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Read Full Article at RT.com

The Costs of Chinas Belt and Road Expansion   -9%

When I returned to Xigang after five years, I couldn’t recognize it. What had been a small but generally well-maintained beach town had become a sprawling mess of a city; construction, mud, and piles of garbage were seemingly everywhere. The Han Chinese with whom I spoke trumpeted the new opportunities that Beijing was bringing to the local Gaomian ethnic minority in this frontier outpost. The Gaomian people, they told me, didn’t know how to develop their land and resources. Xigang may be a mess now, but, they assured me, it would emerge looking like a modern Chinese city.

Yet Xigang isn’t a Chinese city, at least in the geographic sense. Xigang itself is the Chinese name for the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville. Local Gaomian people—known in English as Khmer—have watched their home on the Gulf of Thailand change from a pleasant (if not entirely safe) place frequented by Western gap-year backpackers and beer-swilling sexpats, to what many consider a colonial settlement. A Chinese military presence appears more and more plausible.

With its inclusion in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, Sihanoukville now finds itself firmly in Beijing’s embrace, one that is facilitated by Xi and China’s growing role as benefactor of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. It is an embrace that looks likely to tighten. Last summer, Beijing announced that a new consulate would be opened in the city, and The Wall Street Journal reported that the two countries had signed a deal to allow Chinese vessels access to the nearby Ream naval base. In mid-October, China’s ambassador to Cambodia, Wang Wentian, helped establish a Chinese chamber of commerce office in Sihanoukville. And it has plenty of potential members: According to local statistics, more than 90 percent of businesses in the city are now Chinese-owned. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge officer and one of the world’s longest-serving leaders, has maintained his position by deftly playing different patrons as needed: first Vietnam, then international aid organizations, and now China.

The rapid change in Sihanoukville illustrates the risks of that approach, both for Hun Sen and for Beijing. China’s move into this city, at remarkable speed and scale, has fostered resentment among Cambodians toward new arrivals who, locals complain, flaunt laws and treat long-time residents with contempt. The changes here illustrate the costs to China—tangible and intangible—of its hefty outward expansion, both through its Belt and Road initiative, and with the huge numbers of Chinese who are moving to fast-developing places such as Sihanoukville to capitalize.

[Read: China’s path forward is getting bumpy]

Many Cambodians I spoke with voiced concerns about Sihanoukville turning into a de facto Chinese colony, and the consensus was that they were being treated like second-class citizens in their own homeland. At one restaurant, when I told a Cambodian employee that I was visiting from Taiwan, he referenced the opposition in other locales where Beijing has sought to impose its will. “Taiwan says no to China, Hong Kong says no to China,” he told me, “but Hun Sen only says yes to China.”

There are roughly as many Chinese as Cambodians in downtown Sihanoukville, perhaps more, and this sudden influx has sent the cost of living skyward. Small, basic rooms that had a few years earlier rented for $25 a month now rent for four times as much in a country where the monthly minimum wage in the garment sector, a key export industry, is just $190. Vegetables, once cheap, are now prohibitively expensive—one roadside restaurant I stopped at charged $8 for a small plate of stir-fried broccoli. Yet few Cambodians appear to have benefited from this economic boom. Native residents have been more or less relegated to the lower rung of the city’s service economy, employed as tuk-tuk drivers, parking attendants, and restaurant and hotel staff. Small-building construction tends to use Cambodian labor, but the colossal casino-and-resort developments being built in parts of Sihanoukville like Zhongguo Cheng (“China Town”) primarily use labor imported from China’s largely rural southwestern provinces. These regions, especially Sichuan and Yunnan, are well represented among the Chinese restaurants found throughout the city, whereas Cambodian restaurants are almost impossible to find. And the English-speaking Cambodians who served the tourist industry here in years past have found themselves incapable of communicating with most of the Chinese who have arrived in their city.

