Monday, October 26, 2009
CHINA CONFIDENTIAL
China Increasingly Using its Currency in Trade
For better or worse, China and the United States are locked into a symbiotic relationship. So, although China isn't dumping dollars, which would be self-defeating, given China's huge dollar reserves, it is diversifying into physical commodities and other currencies, and increasingly using its own currency in international trade. Chinese bank branches in Indonesia, Africa and South-East Asia, for example, are issuing letters of credit in Chinese currency.
UPDATE: China says FX Reserve Diversification is long-term; bank's opinion article sends dollar down. Click here for the report.Sunday, October 25, 2009
China, Japan Push Competing Bloc Concepts
Australian Foreign Minister Discusses China
Taiwan Leader Promises to Seek Peace with China
Taiwan's president has marked the 60th anniversary of a key battle against Chinese Communist forces by vowing to seek eternal peace across the Taiwan Strait.
Ma Ying-jeou said Sunday Taiwan will continue dialogue and negotiations with China to try to secure a peace that consigns the killings of previous battles to history.
Ma addressed a ceremony on the island of Kinmen honoring veterans of the 1949 battle of Kinmen in which Taiwan Nationalists repulsed an invasion by Chinese Communist forces. The Kinmen island group lies just off the coast of southeastern China's Fujian province.
The three-day battle that began on October 25, 1949 killed around 3,000 Chinese Communist soldiers and 1,200 Nationalist troops.
Turning Point
Ma described the battle as a turning point in modern Chinese history, saying it allowed Taiwan and China to experiment with differing political and economic systems.
China's former Nationalist government fled to Taiwan in early 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war to the Communists. Taiwan and China have been ruled separately ever since. Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province and has vowed to reunite with it, by force if necessary.
China and Taiwan have held a series of talks since President Ma took office last year with a pledge to improve cross-Strait relations.
At the ceremony, Ma said the battle of Kinmen gave Taiwan the opportunity to develop into a democracy.
China, he said, initially endured three decades of turbulence in which millions of people died and society's core values collapsed. But, he acknowledged that in the most recent 30 years, China has undertaken gradual reforms that have allowed it to develop into a regional power.MEND's End? Nigerian Rebels Agree to Ceasefire
Nigeria's most prominent armed group has declared an indefinite ceasefire to allow for peace talks with government.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) says the government has committed itself to what it called "a serious and meaningful dialogue" with the group to address its concerns.
MEND emerged in early 2006, knocking out nearly a quarter of Nigeria's oil output within weeks, the start of what it called a fight for more local control of oil resources. Security analysts say MEND has been depleted by several key leaders and thousands of gunmen who accepted a government amnesty and disarmed.
The amnesty granted immunity from prosecution to any militant who renounced violence before October fourth.
Despite a recent drop-off in violence, the Niger Delta remains a stronghold for gangs and militants groups with strong opposition toward foreign oil companies and the government.
Security analysts say the Nigerian oil industry remains vulnerable to opportunistic attacks, crude oil thefts and kidnappings.Perfidy: Karzai Questions US Reliability
Turkish TV Broadcasting Anti-Israel Series
A viciously anti-israel Turkish television series--broadcast by a state-sponsored channel--is causing the Jewish community in Istanbul serious concern.
The fictional series, Ayrilik (Farewell), which is aired on prime time on TRT, shows IDF soldiers (played by Turkish actors) killing a baby and a young girl, and lining up Palestinians to be shot by a firing squad, among other atrocities.
The program portrays the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a war of religion, in keeping with the Islamizing trend that threatens Turkey's secular system.
A Jewish Agency official in Istanbul told China Confidential that the group would not comment on the topic of Turkish Jews because the matter was "very delicate."
Jewish Community
There are around 26,000 Jews in Muslim but non-Arab Turkey. The vast majority live in Istanbul.
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Bülent Arınç said he was planning to meet with Gabby Levy, Israel’s ambassador to Ankara, to discuss "ongoing problems" between the two countries.
“There were very harsh reactions against Turkey because of this television program,” Arınç told reporters in reference to the series, parts of which, the government has reportedly censored because of its extreme viewpoints.
The row flared up last Thursday as Israel summoned the Turkish envoy to protest the program, saying it “incited hatred against Israel” and was “not worthy of being broadcast, even in an enemy state.”
EXTRA: Turkey's Prime Minister declares: "Iran is our friend." Click here.Indian Nationalist Writer Lashes Out at China
Monday, 26 October 2009
Both Asian powers support an EU-style bloc. But Japan, unlike China, would include the United States. Click here for the report.
Australia's foreign minister stresses the importance of his country's relationship with China but says he remains "clear-eyed." Click here for the interview.
Afghanistan's corrupt, clownish leader has sharply criticized the United States, without whose troops, he would long ago have been eliminated. Click here for the story.
An influential Indian freelance writer specializing in international relations criticizes China's stance and warns of a dangerous superpower rivalry. Click here for the story.
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