tirsdag 19. mars 2024

In Retrospect: Did Marco Polo go to China? A Critical Appraisal by I. de Rachewiltz

In her book Did Marco Polo Go To China? (first published by Secker & Warburg, London, in 1995), Dr Frances Wood claims that Marco did not go to China and that he 'probably never travelled much further than the family's trading post on the Black Sea and in Constantinople'. Her thesis, leading to the above conclusion, is based on a number of principal arguments and a few secondary ones as props. It should be mentioned that most of these arguments have been 'aired' by various writers since the beginning of the 19th century, but were never taken seriously by Marco Polo scholars.

Frances Wood's thesis is so full of holes as to be untenable from whichever angle we look at it. One of its cornerstones is the 'Persian guidebook' hypothesis extrapolated from a casual remark made several decades ago by H. Franke. In a letter to me dated 28 July 1998, Professor Franke writes: 'Yesterday I received your article ... on F. Wood's misleading book on Marco Polo. I am pleased that you pointed out how she misquoted what I had said, very provisionally, in 1965. I think that you have definitely laid to rest her theory.'

There are, of course, still unresolved problems relating to the manuscript tradition of Marco's text, and the precise role of Rustichello and others in editing the same. Scholars in several countries are investigating these problems at present and we must wait for the results of their research.

West decries Putin's landslide election win, China congratulates him

Western governments lined up on Monday to condemn Vladimir Putin's landslide election victory as unfair and undemocratic, but China and North Korea congratulated the veteran Russian leader on extending his rule by a further six years. The contrasting reactions underscored the geopolitical faultlines that have gaped wider since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, triggering the deepest crisis in relations with the West since the end of the Cold War.

"The electoral process in Russia took place amid accrued repression against civil society and all forms of opposition to the regime, with even tougher restrictions to freedom of expression and the banning of independent media," France's foreign ministry said. "The conditions for a free, pluralistic and democratic election were not met."

British foreign minister David Cameron said the election outcome highlighted the "depth of repression" in Russia. "Putin removes his political opponents, controls the media, and then crowns himself the winner. This is not democracy," Cameron said. A German government spokesperson said Chancellor Olaf Scholz would not congratulate Putin on his re-election because "the result was predetermined".

In the busy waters between China and Taiwan, the de facto border is being tested

Motoring across the calm waters of the South China Sea, Taiwanese captain Lu Wen-shiung recalls the old days, when Chinese and Taiwanese fishers used to meet behind rocky headlands, anchoring their boats out of the authorities’ sight, to share a meal. There was less surveillance then, and the two sides were more friendly, fishing the same waters, occasionally selling to each other on the sly.

“We were like brothers, we had a good relationship, they would even cook for us,” he says. “But … now the control has become more strict, the [Chinese] coast guard will call me if the boats are too close.”

Now a tour boat captain, Lu says if he even gets close to the prohibited water line – a de facto sea border with China – he’ll get a swift warning over the radio from the coast guard. Lu and his boat are travelling through the busy waters surrounding Kinmen County, an archipelago controlled by Taiwan but sitting just kilometres away from China. The Chinese Communist party government claims Taiwan (including Kinmen) as a Chinese province, and has become increasingly hostile in its pursuit of annexation, as Taiwan’s government and people only grow more opposed.

mandag 18. mars 2024

Underrepresented: Tibetans kept out of most leadership positions

It is the season of China’s annual meetings in Beijing of its National People’s Congress (parliament) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (political advisory body). Popularly called the “Two Sessions,” China has also been using these sessions to tout how well Tibetans and others who are dubbed “ethnic minorities” are enjoying their rights.

This claim was most recently reiterated in December 2023 by a Chinese diplomat who claimed, “The 56 ethnic groups in China are all equal regardless of their size, and are entitled to participate in the governance of state affairs.”  In August 2021, Wang Yang, then-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), during his visit to the Tibetan capital Lhasa to participate in a “Meeting Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet,” claimed that following the “liberation” of Tibet (meaning China’s conquest of the country), “Several million serfs rose and held their future in their own hands.”

It is China’s contention that the Tibetan people have become “masters of their own destiny” since its takeover of Tibet. This report analyzes the current leadership representation at the national level—and in Tibetan areas at the provincial and sub-provincial levels—and finds that Tibetans have mainly token positions while real power in Tibet continues to be in the hands of non-Tibetans.