The Chinese push into Sihanoukville has not only changed the economic landscape of the city, but the actual landscape, too. Cranes and scaffolding are ubiquitous, hills and forests have been bulldozed, and a lake that was once vital for drainage during heavy rains has been filled, causing flooding. Most of the city’s road network has been heavily damaged by the constant traffic of heavy trucks and cement mixers. Even the omnipresent SUVs driven by the more moneyed Chinese here must carefully navigate potholes that resemble lunar craters, often filled with water. With development far outstripping wastewater treatment and other vital infrastructure, piles of trash are everywhere, and sewage is often piped out to the city’s three miles of beachfront, which are now covered in garbage as well. China’s development of Sihanoukville has not only proven unsightly, but deadly: In June, a seven-story building that was under construction on a Chinese-owned site collapsed, killing 28 workers sleeping inside. Five Chinese nationals were charged over the high-profile tragedy.

[Read: The U.S. can’t make allies take sides over China]

Sampoah Mom has, on the face of it, been among the Cambodians who have seen benefits from the investment: Three of her relatives work at the city’s casinos, and their salaries are good by local standards. Even so, while taking a break from painting one of Sihanoukville’s few still-functioning seaside guesthouses, she echoed the sentiments of many other Cambodians regarding the shift that has come with the new developments. “I don’t like the changes,” she told me. “Now there’s so much garbage, and the roads are bad. Before, Sihanoukville was very nice—now it’s very bad.”

One of the biggest changes in recent years is the boom in casinos. In Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, NagaCorp holds a monopoly on casino gambling—which is forbidden for Cambodians. But in Sihanoukville, regulations are lax and oversight nearly nonexistent. Around Sihanoukville, casino developments aimed at Chinese—prohibited from casino gambling at home—are being built by Chinese companies with Chinese labor. The irony is stark: Companies beholden to the same Communist Party that forbids Chinese from casino gambling in China are building casinos for Chinese tourists in Cambodia. A year ago, there were 88 casinos in operation, many of them open 24/7, offering shuttle vans for the difficult task of navigating the city’s cratered streets. (The announcement that Cambodia would eliminate the booming online-gaming sector by the end of 2019 sparked an exodus of Chinese, with estimates in the tens of thousands leaving.)

Safety is also an issue: As Chinese investment has surged, public safety has deteriorated. Both Chinese and Cambodians recommended that I avoid going out in the city at night in order to stay clear of gun violence, adding that armed robberies may also occur during the day. Guns may be difficult to acquire in China, but in Sihanoukville, shootings involving Chinese nationals are regularly in the news. The concerns are not anecdotal—Cambodia’s interior ministry released a report this year that identified Chinese as the most criminally active foreigners in the kingdom. The country’s immigration authority estimated that at least 78,000 Chinese are working in Sihanoukville, many without work permits. And the increase in casino gambling has brought with it organized crime. In May, China’s embassy announced it was investigating a video posted by a Chinese man claiming to be from Chongqing who, along with his gang’s members, threatened to seize control of Sihanoukville. Even China’s previous ambassador to Cambodia, Xiong Bo, acknowledged to reporters in February 2018 that crimes committed by Chinese nationals were a problem, an extremely rare such admission by a Chinese diplomat.

[Read: China’s playbook in Hong Kong is also working in the Asia-Pacific]

The rise in crime, which is often violent, doesn’t have just Sihanoukville residents rattled. Chinese business is also concerned about the local security situation. 2019 was designated the “Year of China-Cambodia Law Enforcement Cooperation,” and in late September, a delegation from China’s Ministry of State Security visited Sihanoukville to hear Chinese businesspeople’s safety concerns, suggesting Beijing may be preparing to increase its supervision of its citizens in this key Belt and Road city. The new consulate, too, would help with that effort.

The increased attention paid by the Chinese authorities to Sihanoukville stands as an implicit acknowledgment by Beijing that there are risks to China if its nationals or companies run roughshod over locals in other countries.

Still, for China, Sihanoukville’s strategic importance outweighs these risks. The city’s location helps China project power into Southeast Asia. If the two countries have indeed reached an agreement on Chinese use of the Ream naval base, then Beijing will have taken a major step toward bringing the region further under its sway.

“Sihanoukville is an ideal place for this purpose,” says Nadège Rolland, a senior fellow for political and security affairs at the National Bureau of Asian Research, a Seattle-based think tank, “especially as the area will eventually combine not only a deep water port—necessary for naval ships—but also the airport of Dara Sakor.” (The airport, just to Sihanoukville’s west, is ostensibly being developed by a Chinese company for commercial transit, yet satellite photos show that its runways will be long enough for Chinese bombers.)

