By Benjamin A Shobert The Chinese propaganda posters, carefully set inside the windows of the Chinese/American Friendship Center in Detroit, say it all: the first, a picture of the Capitol in Washington DC having its rotunda blown off, with the words “Defeating Your Enemy” running along the top. The second, a Chinese hand reaching down to help up an American, with the phrase “Helping You Back On Your Feet”, and the last, a burly laborer hammering away at an anvil, a figure of the US dollar beneath his descending hammer, with the slogan “Repairing Your Economy” in large white letters … Continue reading US paranoia seen in an embarrasing Anti China film – Red Dawn

By Charles Fromm WASHINGTON – In the wake of a botched Christmas Day airliner bombing claimed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the direction of what used to be called the “global war on terror” settled on Yemen this week, with the United States slated to escalate economic and military assistance to the country’s beleaguered government. Yemen has long been on the brink of failed statehood, plagued by corruption, poverty and violence. More than a decade after civil war and reunification, a secessionist movement in the south of the country still threatens stability, as does an insurgency on its … Continue reading Yemen hard-pushed to deliver

By Francesco Sisci BEIJING – In 2005, Zheng Bijian, then executive vice-president of the Central Party School, a former political adviser to Communist Party secretary Hu Yaobang, and for years right-hand man to President Hu Jintao, published an essay in the US detailing China’s doctrine about its peaceful rise. [1] The article argued that China would not seek hegemonic status in the world and would not engage in expansionist wars. It explained how historic Imperial China, although very powerful at times, never went out of its own political basin. Zheng’s argument was a response to Western allegations that China, as … Continue reading The peace imperative

By Syed Fazl-e-Haider KARACHI, Pakistan – As the human cost of Pakistan’s position in the frontline of the “war on terror” grows, the economic burden is also mounting through growing military activity and damage to commercial activity. In Karachi, the country’s commercial capital and home to a large number of foreigners, the December 28 suicide attack on a procession of Shi’ite Muslims raised security concerns among investors. It was the city’s deadliest attack in over two years, with at least 43 people killed and businesses facing a loss of billions of rupees through the attack itself and from riots that … Continue reading Karachi Mullahs blast bill mounts

By Farkhad Sharip Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, were liberal with their profuse eulogies such as a “milestone in Sino-Kazakh relations” and “an epoch-making event” after their talks in Astana on December 12. Hu had every reason to describe his official visit to Kazakhstan as a success. The two leaders signed three important documents relating to cooperation in the development of renewable energy resources, a joint memorandum on financing the second section of a gas pipeline from Kazakhstan to China and a credit agreement for the reconstruction of Atyrau oil refinery in West Kazakhstan. Hu … Continue reading China tightens grip on Kazakh gas

Find follows killing of Indian student in Melbourne, prompting Delhi to issue warning over increase in violent attacks * Toni O’Loughlin * guardian.co.uk, Demonstrators protest outside the Australian embassy in New Delhi over the reported increase in attacks on Indian students in Australia. Photograph: Saurabh Das/AP The partially burnt remains of an Indian national have been discovered on a rural road in Australia, escalating a row between Delhi and Canberra over the treatment of Indian students in the country. News of the death of Ranjodh Singh, 25, whose body was found south-west of Sydney, follows Saturday’s killing of Nitin Garg, … Continue reading Indian man’s burnt remains found on rural Australian road