A look at the Chinese grand-plan-1 (a) the Belt and Road ( Archived) (91)

Israel says it plans to ban Al-Jazeera

Briton missing for three days in Australian outback found

Number of homeless Australians climbs

ASEAN takes tougher stance on South China Sea

10 foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reiterated in a joint statement Saturday their grave concerns over the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the North's two ICBM tests last month, saying the launches threaten world stability.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said earlier that the ASEAN ministers were divided over a U.S. proposal to remove North Korea from the ASEAN Regional Forum, a 27-member grouping that includes the North, along with its most bitter adversaries — South Korea, the United States and Japan.

China Is Funding A $900 Billion Modern Silk Road Trading Route
The $900 billion Chinese-led infrastructure project is envisaged to connect the three adjacent continents along five routes. The “Silk Road Economic Belt” will link China to Europe, Middle-East, and other parts of Asia by land. The “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” is focused on creating seagoing paths from the Chinese coastal ports to Europe via the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. China will also gain access to the South Pacific Ocean through a South China Sea route.


China Takes Over Key Abu Dhabi Port And FTZ; The Maritime Silk Road Cannot Be Stopped

China pumping over $46.6 billion into new/reinvigorated port projects in countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, Australia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Djibouti, Greece, and now the UAE.

China Extends Her Silk Road To Haiti

China now stands to have influence in the Caribbean corridor stretching from Cuba to Venezuela.

China’s new Silk Road risks unravelling in Hungary
China has begun building a railway that will link the port with Budapest via Serbia. But the start of work in Hungary has been hit by problems and construction of the Belgrade-Budapest route has been halted.

Currency Wars Along the Silk Road
Which will emerge on top in Central Asia: the dollar, the yuan, or even Bitcoin?

The Pentagon has given US military bases permission to shoot down or otherwise destroy consumer drones flying overhead and nearby.

The move comes days after the US Army ordered its own troops to stop using drones made by Chinese manufacturer DJI because of alleged "cyber-vulnerabilities"

Chinese man caught transporting two human arms

According to Pear Video, a 50-year-old man surnamed Zheng was approached by authorities at a bus station in Duyun, Guizhou province, after the limbs showed up on the station's security scanner on 31 July.

However, Mr Zheng explained that he had been transporting the body parts for his brother, who had had them amputated after an electric incident.
Mr Zheng said that his brother had asked for his help in transporting the limbs back to him, so that when he dies, his body can be buried in one piece.


Trump challenging China on trade would spark 'very aggressive' response, expert predicts

The warning comes after the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said relations between the US and China – re-established by Chairman Mao and Richard Nixon in 1972 – had reached “a pivot point” after more than four decades of “no conflict”.


On Sunday, the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, struck a similar note, telling reporters the most important task facing Chinese diplomats now was to be “well prepared” for Trump’s upcoming visit to China. That trip would help “to map out the relations of the next 50 years”, Wang said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Zuma Survives (Another) No-Confidence Vote In South Africa's Parliament

Russian plane makes observation flight over CIA, Pentagon and White House

A US State Department official confirmed that the path of the observation flight had been agreed by Washington and Moscow

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Japan can intercept North Korean missile headed towards Guam — defense minister

Russia, Indonesia to boost anti-terrorist cooperation
Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Wahid Supriyadi earlier told TASS that the two countries were close to reaching contract concerning the delivery of the Sukhoi Su-35 aircraft to Indonesia.

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Trump thanks Russia for expelling US diplomats, says it would help to cut payroll

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Russia ready to help China deal with earthquake aftermath

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German politician slams Trump’s North Korea rhetoric as dangerous

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Cambodia mobilizes troops on Laos border in blow to Silk Road

August 17 deadline for their departure, warning that he was mobilizing soldiers to the border area.

Cambodia and Communist Laos are key allies of giant northern neighbor China, backing its "One Belt, One Road" drive to build regional infrastructure, but it was not immediately clear how their dispute would affect the plans.


Chinese acquisitions in the 68 countries officially linked to President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy totalled US$33 billion as of Monday, surpassing the US$31 billion tally for all of 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Unveiled in 2013, the “Belt and Road” project is aimed at building a modern-day “Silk Road”, connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Central Asia and beyond to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

lot of activities recently in Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar. The whole Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh corridor is also hot as it’s connecting the East and West

The ‘Belt and Road’ projects China doesn’t want anyone talking about
Yunnan authorities obscure location of refinery at end of pipeline from Myanmar and order media to stop mentioning ‘Trans-Asia Railway’

China’s economic diplomacy efforts as the terminus of oil and gas pipelines from the Bay of Bengal and the starting point of a planned railway network winding through Indo-China to Singapore.



