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Friday, January 31, 2014

CHINA REVEALS 'ACE' AGAINST U.S. MILITARY AND LAUGHS



WASHINGTON – Members of the Chinese military are looking to use an electromagnetic pulse as part of a “one-two punch” to knock out – literally within seconds – all defensive electronics not only on Taiwan but also on U.S. warships that could defend the island.
This revelation comes in an article by Lou Xiaoqing who says the People’s Liberation Army sees an EMP weapon as the primary means of incapacitating Taiwan and disabling American defenders nearby.
Given that such a strategy was made public in an article entitled “Electromagnetic pulse bombs are Chinese ace,” it is seen as reflecting the official Chinese government position.
Xaoqing said that if the Chinese were to use a high-altitude nuclear device which would create the destructive EMP impact on Taiwan’s electronics, it would be exploded at an attitude of 18 miles to avoid damaging civilian and military equipment on the Chinese mainland, which might happen if the bomb exploded at a higher altitude.
“China is attracted to the fight against the U.S. military after the effective range, using them as a means of surprise attack or an intimidation factor,” Xaoqing said. “The United States will abandon the use of aircraft carrier battle groups to defend Taiwan.”
Xaoqing said that the Chinese military has calculated that the U.S. military is too fragmented and, coupled with the downturn in the economy, would be less likely to come to Taiwan’s assistance, forcing Taiwan to defend itself.
Contrary to popular belief, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act does not require the United States to intervene militarily if the Chinese mainland attacks Taiwan. Instead, it has adopted what is called a policy of “strategic ambiguity” in which the U.S. neither will confirm nor deny that it would intervene on Taiwan’s behalf.
The legislation, however, does require the U.S. to “provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character” and “to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan.”
As WND previously has reported, China is giving a priority to developing EMP weapons that could be used against U.S. aircraft carriers, which increasingly are arriving in the South and East China Seas as part of the new U.S. “pivot” policy toward Asia.
That policy is to challenge China’s claims over all of the East and South China Seas and the increasing assertiveness by Beijing, which is trying to gain exclusive control over vital minerals and energy in the region.
There already have been instances of military confrontations between China and neighbors such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan.
With a history of animosity, China and Japan now have conflicting claims of ownership over two South China Sea islands.
China calls the islands Diaoyu while Japan refers to them as Senkaku. The Japanese have evidence of their claim – in having purchased them from private citizens years ago – and the U.S. supports Japan’s claim.
A 2005 U.S. National Ground Intelligence Center study that was classified secret but released two years ago said China’s development of high-powered microwave weapons is part of its “assassin’s mace” arsenal – weapons that allow a technologically inferior country such as China and even North Korea to defeat U.S. military forces.
Microwaves and the gamma rays from a nuclear blast are forms of electromagnetic energy. The bombs are designed to be exploded at a high altitude to knock out all unprotected electronics, including electrical grids, computers and automobiles over a wide geographical area.
Even the declassified NGIC report pointed out that the use of an EMP against Taiwan at an altitude of 30 to 40 kilometers would “confine the EMP effects to Taiwan and its immediate vicinity and minimize damage to electronics on the mainland.”
The report particularly said that China’s DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile could be the platform to be used to launch an EMP attack on Taiwan.
In outlining China’s one-two punch, Xaoqing said that in the first punch the Chinese military would disable non-hardened electronics and command and control centers.
He said that an EMP would be especially attractive because it acts with the speed of light in any kind of weather, would hit multiple targets over a wide area and minimize damage in politically sensitive environments.
Given the relatively low altitude of 18 miles at which a Chinese EMP would be detonated over Taiwan, Xaoqing said the second punch would create certain health effects from exposure to an EMP.
He said that based on Chinese research in 2005 that assessed the effects of an EMP on heart cells, it would make peoples’ hearts unable to function as well as they should, with possible death or serious damage of the heart and, by extension, death to those exposed to an EMP.
If exposed to explosions at higher altitudes, the effects of an EMP would be less damaging to peoples’ health, he said.
While there wouldn’t be a 100 percent kill rate, Xaoqing said, he said it could lead to long term disability to those most susceptible to an EMP, such as the elderly, young and unborn.

