China Reform Monitor: No. 1113

July 2:

Fifty Chinese nationals whose salaries had not been paid by the management of Tokmok refinery in Chuy, Kyrgyzstan armed themselves with “iron rods, bars, trowels and pins” and refused to allow construction hardware and local workers to enter the refinery premises. The Chinese, who were mostly illegal immigrant workers, “put up armed resistance to police, [and] have been detained and deported from Kyrgyzstan,” the Kyrgyz Telegraph Agency (KyrTAg) reports. The workers began their occupation of the refinery on June 30 and to dislodge them, “officers of SOBR [task force] of the Chuy Region’s internal affairs directorate fired several warning shots and then detained 39 protesters and took them to the town police department.” In line with a hasty ruling from the Tokmok town court on July 1, the Chinese citizens were immediately deported from Kyrgyzstan.

July 4:

Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam said that the nation is preparing for a potential war with China to defend its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea. Considered a pro-Chinese political figure, this is the first time Trong has mentioned the possibility of war with Beijing. He said that the Vietnam will do its best to avoid confrontation with China and criticized Chinese leaders for provoking conflict by deploying an oil platform in the waters off the Paracel islands in May. The incident triggered strong anti-China sentiment in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Nen, minister of the Government Office, encouraged Vietnamese to buy domestic goods in preparation for potential economic warfare measures against Beijing, Want China Times reports.

July 6:

A ban on fasting in Xinjiang province during the holy month of Ramadan is targeted primarily at students and teachers. Cities in Xinjiang have declared that fasting is detrimental to the health of young students and have called for retired teachers to stand guard at mosques to prevent students from entering. Citing health worries, one statement on the website of the Number 3 Grade School in Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang, forbid any teacher from “participating in religious activities, instilling religious thoughts in students or coercing students into religious activities.” For its part, Pakistan is dodging the issue: “I have no confirmation that the media reports are true. I have no comments on speculative reports,” said a Foreign Office spokesperson. According to a commentary in Pakistan’sThe News: “While always raising its voice in support of Muslims being suppressed around the globe, this is a major test for Pakistan whether to ignore or comment on this government ban.”

July 9:

The Power of Siberia gas pipeline construction will start soon, the estimated cost of the whole project is $60-70 billion,” Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov told Russian-speaking students in Beijing. The new pipeline, which Gazprom will begin construction on next month, will supply China with Russian gas under a 30-year contract Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed in May. Russia is set to provide China 38 billion cubic meters of gas per year, worth an estimated $400 billion. Russia plans to invest $55 billion in the project and China an additional $22 billion. Ivanov added that Sino-Russian cooperation now extends into the transportation sector: “We are currently jointly building a wide-body aircraft, a heavy helicopter, and many transport projects, including the construction of a long highway, which will run from China to Russia via Kazakhstan, and will end at the Baltic Sea.” The new projects should push annual bilateral trade up from about $100 billion per year to $200 billion by 2020, RIA Novosti reports.

July 10:

Taiwan Defense Minister Yen Ming’s cell phone was tapped by Beijing’s agents during his April visit to Africa. Yen was in Swaziland to attend the birthday celebration of Swazi King Mswati III, one of Taiwan’s 22 diplomatic allies. After obtaining information on Yen’s flight plans via the tap, China then pressured South Africa to deny permission for Yen’s delegation to transfer on his way to Burkina Faso. South Africa does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but Burkina Faso does. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has flatly denied the report, claiming it has measures and encryption equipment in place to avoid wiretapping, the China Post reports.