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Passing Through View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2018 at 12:00pm
If it wasn't for Julie Bishop's travel rorts or her Chinese Glorious Foundation slush fund, we wouldn't even know the joint existed over this side of the country.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2018 at 1:06pm
thats a bit below the belt pt  

or

is that the best you can do pt?

did you know pt iron ore is the big attraction.

puts money in your pocket

and that of the chinese who come to australia and then force the reale estate prices up.

used to be the sheeps back, now its iron ore.

can you mine it in your back yard pt?LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2018 at 1:27pm
And how much do we rely on China to buy our mineral resources?

Should we stop selling stuff to them Isaac, because of their aggressive quest for global dominance?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Dec 2018 at 2:42pm
Originally posted by Passing Through Passing Through wrote:

And how much do we rely on China to buy our mineral resources?

Should we stop selling stuff to them Isaac, because of their aggressive quest for global dominance?




PT can't see how out of tune he is to the majority of Australians , Isaac.
Even the Sharks are joining in to take a few out of his protected , non productive area.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Whale Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Dec 2018 at 8:44pm
Originally posted by Passing Through Passing Through wrote:

I think it has more to do with Trump putting pressure on Europe to buy Apple than a true security risk Isaac. 

They want Iran's gas, so Iran is a terrorist supporter, they want Iraq's oil so Saddam is in bed with Osama. (They want Iraq's oil again, so look for destabilization there again soon)They tried this same argument on Kaspersky last year, but like Iran thing, it didn't get traction. The lineup of security personnel at Senate hearings was identical and the questions asked identical. 

Huawei is insignificant in Apple and Samsung dominated US with about 2-3% market share, but 35% market share in Europe. 

It is the politics of Trump's stupid trade wars, not security imo.


All political maneuvering  for sure PT

Trump says he would intercede with Huawei's Meng Wanzhou case if it's good for trade, security, according to report




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Dec 2018 at 10:06pm
thank god its only your opinion pt.

thank goodness someone is standing up to the sneaky chinese.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Dec 2018 at 9:25am
Isaac, a second Canadian has been arrested in China and is being held hostage as the Huawei diplomatic scandal deepens.

Why aren't you all over this?Ouch
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Dec 2018 at 9:34am
had seen it pt.

however this is closer to home.

Nick Butterly: WA Labor fight a Chinese puzzle

Nick ButterlyThe West Australian

Reading a few gusty headlines last week, it would have been little stretch to picture the Harbin-born WA Labor MLC Pierre Yang making his own rendezvous with a Chinese sub in the dead of night off Cottesloe, slipping away with a satchel of state secrets for Beijing.

One newspaper reported how Yang, who is a member of the Army Reserve, was posted aboard a claimed “Chinese spy ship” off the WA coast as a liaison officer during the hunt for missing Malaysian airliner MH370, leaving open the question of exactly what his true mission may have been.

Yang was already in a pickle for his failure to declare to Parliament his membership of two Perth-based Chinese associations with strident views on issues such as Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea — views diametrically at odds with longstanding Australian foreign policy.

Could it be that WA had its very own Chinese sleeper agent hiding in plain sight in the Legislative Council?

Reds under the bed?

Not likely.

In reality, Yang had become a victim of his own success. The Chinese Australian, who came to Perth at age 15, has worked hard to establish himself in WA Labor, but has put some powerful noses out of joint along the way.

Yang appears to have quickly grasped former prime minister John Howard’s dictum — that politics is governed by the iron laws of arithmetic — and set about an energetic recruiting drive in Perth’s Chinese community to provide a bedrock for his rise inside WA Labor.

Yang joined WA Labor in 2001, three years after arriving in WA. By one report he has now recruited a record 500 party members to WA Labor since being elected to Parliament 18 months ago — meaning he has enlisted about one in 14 members of the party in this State.

Angst over Yang’s branch-stacking boiled over at a WA Labor administrative council meeting last Friday as the powerful body — which is headed by top MPs and union officials — debated the MLC’s push to create a new branch inside the party’s Curtin electoral council.

The new branch was to be called Churchlands, and the members Yang had put forward were drawn almost entirely from Perth’s Chinese community. With a stronger hand in the electoral council, Yang would bring numbers to Labor’s State executive and get a bigger say in preselections for State and Federal seats.

To be clear, there is nothing technically wrong with branch stacking. Any politician worth their salt does it. The trick is to hit upon a cohort of people and rally them to your side.

In the WA Liberal Party there has been much hand-wringing in recent years about the use by some senior figures of evangelical church groups to stack branches.

But Yang’s sin in the eyes of some was the source of his numbers.

As one WA Labor figure told The West Australian, navigating the politics of Perth’s Chinese community can be a tricky business and often more trouble than it is worth. China’s rapid rise and aggressive territorial claims have encouraged a frothy nationalism among young Chinese expatriates.

