May 5:
At a State Council-sponsored work forum to support Xinjiang’s development and stability, the central government has committed 19 provinces and municipalities (including Anhui, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, and Jilin Provinces and Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen municipalities) to provide over 10 billion yuan in aid to Xinjiang next year. The central government will also make investments in Xinjiang through “special transfer payments” amounting to “several times as much as the total amount of counterpart aid to be used in an all-directional manner for Xinjiang's large-scale development,” the Beijing-controlled Wen Wei Po reported
. The massive aid program to Xinjiang was initiated in March at a high-profile national work conference. It will pair rich eastern provinces with poor rural areas in Xinjiang. Eastern provinces will provide resources, technology, and management in 12 prefectures, 82 counties and cities and sponsor the deployment of 12 Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps divisions.
May 7:
British intelligence agencies have warned that Beijing could cripple IT-dependent telecom infrastructure and critical services through embedded malware installed by Chinese telecom firms Huawei. In response India’s communication ministry issued warnings to test all Chinese-installed equipment for “trapdoors, black box, and malwares.” London warned that through covert modifications Huawei could compromise systems in ways difficult to detect allowing Beijing to disrupt communications. Huawei is responsible for sweeping and debugging China’s embassies, giving their experts knowledge of telecommunication systems and their weaknesses. The company, founded by a retired senior PLA officer Ren Zhengfei in 1988, also works for the most repressive regimes – it built military projects in Iraq for the Saddam Hussein regime and telecom projects in Afghanistan for the Taliban, The Economic Times of India reports.
[Editor’s Note: The U.S. shares Britain and India’s concerns about Huawei's close connection with the Chinese security establishment. The U.S. government canceled Huawei's 2008 bid to pick up a stake in 3Com due to concerns that the Chinese company could modify equipment and computer software sold to the U.S. military.]
May 10:
Amid rising tensions and bellicose rhetoric from both Beijing and Hanoi over their competing claims in the South China Sea, the two naval forces have successfully carried out a joint search and rescue exercise in the Tonkin Gulf. Two Vietnamese ships and two Chinese vessels participated in the patrol; the first combined training exercises since in 2005, which simulated the saving of a Chinese boat in danger. Meanwhile, China is imposing a fishing ban in the South China Sea and detaining Vietnamese fishermen for violating its sovereignty. Chinese fishery wardens have confiscated the equipment and catches of Vietnamese fishermen caught violating the ban. Vietnam’s Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper reports that some were “detained, tortured and starved during detention on the China-controlled Paracel archipelago.”
May 12:
Although China does not sell Burma chemical, biological, nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, it has not objected to Myanmar procuring them elsewhere. Myanmar’s military junta bought weapons from North Korea via China including mid-range missiles and rocket launchers, and “equipment necessary to build a nuclear capability.” A military convoy traveled from Yunnan Province to central Burma in April and military cargo from China and North Korea are arriving at the Air Force base at Meiktila Airport. A North Korean vessel visited Thilawar Port near Yangoon, but Myanmar officials claim the ship was carrying rice to North Korea. Pyongyang needs Burmese primary products, which Naypyidaw trades for North Korean arms and technology. Politically, China has brokered Naypyidaw's relationship with Pyongyang, Burmese generals recent trips to North Korea have passed through China, the Thailand-based Irrawaddy reports.
[Editor’s Note: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell is in Myanmar on his second trip to the secretive country. After leaving Campbell will fly to Beijing, where his discussions with Chinese officials regarding North Korea are expected to include the relationship between Pyongyang and Naypyidaw.]