India Builds Highway to Thailand to Counter China's Silk Road

Extend the Myanmar-Thailand link to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, shortening travel from Mekong River to India using water transport

Chinese road to riches or road to ruin?

France, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Portugal and the UK were among the countries that refused to sign up to the final summit text. Concerns included a lack of transparency on public procurement and social and environmental standards.

The warning issued by Germany’s economy minister in which she states that “more guarantees from Beijing on free trade, environmental protection and working conditions are needed before the EU will be able to sign a joint statement on China's 'One Belt, One Road' trade initiative”, is further illustrative of these tensions.



Chinese acquisitions in the 68 countries officially linked to President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy totalled $33 billion as of Monday, surpassing the $31 billion tally for all of 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data.

At a summit in May, Xi pledged $124 billion for the plan, but it has faced suspicion in western capitals that it is intended more to assert Chinese influence than Beijing’s professed desire to spread prosperity.



China signs deals with 69 entities under Belt and Road

Some key infrastructure projects, including the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, have seen fast development with the active participation of Chinese companies, said the spokesperson.

More than 4,000 cargo train trips have been made between China and Europe, with the trains passing through 31 cities in 12 European countries.

In terms of finance, China has signed currency swap agreements with 22 countries and regions along the Belt and Road, with total size reaching about one trillion yuan (about 150 billion U.S. dollars).

The US and Japan have agreed to advance their multilateral security and defence cooperation with countries like India, South Korea and Australia, amidst China's growing assertiveness in the Asia Pacific region.


China today asked Japan not to make "random" comments on the Sino-Indian border stand-off even if it wants to support New Delhi.

Japan has rallied behind India over the dragging feud at Doklam, with its envoy Kenji Hiramatsu saying that the region is disputed and Tokyo understands why New Delhi got embroiled in it.

Saudi Arabia reopens Qatar border after surprise meeting
Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he welcomed the Saudi decision, but that the measures must also include a full lifting of the blockade.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the world have already arrived in Saudi Arabia for the hajj, which begins late next week. Saudi Arabia prides itself on hosting millions of pilgrims annually at Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina.
China, Saudi Arabia agree to strengthen economic ties
China, Ethiopia vow to promote military ties
Pointing out that Thailand, located along the Belt and Road routes where land meets sea, will undoubtedly become an important partner of China in the construction of the Belt and Road, Wang called for closer cooperation in Thailand-China railway project so as to achieve greater synergy between the markets of the two countries.


Planet Earth is set for a close shave next month when a rock measuring 4.4 km (2.7 miles) will pass by our planet next month. According to US space agency NASA, Asteroid Florence, a large near-Earth asteroid, will pass safely by Earth on September 1, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles, (7.0 million kilometers, or about 18 Earth-Moon distances).

While the planet is safe from any possibility of a collision, it is set for a closer shave in October when asteroid 2012 TC4 brushes past within 50,100 km (31,130 mi) or just 0.13 lunar distances.

The relief though is that this rock is much smaller, measuring only 15 m (49 ft) across.


China calls on U.S., Japan to stop remarks on Diaoyu Islands, South China Sea

MOSCOW, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia will strengthen its military presence in Central Asia due to the continuously unstable situation in the territory, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday.
"The situation in Central Asia remains unstable. The armed conflicts between the government troops, Taliban, and ISIS continued in Afghanistan," Shoigu said during a board session of the military department.

Britain's biggest flagship of the Royal Navy, HMS Queen Elizabeth, Wednesday sailed for the first time into Portsmouth, its home port, and was greeted by thousands of people.

Rather than paying top dollar for New York hotels or Sydney development sites, Chinese companies and now being encouraged to build oil pipelines in Central Asia or high speed rail lines in South East Asia.

The Silk Road Economic Belt will offer 3 major routes connecting China to Europe (via Central Asia), the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean (through West Asia), and the Indian Ocean (via South Asia). While the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is planned to create connections among regional waterways. These corridors will have energy and industrial clusters comprising of rail, roads, waterways, airways, pipelines, and information highways to promote development in the areas. There are 6 main corridors:

New Eurasian Land bridge, running from Western China to Western Russia
China–Mongolia–Russia Corridor, running from Northern China to Eastern Russia
China–Central Asia–West Asia Corridor, running from Western China to Turkey
China–Indochina Peninsula Corridor, running from Southern China to Singapore
Bangladesh-China-Myanmar Corridor, running from Southern China to Myanmar.
China- Pakistan Corridor, running from South-Western China to Pakistan
Besides the above Corridors, the Maritime Silk Road would run from the Chinese Coast through Singapore to the Mediterranean.



Russian industrial town gets direct rail link with China
August 21, 2017, 5:45 am

n a boost for Russia-China trade ties, a new freight train service began Sunday, linking Russia’s Perm with Golmud in Qaidam Basin, northwest China’s Qinghai Province.
The train, loaded with containers of chemical, left China through the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang, and will pass Kazakhstan before reaching Perm, a Russian industrial city of a million people.

