China Reform Monitor: No. 1001

November 10:

China’s Minister of Land and Resources, Xu Shaoshi, has signed an agreement with Sudan’s Minister of Minerals, Kamal Abd-al-Latif, to conduct a geological evaluation of mineral resources in Kassala and North Kurdufan. Over the next three years they will cooperate to apply remote sensing “geochemical investigation” technology in the search for 39 elements, the official SUNA news agency reports. The agreement also specifies that China will train Sudanese geologists and geochemists.

November 11:

The fight against separatism will be “long-term, complicated and fierce” warned Nur Bekri, The Governor of Xinjiang, on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. “The ‘three evil forces’ of separatism, extremism and terrorism are unwilling to see a prosperous, united and stable Xinjiang and use every possible method to sabotage social stability,” Bekri said in comments carried by the semi-official Global Times reports. He said authorities in Xinjiang will continue to take forceful measures to crack down on terrorist activities, suggesting China’s tough security measures in Xinjiang will continue.

November 13:

Taiwan’s Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology has completed a series of tests of its Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) ‘carrier killer’ anti-ship missile. The missile, first showcased at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in August 2011, is a ramjet-powered, 120kg payload supersonic anti-ship missile with an estimated range of 130km to 150km and a maximum speed of Mach 2 – about twice the speed of sound. The Taipei Times reports that the HF-3 could be deployed on the west coast across from the mainland. That positioning would use mountains for cover against mainland missiles while bringing targets in the Strait within range. The HF-3 could also extend the attack range of land-based launchers in the Western Pacific.

November 14:

China’s Ambassador to Jordan, Yue Xiaoyong, and the Jordanian Armed Forces Operations and Training Chief of Staff, Gen. Awni Al Adwan, have signed an agreement to “foster military ties between the armies of the two countries.” The deal specifies that the Jordanian Armed Forces schools and institutes will train People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel in various fields, the official Jordanian news agency Petra reports.

[Editor’s Note: The U.S. Army does not permit PLA officers to train in its facilities, but has an extensive joint military training relationship with Jordan. Last November, for instance, U.S. Army Central Command, Third Army, concluded Operation Flexible Saif: a four-month mission to train the Jordanian army in Jordan. According to the official U.S. Army website report: “The two organizations conducted hands-on training, executed information exchanges, and shared techniques and strategies.”]

Authorities in Beijing appear to be backing away from a policy adopted by a local government of in Yining, Xinjiang, asking Muslim Uighurs not to wear Burqa or Islamic dress, grow beards or cover their faces with veils. “We have never said people cannot wear traditional ethnic dress. But we are now in a civilized society and we hope to use modern culture to guide a backward culture. It is something not to be forced, but something to be achieved through guidance,” Kurex Kanjir, a Uighur member of the Xinjiang delegation to the Communist Party’s 18th congress told the South China Morning Post. The notice, which was issued last December on the district’s official website, was later deleted. In Hotan, Xinjiang, a policy of discouraging women from wearing traditional Burqa was among the triggers for an attack on a police station in July 2011 that resulted in the deaths of at least 18 people.