January 29:
South Sudan’s the Citizen has criticized China for double talk and making an “irreversible commitment” to support the “internationalization of the Sudan-South Sudan conflict.” The the newspaper reports that although China now claims to have “expressed reservations against internationalization of the dispute between Sudan and South Sudan, voicing a preference for a bilateral, African solution,” when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted resolution 2046 it did so “with the blessing of China.” UNSC 2046 states that: “Sudan and South Sudan must immediately cease all hostilities, withdraw forces, activate previously-agreed security mechanisms, and resume negotiations under threat of sanctions.” (Italics added)
[The Citizen does not have a website. This story was pulled from the BBC newswires.]
January 31:
Admiral Fei Horng-po, formerly deputy chief of general staff of the Republic of China (ROC-Taipei) armed forces, has called for the establishment of a high-level cross-strait military cooperation mechanism and improved cross-strait coordination to defend Chinese territorial claims in the East and South China Seas. “I suggested President Ma appoint retired generals to attend the next round of talks between the KMT and the mainland Communist Party,” Fei said in comments carried by the South China Morning Post. Xu Guangyu, a People’s Liberation Army major general, agreed: “The current Diaoyus tension is an opportunity to start (cross-Strait) military talks seeking a consensus and a collaborative mechanism in the disputed areas.” In response, former ROC defense minister Wu Shih-wen said that now is “not the right time for Taipei and Beijing to cooperate.”
February 1:
A coordinating agency for joint China and North Korea administration of the Rason Economic and Trade Zone has been established and is seeking foreign investment, Hong Kong’s Beijing-controlled Ta Kung Pao reports. Chinese personnel are in Rason and have already built a new logistics center and upgraded and expanded its port capacity. A large-scale cooperative paddy plantation reported its harvest at double last year’s yield and preliminary work has been completed on the Yatai Group’s 1 million metric-ton cement factory. Wang Zhihou, director of Jilin Provincial Economic and Technological Cooperation Bureau, said: “To guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese personnel and enterprises China and North Korea will cooperate to accelerate the formulation of relevant legal documents, such as the Rason Economic and Trade Zone Law, and strive to have the North Korean side implement them this year.”
February 3:
The rush by mainland Chinese to buy infant milk formula in Hong Kong has sparked conflict with locals. For days, the South China Morning Post reports, “a steady line of mainlanders could be seen heading for the border pushing trolleys laden with cans of milk formula.” At Sheung Shui subway station police broke up a clash between mainland traders carrying infant formula and protesters waving the colonial Hong Kong flag. Meanwhile, about 150 people lined up outside a factory where an Australian brand distributed 300 cans of formula. In one day a 24-hour hotline established so Hong Kong parents can place baby formula orders received 3,416 calls. In response to the shortage Hong Kong’s government announced a limit of two cans, or 1.8kg, of milk powder for each person departing the territory. The run on Hong Kong baby formula is the result of longstanding, widespread concerns about the safety of Chinese dairy products.
February 4:
Admiral Hsu Chung-hua of the Republic of China (Taiwan) navy has been questioned over the transfer of classified maps and charts from the navy’s meteorology and oceanography office to agents from the People’s Republic of China. Hsu has been transferred from his position as the commander of the 146th Squadron based in Penghu – an island group in the Taiwan Strait. The case, already one of worst breaches in ROC history, led to the arrest of three senior military officers in September for providing Beijing information about the operation of Taipei’s submarines. “As more ranking officers have been involved in such espionage cases over the last few years, we are afraid that China has infiltrated various levels of the military,” legislator Tsai Huang-lang from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party said in comments carried by the Japan Times.