Category Archives: Asia 🌐

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To Understand China look to the Past 🇨🇳

07 Saturday Apr 2012

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ANALYSIS – If there was any nation for whom the word ‘history’ means anything, that nation is China.

For this rising superpower has had a long life, stretching back some two thousand years.

So, perhaps the best way to read how China will develop in the world will come through looking back to the past.

Two incidents stand out in relation to recent moves by the US into Australia.

The first involved the rising power of Japan, who found itself under an embargo targeting the raw materials which it needed to continue its move into the industrialised age.

The established wisdom is that the Second World War in the Pacific started with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, however didn’t that war really begin with those US sanctions that struck at the heart of nation?

So how do you think China, could interpret America’s recent move into Australia, allied to her talk of supporting South Korea, Japan, and Australia, all of whom are said to be concerned about the rise of this future superpower?

Could the move into Australia, be seen as the opening of hostilities by a status-quo power?

Today, China is a huge nation, a continent of some two billion or more people.  It was a huge nation also when Great Britain forced it through gun-boat diplomacy to allow the selling of opium on its mainland before eventually ceding control of Hong Kong.

Could there be a repeat result over trade in the South China Sea, which the US and her allies claim is an  international trade route?

All this of course, negates one stark fact, any future conflict with China will mean any potential foe would have to deal with her arsenal of nuclear weapons.

So, it appears that a number of nations will have to get around the negotiating table to iron out their differences with China.

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🪖 China and its military power 🇨🇳

05 Thursday Apr 2012

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 It’s all there for show…

Any conflict between America and China would of course be over Taiwan, but how realistic is such a confrontation.

If the Economist is to be believed America’s actions by moving troops into Australia, is an admission that Washington had been distracted by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to such an extent that it had forgotten the rise of China.

If that is indeed the case, what hostile actions has China taken to alarm the world’s last superpower?

China is the second biggest military spender in the world today, which currently stands at 89.8 billion dollars, a fraction of what America spends – 739.3bn dollars.

Further, the combined budgets of Britain, France and Germany, who are all contributors to Nato, almost double China’s.

In addition to all this, the US and Nato have at least a decade of combat experience through wars in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and of course Libya.

The People’s Liberation army of China is indeed the largest army in the world, however, the last time it was involved in a theatre of war was in 1979 against Vietnam, where it was crushed.

And the Korean War was a complete disaster.

So, if anyone is going to be provoking a war, it certainly won’t be China.

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American Soldier kills 16 Afghan Civilians

12 Monday Mar 2012

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404 British Soldiers and counting…

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

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KANDAHAR – Six British soldiers have been killed in southern Afghanistan after their vehicle was hit by an explosion, taking the total past 400 to 404. Five of soldiers were from 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment had been on patrol in Kandahar province on Tuesday, the MoD confirmed.  Their families have been told.

This is the biggest single loss of UK life at one time in Afghanistan since a Nimrod crash killed 14 in 2006.

The MoD said the six soldiers were on a security patrol in a Warrior armoured fighting vehicle when it was caught in an explosion in Kandahar province. They had been travelling as part of a two Warrior patrol when the vehicle was hit at the junction of a road travelling east from Gereshk and another heading north to Lashkar Gah, the MoD said.

Most of the 9,500 UK troops in Afghanistan are expected to be withdrawn by the end of 2014. The last British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan was Senior Aircraftman Ryan Tomlin, of 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment, who died from gunshot wounds in Helmand on 13 February.

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Twelve dead during riots in Kashgar

28 Tuesday Feb 2012

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Map of China

 

Twelve people have died in riots near the north-western city of Kashgar in Xinjiang province, the BBC reports.

It quotes Chinese state media which says that rioters killed 10 people, while two of the rioters were shot by police.

The Xinhua news agency  gives no detail as to what triggered the violence.

Security has been high in the north-western province since riots in 2009 in the capital Urumqi between the Muslim Uighurs, who are the largest ethnic group, and Han Chinese migrants.

Nearly 200 people were killed in that unrest, most of them Han, according to officials.

Today’s violence took place in a market in Yecheng county, according to Xinhua, which says police are still hunting some of the rioters.