Toward the end of my stay, I ventured to one of the few seaside bars whose stretch of beach wasn't completely ruined, where I ended up conversing with a Chinese man who asked that he be identified only by his last name, Liu. Sitting at the table next to mine, drinking Cambodian beers with a couple of employees of his travel company, Liu told me that he wanted to promote tourism between his native Fujian province and Cambodia, with Sihanoukville—or as he called it, Xigang—as a major stop.

“In a few years,” he said gesturing with his hands toward the beach, “this place, Xigang, will be beautiful.”

I couldn’t help but recall a conversation I’d had with a Cambodian living in Sihanoukville, Visna, the day before. We had been discussing the increasing pushback by Hong Kongers protesting China’s growing influence there, and I asked the 34-year-old father of two if he thought the day may come when Cambodians here take to the streets too.

“Not now,” he said, “but if things keep getting worse for another year or two—yes.”

Photo: Beijing Hutong, by joel.   25%

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Markets arent losing any sleep over the US, Iran and oil yet the trade war is still more of a worry   -3%

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Public lecturing tour on "Outstanding Veterans of the Year 2019 begins in Beijing   25%

By Yang Mingyue

BEIJING, Jan.13 -- The public lecturing tour on the meritorious deeds of Outstanding Veterans of the Year 2019, jointly organized by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, began with the first lecturing event held in the People’s Great Hall in Beijing on the afternoon of January 10.

Representing all the nineteen veterans honored with the title of Outstanding Veteran of the Year, Li Shijiang, chairman of DFD Chemical Industry Co. LTD, Li Wenqiang, senior technician with the 404 Co. LTD under China National Nuclear Corporation, Zhang Li, chief designer of simulation under Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, Ci Jun, who is a road mender working at the Qinghai-Tibet highway in Xizang Autonomous Region, Yin Lijun, chairman of the Labor Union under the Rongcheng City Thermal-electric Gas Group Co., LTD, and Yang Yubin, secretary of the CPC Huaniao Township Committee, Shengsi County of Zhejiang Province, told in turn their own stories in different fields and positions.

The audience who listened to the lecture said that as the outstanding representatives of the vast number of veterans, the nineteen veterans have always been upholding the glorious tradition of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and staying true to our founding mission. Their contributions deserve to be remembered by society, and their deeds deserve to be widely celebrated.

About 700 people from central and state organs, military units, universities, enterprises in Beijing attended the lecture.

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Chinese coast guard ship visits Philippines for the first time   25%

By Liu Xin and Zheng Xin

MANILA, Jan.15 -- A vessel of the China Coast Guard (CCG), coded 5204, arrived in Manila, the Philippines for the friendly exchanges of the Joint Coast Guard Committee (JCGC) on Maritime Cooperation between the CCG and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on the morning of January 14. This is the first time that the CCG ship visited the Philippines.

The Philippine side held a grand welcome ceremony for the Chinese ship, which was attended by the leaders of the relevant departments of the Philippines and the staff member of the Chinese Embassy in Manila, as well as local people and overseas Chinese. Chiefs of the PCG boarded the Chinese ship 0524 and the two sides had a friendly and harmonious exchange of views.

In response to the recent eruption of the Taal Volcano near Manila, the CCG ship 0524 donated its reserved food and logistic supplies to the best of its ability for the affected people, and held a donation ceremony to express the most sincere concern for the Philippine people. Later, coast guard personnel from both side visited each other’s ships.

The third meeting of the Joint Coast Guard Committee (JCGC) on Maritime Cooperation kicked off on the afternoon of January 14. During the meeting, both sides will exchange in-depth views on maritime law enforcement cooperation and issues of common concern; summarize the achievements and experiences of the JCGC since its establishment; and discuss measures to strengthen cooperation in key areas such as combating transnational crimes at sea, maritime drug detection, maritime search and rescue, and humanitarian rescue. In addition, they will also conduct joint maritime search, rescue and fire-fighting drills, as well as a series of activities such as ship open day, friendly sports matches, and deck receptions.