official PMI slips to six-month low


China's January official PMI slips to six-month low

BEIJING Fri Jan 31, 2014

A worker operates a machine to cut a pipeline at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong province November 29, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily
A worker operates a machine to cut a pipeline at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong province November 29, 2013.
CREDIT: REUTERS/CHINA DAILY

RELATED TOPICS

(Reuters) - China's factory growth eased to an expected six-month low in January, hurt by weaker local and foreign demand, a survey showed, a soft start for the year that heightens worries of an economic slowdown.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged down to 50.5 in January from December's 51, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, in line with market expectations.
The change reinforces concerns that China's economy is stuttering and could drag on financial markets on Monday as global investors, already nervous about capital flight in emerging markets, find another reason to sell riskier assets.
Emerging market stocks and currencies were sold off in the past week as investors cut financial bets in developing nations, in anticipation that the United States will continue to move to less easy monetary policy. Super-easy U.S. policy had spurred a flow of cash into emerging markets in recent years.
Saturday's PMI showed China's factories saw fewer export orders and slacker growth in new orders last month. A sub-index for new orders fell to a six-month low of 50.9, and export orders slipped to 49.3, also a six-month low and below the 50-point threshold separating growth from contraction in PMIs.
An employment sub-index fell to an 11-month low of 48.2.
Analysts had cautioned before Saturday's release that the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday, which began on January 31, probably dragged on factory output in January as manufacturers shut shop for China's biggest annual holiday.
But seasonal factors aside, most analysts noted that China's economy was fighting headwinds that would only grow in coming months as the country hunkers down for sweeping reforms.
A Reuters visit to China's southern manufacturing heartlands in January had showed factories smarting from lackluster demand. Discouraged, many had packed up earlier than usual for the holidays.
"We expect China's first-quarter economic growth to show a certain degree of a slowdown," ANZ economists Liu Ligang and Zhou Hao said in a note. "China should lower its annual economic growth target to 7 percent."
BASICALLY STABLE
The official PMI echoes a separate private survey published by HSBC this month that also showed factory growth in the world's second-biggest economy retreated to a six-month trough in January.
It is widely understood among investors that the days of stellar, double-digit economic growth in China are over as it tries to embrace slower but better-quality growth to protect its environment and cut reliance on investment.
But any signs of moderating growth in China still jolt financial markets as some investors struggle to adjust expectations, while others worry Beijing may mismanage a slowdown and allow growth to fall off more sharply instead.
China's economy narrowly missed expectations for growth to hit a 14-year low last year by expanding 7.7 percent, just a notch above the government's 7.5 percent target.
Most analysts polled by Reuters in January believed China can sustain its 2014 economic growth broadly in line with last year's 7.5 percent target.
Despite investors' jitters, Chinese experts are confident Beijing will raise government spending to support the economy if it looks like it is on the verge of a slump.
They say a stable economy that holds down the jobless rate is the most important precursor to China's ambitious reforms, a factor some mentioned on Saturday.
"Since the PMI stayed above the 50-point level, it shows the basic trend of stable economic growth will not change," said Zhang Liqun, an economist at the Development Research Centre, which helps compile the PMI.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