Almost half of Xinjiang’s residents are Uighurs, Turkic-speaking Muslims with cultural and ethnic links to Central Asia.

Many complain that large-scale migration of Han Chinese workers from the east has cost them jobs and is eroding their culture.

China has invested heavily in Xinjiang and the region’s rich oil and gas deposits are vital to its booming economy.

Uighurs say they are suffering discrimination and marginalisation, and this has been behind anti-Han and separatist sentiment in Xinjiang since the 1990s.

Further violence broke out in July 2011 and left 32 people dead.

A hostage-taking incident in December led to the death of seven kidnappers – part of a “terror gang,” according to Chinese state media.

China claims it faces an organised terrorist threat from radical Muslims in Xinjiang, but Uighur activists say citizens are angry at Beijing’s heavy-handed rule in the region.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17195886

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🏏 Pakistan v England 3rd Test, Dubai 🇵🇰 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

06 Monday Feb 2012

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DUBAI – After wiping the Pakistan team out for 99 in the first innings, England’s bowlers must have known what would follow.

That Broad, Anderson and Panesar (Swann was quiet for once), shined is without question, the trouble is there was precious little else.

England are hanging onto that number one position through default and luck and nothing else because they were outplayed by a far superior Pakistan side, who despite their many frailties geeled as a unit whenever it mattered.

The first innings was perhaps the only time through this three-match series when England actually looked like winning, and that lasted for one and half sessions before Pakistan’s bowlers spearheaded by the inspired Abdur Rehman reclaimed the initiative.

From there it was a simple case of self belief for a very young Pakistan side who never really looked like losing.

For those who have followed Pakistan cricket, the words professional, stable, teamwork have come as a refreshing surprise.

The age of the Imran Khans, Wasim Akrams and Shahid Afridis, talented players who let their egos get in the way, is now over.

Instead, Pakistan has Saeed Ajmal, whose seven wicket haul in the first innings of the first innings began it all, inspiring his nation’s players onwards and forwards under the cool captaincy of Misbah ul Haq.

England will go back to the drawing board and work something out, however the world of cricket may just have witnessed the emergence of the next cricketing superpower.

THIRD TEST, DUBAI

PAKISTAN 99

ENGLAND 141 REHMAN 5 – 40

PAKISTAN 365 AZHAR ALI 157, YOUNIS KHAN 127

ENGLAND 252

PAKISTAN WIN BY 71 RUNS TO COMPLETE SERIES WHITEWASH 3 – 0

  • PAKISTAN’S FIRST INNINGS SCORE OF 99 WAS THE 14TH TIME THEY HAD SCORED UNDER 100
  • SAEED AJMAL and ABDUR REHMAN SHARED 43 WICKETS BETWEEN THEM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/16906199

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🏏 Pakistan v England, Ist Test at Dubai 🏟 🇵🇰 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

19 Thursday Jan 2012

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Pakistan have defeated England by ten wickets, a victory achieved in three days. This was a comprehensive defeat for the world’s number one ranked team at the hands of a thoroughly professional – bet no one has ever said that about a Pakistan cricket side before –  team, which if you didn’t know had been rocked by a spotfixing scandal which resulted in three star players serving prison sentences.

To be honest, you would never have guessed that there had been any such problem by the manner in which they steamrollered England, who didn’t seem to have grasped that being number one means that everyone wants to have ago at you.

The first innings was the Saeed Ajmal show, the off spinner showing that you don’t have to be Abdul Qadir to destroy a batting line up.

Predictably, there was someone on hand to cast doubt on his amazing preformance – five LBWs in his seven wicket haul at a cost of 55 runs.

Bob Willis – the former England captain who destroyed the career of fast bowler Norman Cowans – said the famed ‘dosra’ amounted to chucking.

He made his comments on Sky – and thankfully not on the cricket field, remember all those comments about bad umpiring that accompanied Abdul Qadir’s nine wicket haul for 56 in the first test at Lahore in 1987, or accusations of ball tampering when Waqar and Wasim used Sarfraz Nawaz’s sandshoe ball with devastating results.

The spot fixing saga was unique, because for the first time Pakistani players were in the wrong, which gave their detractors – all of whom would swear that they are not racist –  free rein.

