China Reform Monitor: No. 868

November 25:

Beijing-controlled press outlets in the mainland and Hong Kong continue to place the blame for North Korea’s numerous deadly attacks on South Korea and the United States. The Wen Wei Po, for instance, reports that: “North Korea’s artillery barrage was directly related to the continuous provocative military exercises that the U.S. and the ROK staged outside the door of the DPRK. Although the DPRK artillery barrage seemed an accidental event, massive U.S. interests are behind the event, which is a result of the U.S.’ carefully planned interference.” It continued: “The U.S.-ROK navy exercises triggered the DPRK artillery barrage. The frequent U.S.-ROK military exercises held at the doorstep of the DPRK have clearly indicated that the real provoker was not the DPRK. It was U.S. interests behind the U.S.-ROK military exercises that have directly heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.” According to the article, the U.S. provoked the conflict in order to “draw Seoul and Tokyo closer to Washington” and “cause Asia's investment environment to deteriorate so global capital would return to the United States, enabling it to rescue the sluggish U.S. economy.”

December 8:

While in Beijing, Laos’ deputy prime minister, Somsavat Lengsavad, said the construction of a high-speed railway track connecting China with his country will begin early next year. “This project will contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of Laos, as well as to the promotion of economic cooperation between ASEAN and China," Lengsavad said in comments carried by the Times of India. The purpose is to support "the master plan for ASEAN connectivity and the implementation of the ASEAN-China free trade area," he said. For China, the new network will also facilitate expansion of its construction business in South East Asia. Chinese firms are working on several hydropower projects in Laos and building infrastructure in Vietnam. Trade between China and Laos grew by over 50% in 2009 to $752 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. Over the next three years, China will build a high-speed rail network throughout South East Asia, reaching Singapore through Thailand and Myanmar. According to the Ministry of Railways, China has already built a domestic high-speed rail network stretching 7531 km and by 2020 plans to expand it to 16,000 km.

December 10:

Scores of tanks and military supplies from China, including vehicles equipped with multiple rocket launch systems, have been unloaded in Burma at Ahlone, the Yangoon port run by the Burmese conglomerate Asia World Company. The Democratic Voice of Burma reports that: “The over 12,000-ton Magwe freighter,” which belongs to a subsidiary of Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd., an enterprise belonging to the Burmese military, “left for China in November to load weaponry and supplies for the Burmese military from a Chinese port somewhere around Shanghai.” An eyewitness said that under tight military security, 112 tanks and vehicles each equipped with rocket launch systems that can fire volleys of twenty rockets were unloaded from December 4 – 8. The supplies were taken from the ship into a half-dozen transportation containers during the day and then transported at night by a convoy of military and police vehicles.

December 12:

Japan’s new military guidelines indicate a reorientation of its cold war-era defense strategy towards China. Tokyo will “reduce its heavy armored and artillery forces pointed north toward Russia in favor of creating more mobile units that could respond to China’s growing presence near its southernmost islands,” the New York Times reports. The new guidelines also call for acquiring submarines and fighter jets, and creating ground units that can be moved quickly by air in order to defend the Senkaku Islands (as they are known in Japanese, Diaoyu in Chinese) and other disputed islands in the East China Sea. Last week, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan said: “We need to slowly move forward with consultations with South Korea about whether they would allow in transport aircraft from the Self-Defense Forces.” Meanwhile, South Korea’s vice minister of defense, Lee Yong-gul, visited Tokyo for talks with his Japanese counterpart, Kimito Nakae, on increasing bilateral cooperation to counter threats from North Korea and China.

[Editor’s Note: Initially, Japan’s ruling Democratic Party clashed with the Obama administration over America’s air base on Okinawa. Now, after clashing with China three months ago over the disputed Senkaku Islands and fears about North Korea’s nuclear program, Japan’s ruling Democratic Party government has moved closer to Washington. Last week in Tokyo, in a meeting with Japan’s defense minister, Toshimi Kitazawa, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, urged Japan to join U.S. military exercises with South Korea.]