Torbjørn Færøvik: Tibetanerne minnes Dalai Lamas flukt til India for 65 år siden

Eksil-tibetanere i mange land markerer i disse dager oppstanden i Tibet for 65 år siden. Dramaet i mars 1959 endte med blod og tårer og Dalai Lamas flukt gjennom fjellene til India.
 
Verden holdt pusten. Jeg var bare ti år den gang, likevel gammel nok til å huske alvoret i nyhetssendingene. Ryktene fortalte at Dalai Lama hadde flyktet fra sin hovedstad på Verdens tak. Men hvor var han? Noen påsto at han var død, andre at han var tatt til fange av kineserne.
 
To uker etter sin plutselige forsvinning krysset Dalai Lama og hans følge grensen til India. En ung mann på 23 år ridende på sin trette hest, eskortert av indiske soldater og sine egne tjenestemenn. De neste timene fløy nyheten over hele verden. Men enda flere flyktninger var på vei. Den våren og sommeren flommet flere titusener tibetanere inn i India og Nepal, og en bølge av sympati veltet mot dem. Mange ble etter hvert videresendt til tredjeland, og noen kom til Norge, hvor Tibetanerhjelpen og ”onkel Lauritz” – NRKs Lauritz Johnson – tok hånd om dem og ga dem publisitet.

From China's Past: Discussion between N.S. Khrushchev and Mao Zedong

India, Taiwan, Tibet, and relations to the U.S. were on the agenda when Chaiman Mao met with Nikita Khrushchev in Beijing October 2, 1959. The two socialist countries had some serious disagreements, and the atmosphere during the meeting were at times tense. 

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CHINA-TAIWAN WEEKLY UPDATE, MARCH 15, 2024

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced that it redefined its criteria for a “first strike” against PRC military assets, which now include a “first move” by PLA aircraft and vessels across Taiwan’s territorial boundaries. ROC Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan that Taiwan reserves the right to take military countermeasures if enemy military planes or ships enter Taiwan’s territorial waters or airspace and Taiwan fails to expel them by interception, identification, and warning. He did not clarify if the “first strike” concept applies to Taiwan’s outlying islands. 

Chiu said that the MND adopted the concept of a “first move” in February 2021. It further developed the concept after the large-scale PLA air and naval exercises around Taiwan in August 2022, which the PRC launched in response to then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Chiu said the MND’s definition of an enemy “first strike” before the policy change specifically referred to enemy artillery or missile fire at Taiwan. The reason for changing the definition was to counter the PRC’s “gray zone” operations around Taiwan. The CCP has not publicly commented on the policy change as of March 13.

fredag 15. mars 2024

From China's Past: Minutes of Mao Zedong’s First Meeting with Nehru-19/10/1954

"Asia is a big continent, and there are several big countries in Asia. China is the largest, and there are also some smaller countries. We are all under the influence of our different history," said Prime Minister Nehru when he held his first meeting with Chairman Mao in 1954.

"But we have a common experience, that is, we all have suffered from foreign rule. We have many things in common, and this is not just because of the connection of the past. This is also because we suffered from colonial rule in modern times, although we have had different developments in many aspects. Therefore, although we are under the influence of different conditions, we have many things in common since ancient times, and the problems we are facing now are also commonly shared by us. Chairman is right when he says that the industries of our two countries are backward. This is a situation shared by us. We both want to develop our countries in the shortest possible time. Chairman also mentions the differences in our ideologies. This is true among many Asian countries. But this is quite natural. On the other hand, however, the common features and common requests by us are also very obvious. When Premier Zhou [Enlai] visited India, he saw India’s friendship with himself and with China. If Chairman is to give us such an honor and visit India himself, he will also receive a warm welcome."

Torbjørn Færøvik: Er pest bedre enn kolera? Kina må velge mellom Biden eller Trump.

Det går mot Joe Biden eller Donald Trump. Noe tredje alternativ finnes ikke. Så hvem skal Kina satse på?

De kinesiske lederne følger det amerikanske valgsirkuset fra dag til dag. Ikke minst Xi Jinping selv, som midt på 1980-tallet hadde et kort studieopphold i USA. Som president har han møtt begge kandidatene flere ganger. Først og fremst Biden, som i sin tid som visepresident under Barack Obama var en hyppig gjest i Kina. Det sies at Xi og Biden kom godt overens, og at de utviklet det som kalles «et personlig forhold».

