China Reform Monitor: No. 764

May 20:

India’s foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and national security adviser M K Narayanan have traveled to Colombo and met with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksain to counter what New Delhi perceives as China’s growing influence. In recent years, as India has stopped the sale of offensive weaponry to Sri Lanka, Beijing stepped in as one of Colombo's largest suppliers of arms and military equipment. The Times of India reports that, “China took advantage of such an opening to expand its influence, seeking and getting a valuable port, Hambantota, in the Indian Ocean.” India will provide relief to the displaced Tamils, set up relief and rehabilitation centers, send material for 5,000 shelters to house about 25,000 people.

May 21:

Russia must attract China’s investment in its far east region according to Russia’s President. China is Russia’s largest market for industrial products and holds significant financial resources for potential investment, Medvedev said in comments carried by the official Xinhua News Agency reports. Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said that gas deliveries to China are being considered in Moscow and that Russia will present proposals to President Hu Jintao during his visit to Moscow in June. "Our view is that cooperation with China in this sector has significant prospects.” Sechin told Russia’s Interfax News Agency.

May 22:

Li Li, deputy director of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Public Security Department, has thanked the United States for imposing financial sanctions against the East Turkestan Islamic Movement’s chief Abdul Haq. “It corresponds with U.S. interests and China's interests as well, " Li said. She also accused the Uigher independence groups of “actively plotting new sabotage activities” and said security forces would “crack down on all kinds of terrorist activities to ensure social stability in region. The East Turkistan Islamic Movement and other terrorist organizations, such as The World Uighur Congress and Rabiye Kadeer, outside the country are actively training personnel and planning to launch new terrorist attacks against China,” Li said in comments carried by China’s Zhongguo Xinwen She news agency.

[Editor’s Note: Last month in comments carried by the Associate Press Stuart Levey, of the U.S. Department of the Treasury explained Washington’s decision. "Haq trained terrorists planned to sabotage the Olympic Games by conducting terrorist attacks within China before the Olympics began."]

May 24:

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu has returned to Taiwan after becoming the highest-ranking Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official to visit the mainland. Chen held talks with the mayors of Beijing and Shanghai ostensibly to promote the World Games her city is hosting in July. Officials from the DPP opposition and the ruling Nationalist (KMT) party both praised her mention of "President Ma" during a meeting with mayor of Beijing Guo Jinlong as a important recognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty, Taiwan News reports. President Ma Ying-jeou welcomed Chen’s visit and said he hoped higher ranking DPP officials will visit the mainland in the future. The DPP cannot continue to refuse to engage with mainland China forever, Ma added, and now is an opportune juncture because the DPP is the opposition and does not have to assume political responsibilities, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reports.

May 25:

North Korea’s second nuclear test triggered an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale with its epicenter 180 kilometers southwest of China's Yanji City. Yanbian's seismology bureau confirmed that the tremor was felt in Yanbian's capital Yanji, Antu, Huchun, and Tumen, the Zhongguo Tongxun She reports. Huanqiu Shibao reported the earthquake caused the emergency evacuation of schools in Yanji and in Wangqing County.