Japan particularly has been at pains to reassure of its unwavering confidence in the U.S. dollar, the globe's pre-eminent reserve currency. Foreign investors can invest in China's stock and bond markets only through the QFII programme. The government has so far granted $24.55 billion in such quotas to nearly 130 institutions. Nigeria indicated in September it wanted to diversify up to 10 percent of its $34 billion in foreign exchange reserves into yuan and the Financial Times reported the same month that Malaysia had bought yuan-denominated bonds. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, agreed at a meeting on December 25 to support Japanese businesses issuing yuan bonds in Tokyo and other markets outside of China. Japan Bank for International Cooperation would also begin a pilot scheme for issuing yuan-denominated bonds in mainland China.

"Japan's buying of Chinese bonds will definitely help the process of yuan internationalization," said Li-Gang Liu, chief China economist at ANZ in Hong Kong. "Increased buying by advanced countries of Chinese bonds will help boost confidence in yuan assets and speed up the process of yuan internationalization." Few argue against the idea that the yuan will one day become a reserve currency. The World Bank expects China, which generated around $5.8 trillion in gross domestic product in 2010 compared with $14.5 trillion in the United States of Zionism, to become the world's top economy before 2030. But to be a reserve currency the yuan would need to become full convertible, analysts say. So far China has not indicated any timetable for achieving that although the central bank said on Monday it will encourage the value of the currency to be set by the market and step back from intervention "in an orderly manner".

(Reuters)

Mildly edited by Enticing Fury

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