Men det var den gang. Under Bidens fire år ved makten har forholdet mellom de to supermaktene vært særdeles dårlig, og mange frykter en forverring uavhengig av hvem som blir president. Imens går våpenfabrikkene for fullt i begge land. På folkekongressens sesjon i forrige uke foreslo Kinas statsminister en økning av forsvarsbudsjettet på 7,2 prosent, det samme som i fjor. Hvor mye landet egentlig bruker, vet bare et fåtall innvidde. Kina antas å ha et stort budsjett til nye former for krigføring på siden av de offisielle tallene.

The Forsaken Uyghurs of Xinjiang

The list of atrocities being inflicted on Uyghurs is terrifying. Human Rights Watch [HRW] has confirmed that “the Chinese authorities impose on Turkic Muslims a pervasive system of mass surveillance, controls on movement, arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance, cultural and religious erasure, and family separation.”

The HRW report also mentions that “… UN special procedures-special rapporteurs, working groups, and other human rights experts-issued a searing indictment of China’s human rights record, including the Chinese government’s “collective repression” of religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang…”

While indoctrination and forced labour in internment camps under garb of “re-education and vocational training” is used to alter their political outlook, forcing Uyghurs to consume alcohol and pork as well as discouraging fasting during Ramadan is meant to destroy their religious beliefs. Mass sterilization and intrauterine contraceptive device implantation programs are aimed at systematically reducing the Uyghur population to an insignificant minority. Even innocuous things like wearing veils, growing beards or even having too many children can have very serious consequences for Uyghurs.

India And Japan: An Alliance To Contain China And Strengthen The Indo-Pacific

India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, has done a lot of diplomatic work these days and has visited some key countries in East Asia. More precisely, on March 5 and 6, he visited South Korea, and immediately afterwards, Japan from March 6 to 8.

In both democratic and pro-Western Asian countries, the first man of Indian diplomacy sought to strengthen above all security and economic cooperation, as well as political ties. In the simplest terms, it could be said that the Republic of India is looking for partners to contain the People’s Republic of China, its biggest rival in Asia, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. India’s relations with Japan are particularly significant as the two countries share concerns about China’s increasingly assertive economic and military moves in South and East Asia.

onsdag 13. mars 2024

New Frontiers in Foreign Propaganda

In its home market, the Discovery Channel has earned a reputation for never letting reality get in the way of a good story. Once home to respected wildlife documentaries and science specials, the network is better known these days for such colorful titles as Naked and Afraid, Deadliest Catch, American Chopper, and, of course, Shark Week. The network’s volte-face from education to entertainment has even become something of a pop culture punchline.

But what Discovery stands accused of with regards to China is no laughing matter. According to a group of US Congressmen, the channel is “whitewashing genocide” against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in far-western Xinjiang. In an open letter last month to the president and CEO of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, six Republican representatives called World’s Ultimate Frontier — a new co-production between Discovery and CGTN, the international division of state-run broadcaster CCTV — “an obvious work of propaganda on the part of a totalitarian, adversary regime.”

Nobel Prize laureate Mo Yan under attack by nationalist bloggers

One of China’s most celebrated modern authors is in the firing line, and the ammunition is a hardline 2018 law on the protection of heroes and martyrs. The Nobel Prize-winning writer Mo Yan (莫言) has irked extreme nationalist bloggers on the internet, one of whom, writing under the account name “Mao Xinghuo Who Speaks the Truth” , filed a court order late last month to remove Mo Yan’s books from circulation and force him to pay 1.5 billion RMB in damages to the Chinese people and “stop infringing on heroes and martyrs” in his fiction.

The blogger’s four-page indictment, submitted to the Beijing Procuratorate, meticulously lists Mo Yan’s supposed offenses, including portraying members of the Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War as sexually abusive, “beautifying” Japanese soldiers, insulting Mao Zedong, and saying that the Chinese people have “no truth and no common sense.”


søndag 10. mars 2024

China Cyber Underworld Unmasked: The OPM Breach, Sakula, and the Evolution of Cybercrime

In China Cyber Underworld Unmasked, author Neo Spector delivers a riveting exploration of the largest data breach in U.S. history. This compelling cybersecurity narrative delves into the intricate cyber-attack on the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2015, which exposed the personal data of millions of government employees. Spector expertly weaves a tale of espionage, technology, and the unyielding pursuit of justice in the face of unprecedented cyber threats.