Efforts to mine the local Chinese community for numbers and cash could capture a few colourful characters along the way.

The Yang story also served to highlight again the subterranean tensions between the Left and Right of the party’s union base.

Yang is a member of the Left’s United Voice, which has traditionally dominated WA Labor. In recent months, a new alliance of Left and Right factions calling itself Progressive Labor has claimed to hold numbers — but only just.

Yang’s numbers might swing the pendulum back in favour of the Left. Labor State president Carolyn Smith — who also comes from the Left — gave a strong defence of Yang, blasting “senior members” of the party for leaking confidential membership information and complaining that attacks on the MLC had a sniff of xenophobia.

Australian politics faces a real threat in the form of Chinese interference in our political system. Look at the recent cases of dumped Labor MP Sam Dastyari, or ASIO’s repeated warnings to political parties about foreign donations.

And Yang’s case again highlights the embarrassing state of WA’s political disclosure laws. Stone age rules mean the public won’t get to see what Chinese organisations Yang has joined or quit for another year.

But we should be careful about seeing the hand of Beijing where it does not exist.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 2018 at 9:58am
no doubt, the chinese do things differently, to the western world.

Detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor face 'nightmare' interrogation in China

By international reporter Michael Vincent

Updated about 2 hours ago

It was the dark of night when former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig was taken by officers from China's state security apparatus to an unknown location in Beijing and rendered incommunicado.

Key points:

  • The two Canadians were arrested shortly after Huawei's Meng Wanzhou was detained
  • During interrogation the pair will be put under immense pressure, a former ambassador to China says
  • China experts are concerned the pair are being used as political hostages

Last Monday, December 10, was the beginning of his "nightmare" — the "interrogation phase" — according to his friend and former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques.

They worked together closely for two years before Mr Kovrig took leave of the Canadian foreign service to join the respected NGO, The International Crisis Group, an organisation for which Australia's former foreign minister Gareth Evans was chief executive.

As a diplomat with four decades' experience, including 13 years spent in China, Mr Saint-Jacques has seen enough cases to know what the Chinese State Security Bureau officers are capable of doing to his former colleague.

"I have a lot of feeling for Michael because he is going through a difficult process," Mr Saint-Jacques said"The lights will always be on in his room. There will always be a minder present. They will put a lot of psychological pressure on him to try and have him break down and admit to anything."

Those psychological pressures to which Mr Kovrig is likely to be subjected include sleep deprivation and even starvation in some cases, Mr Saint-Jacques said.

"They render the feeding schedule unpredictable. He will be subject to long hours of questioning.

"Once he is formally charged — if you look at the Chinese legal system — 99.9 per cent of the people are found guilty.

"The odds will be against him."

Kill the chickens, scare the monkey'

This week, Canada learned it is the chicken in the Chinese proverb.

China has taken not just one but two Canadian citizens "hostage", in the words of one experienced China watcher, the Lowy Institute's Richard McGregor.

Mr McGregor said this was a reprisal for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a powerful Huawei executive recently detained in Canada, pending extradition to the USMichael Spavor, an entrepreneur, was also taken into custody by the Chinese on the same day as Mr Kovrig on December 10 — the date celebrated by the UN for the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Mr Spavor runs a company called Paektu Cultural Exchange. He has worked in North Korea, including running former NBA star Dennis Rodman's peculiar visit there in 2013.

Mr Saint-Jacques believes Beijing wants to send a clear message to the United States.

The chicken-killing proverb has also been used in the Australian context.Just last year, former senator Nick Xenophon used it in a speech to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute when posing the possibility China "may sink an Australian vessel to warn off the United States Navy".

That was in the context of a conflict in the South China Sea, but parallels remain.

"I think that Australia and Canada are in very similar positions and if something were to happen like [a US arrest warrant for a Chinese national] in Australia, I think you would be subject to similar behaviour," Mr Saint-Jacques said.

For now, Canada is "caught in the battle between two elephants and we have our hands tied with our strategy".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-15/canadians-detained-in-china-face-tough-interrogation/10621930

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 2018 at 11:39am
What would your advice be to Mr Trudeau Isaac?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Dec 2018 at 8:17pm
These people need your union representation pt.

US company Badger Sportswear selling clothes made in 'concentration camps' in China

Chinese men and women locked in a mass detention camp where authorities are "re-educating" ethnic minorities are sewing clothes that have been imported all year by a US sportswear company.

Key points:

  • It is estimated 1 million Muslims are detained in camps in the Xinjiang region of China
  • Now the Government is forcing detainees to work in manufacturing, food industries
  • Hetian Taida Apparel factory has been shipping clothes to Badger Sportswear in the US

The camp, in Hotan, China, is one of a growing number of internment camps in the Xinjiang region.

Some estimates say 1 million Muslims are detained in these camps, forced to give up their language and their religion and subject to political indoctrination.

