Britannia Radio

Sunday, February 14, 2010

china confidential

On Obama and His Virtual World

An abstract of a brilliant address by Charles Krauthammer:

In the real world, as opposed to what French President Nicolas Sarkozy calls President Barack Obama's "virtual world," America faces the reality of Iran's intransigence and aggressiveness; China's headlong pursuit of its own national, regional, and global interests; Russia's determination to regain its Near Abroad; the Arab states' refusal to accept any kind of a reasonable settlement of the kind that Israel has already offered under several governments; Syria's designs on Lebanon; and Hugo Chávez's designs on the weaker countries in Latin America. President Obama's foreign policy agenda of gradual American retreat will have inexorable consequences: When erstwhile allies see the American umbrella being withdrawn, they will have to accommodate themselves to those from whom we were protecting them. If Obama proves impervious to empirical evidence and experience, all these accommodations, the weakening of alliances, the strengthening of centers of adversarial power in Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, Caracas, and elsewhere will continue until we are awakened by some cataclysm.

Read the whole thing here.

# posted by Confidential Reporter @ 4:33 PM links to this post

China Welcomes the Year of the Tiger

China welcomed the start of the new lunar year with traditional deafening and dazzling firework displays.

Firecrackers echoed across major cities as the Year of the Tiger was ushered in on the stroke of midnight Saturday.

Dragons dancers, drummers, bell and gong ringers added to the cacophony of celebrations.

Hundreds of millions braved the cold winter weather to travel home to be with their families, putting a great strain on the country's transport system. The government says 210 million passengers boarded trains and nearly 30 million traveled by air.


World's Biggest Annual Human Migration

Millions more used buses and cars in what is believed to be the world's biggest annual human migration.

Snow failed to dampen the traditional celebrations in Shanghai, and families visited temples to pray for good fortune in the year ahead.

Beijing's night sky was lit up by thousands of exploding fireworks to scare off evil spirits.

Roughly 800,000 police and volunteers patrolled the capital to help ensure safety, but 52 people were reported injured in firework accidents.

Chinese TV showed wall-to-wall pageantry shows and the country's leaders visiting different parts of the nation.

In a New Year speech given Friday, Premier Wen Jiabao praised the county for facing up to the global financial crisis and overcoming recession. He said 2009 saw the Chinese people gain pride and confidence as the country's influence and status grew on the world stage.

But Wen warned 2010 would be "a more complicated and complex year", domestically and internationally.

President Hu Jintao was shown visiting old Communist Party revolutionary bases, and promised to speed up development and improve living standards in the year ahead.