Free Republic

Beijing's ANZUS warning CHINA is demanding that the Howard Government review its 50-year-old military pact with the US, warning that the ANZUS alliance could threaten regional stability if Australia were drawn into Sino-US conflict over Taiwan. Under the ANZUS alliance, Australia is obliged to support the US should China resort to force to resolve its long-running dispute with Taiwan. But a top Chinese official - Beijing's director-general of North American and Oceanian Affairs, He Yafei - told The Australian that Australia and the US needed to be careful not to invoke the ANZUS alliance against China. "We all know Taiwan...

US reveals China arms build-up By Hamish McDonald Beijing March 7, 2005 American intelligence agencies have revealed a huge build-up in Chinese assault forces - apparently designed to invade Taiwan - as China's leaders made new overtures for a peaceful agreement with the island republic. US officials said China was racing to complete 23 amphibious ships able to ferry tanks and troops across the 160-kilometre-wide Taiwan Strait and 13 submarines to protect them, according to a New York Times report. "Their amphibious assault shipbuilding alone equals the entire US Navy shipbuilding since 2002," one official said. The US revelation came...

America sees China as next big threat `It's an open secret in Washington' STEPHEN HANDELMAN NEW YORK—If you ask a U.S. White House official or any of Washington's senior intelligence analysts what they consider to be the greatest long-term threat to U.S. stability, the answer might surprise anyone expecting to hear the by now traditional apocalyptic warnings about global terrorism. The real danger, they would say, is China. "It's an open secret in Washington," says Kishore Mahbubani, who was Singapore's veteran ambassador to the United Nations until last year. "The emergence of China as a potential rival is considered the...

BEIJING, China -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao opened the annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing by saying a planned anti-secession law would never permit independence for Taiwan. Addressing the gathering of almost 3,000 delegates in the vast Great Hall of the People on Saturday, Wen said the law reflects the "strong determination of the Chinese people to ... never allow secessionist forces working for `Taiwan independence' to separate Taiwan from China." But in his two-hour speech Wen gave few details of a law that could provide a legal basis for an attack on the island.

China has closed 47,000 internet cafes in a campaign aimed at creating a more "wholesome environment" for children. The country’s leaders encourage internet use for business and education, but have expressed growing concern that it gives children access to violent or sexually explicit material, and have tried to block online criticism of their Communist rule. The cafes closed in the crackdown had been "admitting minors and engaged in dissemination of harmful cultural information", the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said on its website. About 21,000 of the closed cafes might be allowed to reopen after making unspecified changes. It said...

<p>These girls were charged of fomenting a rebellion among ethnic Tibetans, and sentenced to death by Chinese.</p>

China Reform Monitor No. 574, January 21, 2005 American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC http://www.afpc.org Editor: Ilan Berman Associate Editor: Lisa-Marie Shanks JAPAN’S JITTERS OVER CHINESE NAVAL INCURSIONS; BEIJING, OTTAWA INK NEW ENERGY, RESOURCE DEALS [Dear Readers: The American Foreign Policy Council thanks Al Santoli for editing the first 573 issues of the China Reform Monitor, and welcomes AFPC Vice President for Policy Ilan Berman as interim editor] January 16: Amid growing concern for China’s expanding military capabilities, Japan has mapped out a strategic plan to defend a chain of its southern islands in the East China Sea, Agence France...

The Pentagon is increasing pressure on European allies over weapons sales to China, warning that lifting the European Union arms embargo on Beijing could lead to a curtailment of military technology co-operation between the US and Europe. The EU signalled at this month's Brussels summit that it intended to lift the embargo - in place since Tiananmen Square in 1989 - perhaps as early as the first half of next year. But Pentagon officials said EU members should expect a "very powerful reaction", particularly in Congress, if the embargo was removed. "This has the potential to be a big brawl,"...

December 18: The dictatorial regime in North Korea may be internally imploding, writes Jason Lim in The Washington Times. He warns that China may take the initiative to trigger an internal coup that would overthrow Kim Jong Il and maneuver the installation of a Beijing-friendly military dictatorship. This would help China establish hegemony over north Asia. Lim observes that China’s ambition to dominate Asia is evident in official projects to purposely misinterpret histories around its borders in order to justify any possible Chinese territorial takeover. One such case is the Northeast Asia Project backed by the state-run China Academy of...

China Rapidly Modernizes for War With U.S. Alexandr Nemets Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2004 During the last several months, there have been numerous hints in the Chinese and Taiwanese media indicating that war is more likely than believed here in the West. Some strategists suggest that the 2008 Olympics scheduled for Beijing constitute a key benchmark, after which a war may be possible. However, it is clear that both nations are preparing for a conflict in the near term, and that 2008 may not be as pivotal as some experts believe. In fact, China’s media have been repeating the mantra in...

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese major general-turned-vice minister, speaking days before Taiwan's parliamentary elections, warned the island against miscalculating Beijing's determination to crush its separatist dreams. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since their split at the end of the civil war in 1949 and warned of war if the island formally declares statehood. Tensions have been simmering since Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's re-election in March. "There can be no peace (if) Taiwan (becomes) independent, there can be no stability (if) Taiwan splits," the official People's Daily on Thursday quoted Wang Zaixi, a vice minister of the policymaking Taiwan Affairs...