First Jesuit pope will improve Sino-Vatican relations, Hmmm, so experts say


A Pope for China

First Jesuit pope will improve Sino-Vatican relations, experts say

AP
AP
BY: 
The election of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope of the Roman Catholic Church, has far-reaching implications for the Vatican’s standstill with China over the appointment of bishops, experts say.
“The discussion will be much easier with the fact that there is a Jesuit pope,” said Rev. Mark DeStephano of the Society of Jesus, chairman of the board of the U.S. Catholic China Bureau. “Certainly [Pope] Benedict [XVI] tried, but it might be a little bit easier given our tradition in China.”
Unlike his predecessors, Francis is part of an order that advised Chinese emperors, brought Western sciences to China, and to this day operates cultural exchanges between China and the West, a track-record which experts say will help him at the discussion table.
“The Jesuits have been successful in China for 400­ years,” said Rev. Michel Marcil S.J., executive director of the U.S. Catholic China Bureau and an expert on Sino-Vatican relations.
Pope Francis indicated a willingness to revisit the Vatican’s relationship with China, which severed diplomatic ties in 1951 but where Catholicism still thrives, during a foreign policy address on Friday.
Catholicism is part of a massive religious revival in China as many Chinese look to fill the spiritual void created by communism and materialism in contemporary China, said Carsten Vala, an expert on Christianity in China at Loyola University in Maryland.
Some Chinese even see religion as a ticket to success.
“These young and ambitious people may also view Christianity as the reason for the U.S. superpower status and think that China needs a strong religious culture to underpin their country’s rise to power and influence,” said Vala.
There are currently an estimated 12 million Catholics in China, split between a state-run church and an underground community that recognizes papal authority.
The official church is the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), which not only monitors Catholic religious activities for political compliance but also appoints China’s bishops, traditionally a papal authority.
The selection of bishops is one of two main points of contention between the Vatican and China, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters following Francis’ election.
“The new pope must cut the so-called diplomatic relations with Taiwan, recognizing the Chinese government as the sole legal representative of the whole of China and should not interfere, using the excuse of religion, in the internal affairs of the country,” Chunying said.
The Vatican has said it will cut ties with Taiwan if China stops appointing Catholic bishops without Vatican approval.
The CPCA appointed several new bishops in 2010 and most recently stripped Vatican-approved auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, Thaddeus Ma Daqin, of his title after he publicly renounced Chinese interference in religious life. He remains under house arrest.
Marxist politics and a cultural stigma of foreign imperialism that Christianity has carried for centuries have led to China’s refusal to recognize Vatican appointees, according to Marcil.
But the Jesuits have been able historically to avoid this stigma.
“We [the Jesuits] were successful in China because we came into China not as missionaries per say, but we came into China under the guise of intellectuals,” said DeStephano.
Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci became the first foreigner allowed inside the Forbidden City in the 16th century and the first to be granted burial ground on mainland China. His notable approach to mission work in China was to learn the language, translate Western works into Chinese, and incorporate Confucian principles into his Catholicism.
Subsequent Jesuits served as scientific and intellectual advisers to China’s emperors as late as the 19th century, said DeStephano. They brought trigonometry, geometry, and astronomy to China.
They operate to this day several higher-education exchanges in China for both Chinese and international students.
“We [the Jesuits] play the same role in a sense as we had in centuries before, this intellectual outreach to China,” said DeStephano.
According to Fr. Michael Maher S.J., an expert on Chinese history at Gonzaga University, Francis already has greater appeal to the Chinese in the Jesuit tradition. “I think the new pope’s concern for the poor and emphasis on simplicity will strike a chord in Chinese values.”
Others experts are more skeptical.
“China is not yet ready to have relaxation of controlling of institutionalized religions including Catholicism,” said Sister Beatrice Leung, the author of several books about the Sino-Vatican relationship.
Vala agrees, noting the recent elevation of President Xi Jinping.
“The dynamic between the Chinese government and the Vatican is more determined by the fact that a new leadership team took power in China in November 2012,” said Vala.
He added that Xi has already sent mixed signals as to his openness to reform.
However, Marcel sees a watershed moment for China and the Vatican, noting Xi and Francis were elected on the same day.
“For me, it is providential, a sign from God.”