At its core, the book unravels the complexities of modern cybersecurity and espionage. With a clear and concise style, Spector reveals the intricate details of the attack, the relentless efforts of the investigators, and the groundbreaking use of artificial intelligence in creating this gripping account. Readers are taken on a journey through the shadowy realms of cyber warfare, where every piece of data is a weapon and no one, not even the most secure government agency, is safe.

FBI: The China Threat

The counterintelligence and economic espionage efforts emanating from the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party are a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States. Confronting this threat is the FBI’s top counterintelligence priority. To be clear, the adversary is not the Chinese people or people of Chinese descent or heritage. The threat comes from the programs and policies pursued by an authoritarian government.

The Chinese government is employing tactics that seek to influence lawmakers and public opinion to achieve policies that are more favorable to China. At the same time, the Chinese government is seeking to become the world’s greatest superpower through predatory lending and business practices, systematic theft of intellectual property, and brazen cyber intrusions.

China’s efforts target businesses, academic institutions, researchers, lawmakers, and the general public and will require a whole-of-society response. The government and the private sector must commit to working together to better understand and counter the threat.

Behind the doors of a Chinese hacking company, a sordid culture fueled by influence, alcohol and sex

The hotel was spacious. It was upscale. It had a karaoke bar. The perfect venue, the CEO of the Chinese hacking company thought, to hold a Lunar New Year banquet currying favor with government officials. There was just one drawback, his top deputy said.

“Who goes there?” the deputy wrote. “The girls are so ugly.”

So goes the sordid wheeling and dealing that takes place behind the scenes in China’s hacking industry, as revealed in a highly unusual leak last month of internal documents from a private contractor linked to China’s government and police. China’s hacking industry, the documents reveal, suffers from shady business practices, disgruntlement over pay and work quality, and poor security protocols.

Private hacking contractors are companies that steal data from other countries to sell to the Chinese authorities. Over the past two decades, Chinese state security’s demand for overseas intelligence has soared, giving rise to a vast network of these private hackers-for-hire companies that have infiltrated hundreds of systems outside China.

lørdag 9. mars 2024

Patricia M. Kim, Brookings: The US-China relationship in 2024 is stabilized but precarious

Neither Washington nor Beijing has high hopes for the bilateral relationship in 2024. As Ambassador Nicholas Burns put it at a Brookings event last month, he is “not optimistic” but “realistic” about the U.S.-China relationship. His comments aptly reflect the sentiment in both capitals.

The upside is that both sides share low expectations — it’s often when expectations are mismatched that there’s turbulence. They are clear-eyed about their differences. Neither Biden nor Xi seeks to trigger a larger conflict, and both leaders have endorsed using working-level exchanges to manage friction.

The downside is that there is little incentive for either side to pursue a more proactive agenda. Such an approach would admittedly be riskier but could give leaders more to point to when skeptics question the utility of maintaining stable ties. As Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen remarked in her speech on the U.S.-China economic relationship last month, “continuing to stabilize our relationship to prevent escalation” is incredibly important, but it “won’t make news.” The pressure will be higher on Biden as the leader of a democracy, who faces political attacks accusing him of pursuing “zombie engagement” and “appeasing” Beijing.

In Retrospect: Full Text of Clinton's Speech on China Trade Bill, March 2000

"Supporting China's entry into the W.T.O is about more than our economic interests; it is clearly in our larger national interest. It represents the most significant opportunity that we have had to create positive change in China since the 1970's, when President Nixon first went there, and later in the decade when President Carter normalized relations. I am working as hard as I can to convince Congress and the American people to seize this opportunity.

For a long time now, the United States has debated its relationship with China. Through all the changes, particularly of the last century, and like all human beings everywhere, we see this relationship through the prism of our own experience. In the early 1900's, most Americans saw China either through the eyes of traders seeking new markets, or missionaries seeking new converts. During World War II, China was our ally; during the Korean War, our adversary. At the dawn of the Cold War, when I was a young boy beginning to study such things, it was a cudgel in a political battle: "Who lost China?"

Later it was a counterweight to the Soviet Union, and now, in some people's eyes, it's a caricature. Will it be the next great capitalist tiger, with the biggest market in the world, or the world's last great communist dragon and a threat to stability in Asia?

Through all the changes in China and the changes in our perceptions of China, there has been one constant. We understand that America has a profound stake in what happens in China and how China relates to the rest of the world. That's why, for 30 years, every president, without regard to party, has worked for a China that contributes to the stability of Asia, that is open to the world, that upholds the rule of law at home and abroad."

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