The trip covers about 6,360 kilometers and takes 10 days. Officials said transporting goods by train is about a month faster than by ship.

The new freight route is also part of China’s New Silk Road plan.



China is the largest foreign holder of American debt again
August 17, 2017, 7:29 am

The nation raised its ownership of US government bonds, notes and bills government debt, increasing $44 billion to $1.15 trillion in June, according to Treasury Department figures released Wednesday.

This is the biggest increase since March 2015.

Japan had held the position of America’s largest creditor for the past eight months, but it sold 21 billion dollars in US bonds in June.

US-China trade ties have come under pressure after US President Donald Trump on Monday directed US trade representative Robert Lighthizer to examine China’s intellectual property practices, despite worries about potential harms to China-US trade ties.

China on Tuesday said it will “not sit by and watch”.

“If the U.S. side ignores the facts, and disrespects multilateral trade principles in taking actions that harms both sides trade interests, China will absolutely not sit by and watch, will inevitably adopt all appropriate measures, and resolutely safeguard China’s lawful rights,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

China’s Belt & Road members tally increases to 69
A freight train from Yiwu City in east China’s Zhejiang Province, arrives in Barking, east London, Britain, on Jan. 18, 2017
China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) has met with increasing acceptance from both developing and developed countries as the total number of countries, regions, and international organizations signing up for it have reached 69.

Xi calls for strong army, tells China troops `World isn't safe'

“The world isn’t safe at this moment," Mr Xi, wearing a camouflage military uniform, said on Sunday after riding in an open jeep at an army parade in Inner Mongolia. “A strong army is needed now more than ever."

The speech came just hours after US President Donald Trump lambasted China for failing to do more to stop North Korea’s nuclear program, saying “we will no longer allow this to continue.” North Korea, which relies on ally China for food and fuel, test-fired a second intercontinental ballistic missile late on Friday night.

Over the past two years, Mr Xi has overseen the most sweeping changes to China’s military since the 1950s in an effort to create a fighting force that can win modern wars. The modernisation drive, which has focused on expanding China’s air and naval reach, is challenging more than 70 years of US military dominance in the Western Pacific.




Sri Lanka's president has fired the justice minister for his criticism of the government, including a decision to sell a majority the shares of a sea port to China.

President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday approved a request made by his United National Party to dismiss Wijeyadasa Rajapakse.

The party accused Rajapakse of breaching the collective responsibility of the cabinet of ministers by criticising the port deal, other government policies and some of his colleagues.

The Sri Lankan government last month signed a long-delayed agreement to sell a 70% stake in a US$1.5 billion port to China, to help it recover from the heavy burden of repaying a Chinese loan obtained to build the facility.

Divers find remains of all missing from USS McCain collision

The Navy also ordered an operational pause for its fleets worldwide to make sure all steps are being taken to ensure safe and effective operations. The Pacific Fleet will also carry out a ship-by-ship review of its vessels, looking at navigation, mechanical systems, bridge resource management and training.

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Nearly two dozen buses and 11 ambulances carried the militants and their families from the area straddling the Syria-Lebanon border toward the IS-held town of Boukamal in eastern Syria.

Syrian Al-Ikhbariya TV reported that there were about 250 militants in the transfer. The Central Military Center, a media outlet run by Hezbollah, said ambulances ferried 25 IS wounded fighters from the area.



Russia has sent two large newly-upgraded submarines to reinforce its naval presence in the Mediterranean, where it has a Syrian base, the defence ministry said on Monday.

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2017-08-29

To ease the tension on the Korean Peninsula, China advocates a "double suspension" approach, which requires the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-Republic of Korea military exercises.

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Ship collisions raise specter of Chinese electronic warfare
On July 30, the PLA showed off some of its new electronic warfare gear at an annual military parade in Inner Mongolia. Among the hundreds of armaments on display at the event was equipment used to disrupt enemy radar and communications in air defense and ground combat.

Chinese military writings for years have discussed the use of electronic warfare and in late 2015 the PLA upgraded its electronic warfare troops and cyber warfare force into a new military service called the Strategic Support Force.

Literature on the subject includes a 2012 report, published in the journal Shipboard Electronic Countermeasure, on the PLA’s development of the “Wolf Group at Sea,” described as a distributed electronic warfare system that will be used to attack battle groups at sea.

A 2011 report by a research Institute at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., one of Beijing’s main arms manufacturers, outlines an “anti-Aegis defense system” for use against American Aegis battle management-equipped warships. Most of the US Navy’s missile and missile defense ships, including both the McCain and Fitzgerald, are Aegis warships. Japan and South Korea also operate Aegis warships.