Jesuits/Heroin Control/Sicily/China

THEUNHIVEDMIND says:
I wonder if David Ciancimino, S.J this Jesuit is related to Vito Ciancimino?? 
-T
This is highly likely and you’ll note that Sicily is the headquarters for the Heroin trade in the West and its all controlled by the Sicilian Mafiosi commanded by the Holy Roman Emperor, King Juan Carlos who controls Sicily through his House of Bourbon and Farnese bloodline power all for the Superior General at the Curia Generalizia which the Emperor protects with his Centro Nacional de Inteligencia. Remember the importance of the heroin trade to the power, control and system of the Knights of Malta through their commanding proxy of New Jerusalem based in the City of London covertly controlled from St John’s Wood, England by the Grand Priory of England headed currently by Grand Prior, Frederik Crichton-Stuart. The heroin trade was started by The Worshipful Company of Apothecaries who bought about the best quality poppies for the job at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London which is now under UNESCO. These poppies were then shipped out to India then transported out to attack China and no different to whats happening in the Western World today as we enter the Post Industrial Zero Growth Society. Make note of one of the old medics that worked for the British East India Company and his name was Jardine Matheson. Now note who controls Jardine Matheson Holdings and you’ll see its the powerful Scottish family called the House of Keswick. Now anyone who’s done any study on the drug trade by the Crown Maltese will know the power of the Hong Kong region dealing with the Heroin coming out of the Golden Crescent which the Central Intelligence Agency took control over during the front Vietnamese war. Hong Kong is critial to the drug trade and one of the most powerful banks in the World connected to it all and riddled with drug currency cleaning is of course HongKong Shanghai Banking Corporation which is controlled by the House of Keswick.

The Jesuits and China's "Murderous Democide Fascist" MAO

The Vatican is so locked up w/China today and its rise to global power

China hopes to dispel 'stealing from others' reputation

China hopes to dispel 'copy others' reputation


A Chinese migrant worker stands beside a "Chinese Dream" posterWill the Chinese dream be extended to operating systems?
After assuming power in late 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared what he called China's dream - his inspiring vision for the future of the world's most populous country.

The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, borrowed the same phrase when it reported the unveiling of what was claimed to be a fully home-grown operating system for tablets, smartphones and even PCs.
Dubbed China Operating System (COS), it will take on Google, Apple and Microsoft "to realise the China dream in the field of operating systems".
But will this dream be taken seriously?
Home-made?
Chinese bloggers and even some state-run newspapers have been quick to cast doubt over the claim that the software is genuinely developed and made in China.
Some have suspected that HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone maker, may have been involved in the project.
But the joint developers - the Shanghai Liantong (a little-known firm said to be backed by the government) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences - have fiercely denied this.

"Apart from a few details, we developed almost everything by ourselves," Wu Yanjun, a director from the Software Research Institute of China Academy of Sciences, told the People's Daily.
"Of course, [the software] has billions of lines of code, but we developed them entirely by ourselves, and it can be regarded as independent intellectual rights," he said.
Tan Liang, from the R&D department of Shanghai Liantong, is more specific on what should be regarded as a home-grown system.
He told the official Xinhua News Agency that COS was home-made because "we developed its user interface and related system services" even though the system was based on an existing operating system, Linux.
"Amazon's Kindle Fire uses a highly tailored system, but its interface is [Google] Android, and so it is still an Android system."
'Very Android-like'
It is difficult to convince sceptics as there is no beta version available for people to try.

This has led some to question the developers' claim that more than 100,000 apps are available to run on the system.
An official COS launch and promotion video did little to help the situation. Many Chinese internet users expressed their scepticism. Some even gave a new meaning to COS - Copy Others System.
IT enthusiasts in the West are equally unimpressed - the popular technology blogEngadget said COS looked very similar to Android.
"Ironically, all the COS variants - in the form of phones, tablets, PCs and set-top boxes - shown in the promo video… are very Android-like, and some of those features, like multitasking, content streaming and remote desktop, are nothing new."
Several attempts
The fact that the developers are unwilling to be transparent has given rise to accusations that the project, like many others in China, wasted taxpayers' money.
COS is not China's first attempt to make a dent in the operating system market.
Three people playing on their mobile phonesMost internet users in China use their smartphones to go online
Earlier this month, a Chinese tech firm, backed by private money, announced a new operating system for smartphones.
The developer, Coship Electronics, insisted that the system - dubbed 960OS - was China's "native mobile operating system".
In 2011, China's e-commerce giant Alibaba released Aliyun OS, an Android-based operating system for mobiles.
They attempted to challenge Google's domination and claimed to offer better security protection and user experience for Chinese customers, though they have yet to make an impact as the majority of smartphones and tablets sold in China use the Android system.
But COS is different as it marks the first time the Chinese government has got involved.
Censorship
China's internet is one of the most censored in the world.
But censors face an enormous challenge as the number of internet users has increased dramatically.
China is now home to 618 million users, with 80% of them accessing the internet via smartphones.

