China Blogging for September 14, 2007

Some catch-up on China blogging included here to clear my China queue

China is upset, claiming foreign nations are causing “massive and shocking” damage by hacking into computers to “ferret out political, military and scientific secrets.” Some might say that turnaround is fair play. Another thought is someone might be showing off for DHS that it’s worthwhile to revisit a denied application?

Tom Barnett posts on Josh’s Charm Offensive (a book I recommend and really must review here on the blog… especially since his publisher sent me a freebie, doh!, but in lieu of my pending review, see CSIS’s review here). Tom makes some interesting and valid points on China’s trajectory. China’s venture in the world is a learning experience and one of Josh’s take-aways is China is adapting to the new environment better than we are.

A few month back, the Civil-Military relations blog (a blog on the relationship between civilian operators and military operators, not civil society and military society like Don’s blog) posted the following germane item:

‘China intends to provide about $20bn in infrastructure and trade financing to Africa during the next three years, eclipsing many of the continent’s traditional big donors by a single pledge.’

This article might not seem entirely germane to the civil-military question, but in light of the renewed US focus on Africa through AFRICOM, the Chinese have upped the ante in one foul swoop, and through civilian, financial means.

Again from the Civil-Military Relations blog, this time from April 2007:

A Chinese peacekeeping hospital was opened in southern Lebanon on Monday. The hospital provides emergency resuscitation, surgical operations including stabilization limb and life-saving, basic dental care and casualty evacuation to a higher level hospital for all the peacekeeping personnel, and was described as ‘an important humanitarian asset’.

Reflecting on the evolving dynamic between armed forces and civilian agencies involved in humanitarian action.

Returning to the present, the VOA reported a Chinese envoy says Beijing is contributing to security in Darfur. Note the truth the envoy uses to support his argument:

China’s special envoy to Darfur has defended criticism that his country is not exerting its influence enough to stop the violence in the Sudanese region, saying China is making very concrete contributions to peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts there.

Liu Guijin told reporters Tuesday that China has from the beginning
supported United Nations and African Union efforts at resolving the crisis in the Darfur region.

He pointed to China’s involvement in peacekeeping operations in seven African countries, totaling 1,400 troops. In southern Sudan, he says there are more than 400 U.N. peacekeepers from China. In addition, he says Beijing has also already contributed more than $10 million in humanitarian assistance to Darfur.

Ambassador Liu said Chinese peacekeepers would begin deploying in October to the Darfur region as part of the new hybrid U.N.-African Union force. That force will be comprised of some 20,000 soldiers and 6,000 police – one of the biggest missions ever launched by the United Nations.

One thought on “China Blogging for September 14, 2007

  1. “Another thought is someone might be showing off for DHS that it’s worthwhile to revisit a denied application?”LOL! Just what our application needs: international cyberwar!

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