England’s bowlers, especially James Anderson and Stuart Broad, clawed back their position late on the second day, however, Akmal – replacing his brother, the light fingered Kamran as wicketkeeper – posted 61 which probably swung the game decisively in Pakistan’s favour.

With seven wickets down for 87 in their second innings, England were finished. Fans of Kevin Pieterson will have to wait another day to see him shine, for England’s most gifted batsman managed a meagre two runs in both innings.

England’s postmortem – once some stop  complaining about Ajmal’s bowling technique – will focus on poor shot selection, a lack of preparation, the truth is though Pakistan led by Misbah ul Haq, who is a calm, seemingly natural leader, have signalled they are back, and they have done so by trouncing the best team in the world.

Wonder what England’s response will be at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

FIRST TEST AT DUBAI

ENGLAND 192  Ajmal 7 – 55

PAKISTAN 338

ENGLAND 160

PAKISTAN 10 – 0

PAKISTAN WIN BY TEN WICKETS

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Kim Jong iL

19 Monday Dec 2011

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And so, much to the delight of his enemies, the Great Leader has died. Those enemies – namely the Western nations – are hailing this as a step forward, a new opportunity, and already Japan and South Korea have promised to work together in solving the problem of the north.

The modern history of this reclusive state is born of two events, namely the Korean war and the war on terror.

Both were a result of Great Power interference.

The first was sparked by a north attempting to reunite a nation that had been carved up by imperial Japan. In the process, she drew the fury of the new master of the Pacific, the United States of America.

When there was nothing else to bomb the Americans destroyed bridges in an effort to bring this stubborn little nation of Asians to their knees.

Eventually,  the frontier that we now recognise was marked out – at huge human cost.

And the second event was that speech by George Bush after those terrorist outrages, where he spoke of an axis of evil – Iraq, Iran and north Korea.

A year before, the north was in talks abouth reuniting with the south, and western diplomats found themselves very welcome, as this reclusive state – perhaps encouraged by China – had begun the process of opening up.

Unlike Libya and Iraq, North Korea never gave up her weapons programme, instead she testfired a nuclear bomb as a warning to anyone who may think of invading her yet again.

North Korea may be mad and many other things, but she can say that at the time of the death of the Great Leader, she and her people had maintained their independence.

Can the same thing be said of Japan and South Korea?

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Pakistan’s Third Way

14 Wednesday Dec 2011

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ANALYSIS – If a recent rally is to be believed, the former cricketer Imran Khan is emerging as a serious challenger on the Pakistani political scene.

During an interview with ITV News last night,  Imran Khan said the current president Asif Ali Zardari was completely discredited and that his own appeal was among the young.

He was not concerned about his own safety, given the bloody nature of Pakistani politics – he was prepared to make any sacrifice to save his country.

The camera shots from the point of view of the reporter – Mark Austin – revealed a very agitated Imran.

There are clearly things he wanted to say and do, once he gets his chance.

Trouble is, Pakistan has had too many saviours, Zardari was also one such figure.

What this still young nation needs is someone  who will spread the wealth evenly to the rest of the population, so that everyone gets the chance – like Imran himself – to shine.

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391 British Soldiers and counting..

09 Friday Dec 2011

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Yesterday, the Ministry of Defence announced the passing of another British soldier in the death trap that is Helmand Province.

If the bloodshed continues at its current rate,  the figure will by the end of the year reach the grim milestone of 400.

Even though the people of  Wootton Basset have made sure that the repatriations are not forgotten, there is a danger that this death and the ones leading up to the four hundredth may pass almost without notice, such is the depressing familiarity of news of each new life lost. That they are doing their duty, is without doubt, however, what those of us in ‘civi-street’ appear not to be asking is why the need – what is Britain doing deploying the second biggest contingent of troops to a war where her contribution is symbollic, just as it was in Iraq, where British soldiers openly said that this was ‘America’s show.’

And just as importantly, how much longer will it last and when will it all stop.

Until such hard questions are asked, we will continue to be passive observers, as the sad news is brought to the family of another fallen soldier.

And through our silence we will be as culpable in their deaths as those who said nothing during the carnage of the first and second world wars.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16100110

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