By helping wean China's IT sector off Western software, Beijing wants to be able to better police the internet.
But can COS rise to the challenge?
China is not known for its strength in software innovation and development. It is difficult to imagine how COS can hope to compete in the world market.
But inside China, it can be a different story.
The home-grown Weibo and Wechat have been enjoying enormous success.
They borrowed ideas and designs from Twitter and Facebook, but they don't worry about competition from overseas rivals as the likes of Twitter and Facebook are blocked by China's great firewall.
However, as an operating system, it is difficult see how COS can replicate the success of Weibo and others. To succeed, it will need the support of hardware manufacturers and to convince Chinese users that it is a better alternative.
But with the government throwing its weight behind it, nothing can be ruled out.

US rebukes China on press freedom

US rebukes China on press freedom

Updated: 07:01, Friday January 31, 2014

US rebukes China on press freedom

The United States has rebuked China over its treatment of foreign media following the departure of a New York Times reporter after authorities did not renew his visa.
A White House statement said the US was 'very disappointed' that reporter Austin Ramzy was obliged to leave China and that Beijing's actions 'stand in stark contrast with US treatment of Chinese and other foreign journalists.'
'The United States is deeply concerned that foreign journalists in China continue to face restrictions that impede their ability to do their jobs, including extended delays in processing journalist visas, restrictions on travel to certain locations deemed 'sensitive' by Chinese authorities and, in some cases, violence at the hands of local authorities,' it said.
'We urge China to commit to timely visa and credentialing decisions for foreign journalists, unblock US media websites and eliminate other restrictions that impede the ability of journalists to practice their profession,' it said.
US Vice President Joe Biden had personally raised the issue of China's treatment of foreign journalists during a visit to Beijing last month.
China has blocked the websites of both The New York Times and Bloomberg News after they published investigations in 2012 into the family wealth of former premier Wen Jiabao and President Xi Jinping, respectively.

China Playing Chicken w/American Military

Hague says Britain eyeing bigger role in Asian economy, security, but not territorial disputes

 
 
 
 
 
Hague says Britain eyeing bigger role in Asian economy, security, but not territorial disputes
 

British Foreign Secretary William Hague speaks during a joint news conference with his Philippine counterpart Albert Del Rosario Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014 in Manila, Philippines. Hague said the United Kingdom will take in some refugees from the Syrian conflict to "give them some respite and some care after some of the things that they have been through." (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

MANILA, Philippines - Britain is looking at increasing its involvement in Asia's economy and security but will not take sides in territorial disputes in the South China Sea involving China and its smaller neighbours, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday.
Hague said during a visit to the Philippine capital that trade and security are closely related and thrive in open and free societies that follow the rule of law.
"Our engagement in Asia is as much about security as it is about as trade and prosperity, since these are all inextricably linked," he told a forum of businessmen, diplomats and students.
"We want Britain to be a leading partner with Asian countries, in trade and commerce, in culture, education and development, and in foreign policy and security," he added.
Hague said Britain is "investing in our relationships across the Asia-Pacific," particularly with its "old friends" — Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.
He said Britain also is building a "strong and open partnership with China fit for the 21st century."
"We all need China to succeed, to continue to grow, and to play a responsible and active role in international affairs and in Asia," he said.
Hague said Southeast Asian countries can find a peaceful solution to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
China claims virtually the entire region, putting it in conflict with Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia. It is also in conflict with Japan over small islands in the East China Sea.
China recently angered the Philippines and Vietnam by announcing that it will regulate fishing in the South China Sea under its own laws starting this month.
China and rival claimants have beefed up their navies and stepped up patrols in the disputed territories, increasing the risk of confrontation. The Philippines has one of the weakest militaries in the region.
Hague said Britain supported resolving disputes in accordance with international law but "we don't take a position on the substance of the claim."
"I assure you that we will always encourage not just here but all over the world ... a rules-based rather than a power-based solution to disputes," he said.