Photo: The Writer, by Gauthier DELECROIX   25%

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Avoid raising Kashmir dispute at United Nations, India asks China  

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Chinas commitment to Iran unchanged, Beijing envoy assures Tehran  

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Chinas Uygur policy, human rights defended by Wang Yi during Africa trip, amid latest US call for sanctions  

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Defense Ministry holds Spring Festival reception  

BEIJING, Jan. 17 -- Chinese Ministry of National Defense held here a reception to greet the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year on Friday. Nearly 260 guests including military attaches and their spouses from more than 80 countries attended the reception upon invitation.

Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, who is also member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and state councilor, Li Zuocheng, Miao Hua and Zhang Shengmin, who are also CMC members, attended the reception.

At the beginning of the reception, a leader of the CMC’s International Military Cooperation Office delivered a speech on behalf of the Chinese side.

He said in his speech that in the past year, the Chinese military fully implemented Xi Jinping’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era and Xi Jinping’s thought on building a strong military, and guided by the Party's goal of strengthening the military in the new era, the whole military focused the strength on war preparedness and reform and innovation, taking new steps in the cause of building a strong military.

By holding high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and win-win, China pushes forward the efforts of building a community with a Shared future for mankind, he said.

In 2020, the Chinese military will firmly safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, faithfully implement the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, actively fulfill the international responsibilities of the military of a major country, comprehensively advance international military cooperation in the new era and continuously deepen exchange and cooperation with militaries to jointly cope with risks and challenges and maintain peaceful development, he stated in the speech.

Mr. Perry, Zambian defense attaché to China and head of the delegation of foreign military attaches to China delivered a speech on behalf the foreign side. He expressed appreciation for the contributions made by the Chinese military in maintaining world peace and development. He also wished China finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects as scheduled and the Chinese military making new achievements in the modernization drive.

 Leaders from the CMC departments, Beijing-based major units of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force attended the reception.

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Xi honors two academicians with China's top science award  

BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping presented China's top science award to Huang Xuhua and Zeng Qingcun on Friday for their outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, granted award medals and certificates to them at an annual ceremony held in Beijing to honor distinguished scientists, engineers and research achievements.

Xi shook hands with them and expressed congratulations.

Other leaders, including Li Keqiang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng, were also present.

Huang Xuhua, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is the chief designer of the country's first-generation nuclear submarines.

Born in Guangdong Province in 1926, Huang later joined a research institute of the former China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and has been engaged in the research and development of nuclear submarines for about 30 years. He won the Medal of the Republic in 2019 for his outstanding contributions to the nation.

Zeng Qingcun, 85, is a famous meteorologist from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

His theory of numerical weather prediction solved the problems of timeliness and stability in calculating multi-scale weather change processes and is the basis of the global numerical weather prediction technology.

Zeng's visionary study on global climate change has brought him a host of accolades and international acclaim, including the world's top prize for meteorological work.

Friday's ceremony also honored 296 projects, with 46 winning the State Natural Science Award, 65 the State Technological Invention Award, and 185 the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award.

Ten foreign experts won the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award.

SCI-TECH PUSH

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, Premier Li Keqiang extended congratulations to award winners and thanked foreign experts for their support of China's science and technology development.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said that since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country has made brilliant achievements in scientific and technological development, with the past year witnessing a number of internationally leading advances.

Li noted that China is striving to achieve the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2020.

The premier stressed the importance of following the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, further implementing the innovation-driven development strategy and accelerating the in-depth integration of science and technology with the economy, in a bid to maintain the economic growth within a reasonable range and promote the high-quality development.

He called for the strengthening of basic research as the foundation of sci-tech innovation.

"We will increase financial support and guide social forces including enterprises to increase investment," Li said, adding that the mechanisms for ensuring funds, evaluating achievements and rewarding talent shall all be optimized.

China will support researchers in concentrating on their work without distractions and create more original achievements by respecting rules and tolerating failures, Li said.

Those who dedicated themselves to the scientific work despite decades of obscurity shall be commended and awarded, he said.

The premier also stressed that sci-tech innovation shall address the urgent needs of economic development and people's livelihood.

China will accelerate the development of key technologies and transforming research achievements to products to help speed up industrial upgrading, he said.

Research and development shall be intensified in major disease prevention and control as well as environmental management so that more people will directly benefit from technology and innovation, he said.

The premier emphasized the role of enterprises in technological innovation and called for efforts to improve their ability and willingness to invest more in innovation by implementing tax and fee deduction policies as well as respecting and protecting their intellectual property rights.

To expand international cooperation in innovation, Li pledged to facilitate scientists and technicians as well as enterprises from various countries to come to China for exchanges and development.

Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the ceremony, with about 3,300 people attending.

Before the ceremony, Xi and other leaders met representatives of the award winners.

DIVERSE ACHIEVEMENTS

This year's ceremony highlighted major breakthroughs in basic research. Chemist Zhou Qilin, 63, and his team won the first-place prize of the State Natural Science Award for inventing a highly effective catalyst that has been widely used by giant pharmaceutical companies in drug production.

Other research programs that were presented with the State Natural Science Award included studies on topological quantum materials, iron-based superconductors as well as the controllable growth and performance regulation of graphene.

"Many perplexing problems look like technological ones. In fact, they are not backed by solid basic research. With no clear understanding of basic science problems, you cannot get original results," said Zhou.

A batch of key technologies for industrial applications, such as the jetliner ARJ21 project, were also honored.

Developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the ARJ21 is China's first domestically developed turbo-fan regional passenger jetliner.

Other awarded technologies applied in industries and large engineering projects included those for building large-scale tunnels and ensuring highway safety in geographically complicated and dangerous mountain areas, as well as for the automatic transmission hybrid power system for commercial vehicles.

Awards were also given to animal studies, medical breakthroughs and agricultural technologies.

Wei Fuwen, a CAS academician, and his colleagues won the second-place prize of the State Natural Science Award, for their research on giant pandas.

They focused on the evolution of the ancient species and contributed to endangered species conservation.

The team led by Sun Lingyun, a doctor at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital in east China, won the State Technological Invention Award, for developing a stem cell treatment for lupus erythematosus.

Other award winners related to diseases included studies on cross-species infection of the animal influenza virus in humans as well as the new pathogenesis and treatment of depression.

Research programs associated with safe food and stable grain output, such as technologies for accurately detecting pollutants in agricultural products and cultivating new high-yield wheat varieties, also received awards.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presents the award to China's top science award winner Zeng Qingcun during an annual ceremony to honor distinguished scientists, engineers and research achievements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 10, 2020. Zeng Qingcun is a famous meteorologist from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Australia welcomes US-China trade deal, despite possible costs   13%

Australian farmers could be hit, but trade minister says phase one ‘truce’ is good for global confidence

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Chinese, Philippine Coast Guards deepen maritime law enforcement cooperation  

By Sun Chongfeng

MANILA, Jan. 17 -- The third meeting of the Joint Coast Guard Committee (JCGC) on Maritime Cooperation between the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) was held from January 14 to 16 in Manila to deepen maritime cooperation between the two sides. Major General Wang Zhongcai, director-general of CCG, and Vice Admiral Joel Sarsiban Garcia, 28th Commandant of PCG, co-chaired the meeting.

The meeting discussed and identified the next cooperation projects and new cooperation fields, in a bid to enhance mutual trust and ensure win-win outcomes in maritime operations. Both sides agreed to give due attention to the safety and protection of fishermen.

Both sides also emphasized the commitments to deepening cooperation between China-Philippine coast guards, jointly addressing maritime emergencies, humanitarian and environmental protection concerns, and building the South China Sea into a sea of peace, stability and prosperity.

It is agreed by both sides that the fourth meeting of the JCGC on Maritime Cooperation will be held in China within the year.

Along with the Chinese delegation to the meeting, the CCG Vessel 5204 also paid a port call to the Philippines. It has successfully carried out a joint maritime exercise on search and rescue and firefighting at sea with the PCG, providing new opportunities for the two agencies to deepen pragmatic cooperation in maritime law enforcement and enhance friendship and mutual trust.

In October 2016, China and the Philippines signed the MOU between PCG and CCG on the establishment of the JCGC on Maritime Cooperation. The first and second meetings of JCGC on Maritime Cooperation were held in Subic of the Philippines and Guangzhou of China in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

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