Now, the Chinese Government is also forcing some detainees to work in manufacturing and food industries.Some of them are within the internment camps; others are privately-owned, state-subsidised factories where detainees are sent once they are released.

The Associated Press has tracked recent, ongoing shipments from one such factory — Hetian Taida Apparel — inside an internment camp to Badger Sportswear, a leading supplier in Statesville, North Carolina.

Badger's clothes are sold on university campuses and to sports teams across the United States, although there is no way to tell where any particular shirt made in Xinjiang ends up.

The shipments show how difficult it is to stop products made with forced labour from getting into the global supply chain, even though such imports are illegal in the US.

Badger chief executive John Anton said the company would halt shipments while it investigates.

The company said on its Twitter account: "We immediately suspended ordering product from Hetian Taida and its affiliates while an investigation is conducted.

"One per cent or less of our products were sourced from Hetian Taida. We will not ship to customers any product in our possession from that facility," the statement said.

Hetian Taida Apparel chairman Wu Hongbo confirmed the company has a factory inside a re-education compound, and said they provide employment to those trainees who were deemed by the Government to be "unproblematic".

"We're making our contribution to eradicating poverty," Mr Wu said.

China says foreign media making 'many untrue reports'

Chinese authorities said the camps offer free vocational training for Uighurs, Kazakhs and other minorities, mostly Muslims, as part of a plan to bring them into "a modern civilised" world and eliminate poverty in the region.

They said people in the centres have signed agreements to receive vocational training.The Xinjiang Propaganda Department did not respond to a faxed request for comment.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman accused the foreign media of making "many untrue reports" about the training centres, but did not specify when asked for details.

"Those reports are completely based on hearsay evidence or made out of thin air," the spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said at a daily briefing.

However, a dozen people who either had been in a camp or had friends or family in one said detainees they knew were given no choice but to work at the factories.

Most of the Uighurs and Kazakhs, who were interviewed in exile, also said that even people with professional jobs were retrained to do menial work.

Payment varied according to the factory. Some got paid nothing while others earned up to several hundred dollars a month, they said — barely above minimum wage for the poorer parts of Xinjiang. person with firsthand knowledge of the situation in one county estimated more than 10,000 detainees — or 10 to 20 per cent of the internment population there — are working in factories, with some earning just a tenth of what they used to earn beforeThe person declined to be named out of fear of retribution.

A former reporter for Xinjiang TV in exile said during his month-long detention last year, young people in his camp were taken away in the mornings to work without compensation in carpentry and a cement factory.

"The camp didn't pay any money, not a single cent," he said, asking to be identified only by his first name, Elyar, because he has relatives still in Xinjiang.

"Even for necessities, such as things to shower with or sleep at night, they would call our families outside to get them to pay for it."

'People being treated like slaves'Rushan Abbas, an Uighur in Washington, DC, said her sister is among those detained.

The sister, Dr Gulshan Abbas, was taken to what the government calls a vocational centre, although she has no specific information on whether her sister is being forced to work.

"American companies importing from those places should know those products are made by people being treated like slaves," she said.

"What are they going to do, train a doctor to be a seamstress?"

Mainur Medetbek's husband did odd repair jobs before vanishing into a camp in February during a visit to China from their home in Kazakhstan.

She has been able to glean a sense of his conditions from monitored exchanges with relatives and from the husband of a woman in the same camp.

He works in an apparel factory and is allowed to leave and spend the night with relatives every other Saturday.

Though Ms Medetbek is uncertain how much her husband makes, the woman in his camp earns about $121 a month, less than half the local minimum wage and far less than what Ms Medetbek's husband used to earn.

"They say it's a factory, but it's an excuse for detention. They don't have freedom; there's no time for him to talk with me," she said.

"They say they found a job for him. I think it's a concentration camp."

New Jersey Republican Congressman Chris Smith, a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, called on the Trump administration on Monday to ban imports from Chinese companies associated with detention camps.

"Not only is the Chinese Government detaining over a million Uyghurs and other Muslims, forcing them to revoke their faith and profess loyalty to the Communist Party, they are now profiting from their labour," Mr Smith said.

"US consumers should not be buying, and US businesses should not importing, goods made in modern-day concentration camps."https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-18/us-sportswear-traced-to-factory-in-chinese-internment-camps/10632160

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 3:52pm

Huawei calls on US, others to show proof of security risk

19 December 2018 — 6:41am
Dongguan, China: The chairman of Huawei challenged the United States and other governments to provide evidence for claims the Chinese tech giant is a security risk.

The statement came as the company launched a public relations effort on Tuesday to defuse fears that threaten its role in next-generation communications.

Talking to reporters who were invited to Huawei Technologies headquarters, Ken Hu complained accusations against the biggest global maker of network gear stem from "ideology and geopolitics."

He warned that excluding Huawei from fifth-generation networks in Australia and other markets would hurt consumers by raising prices and slowing innovation.

Australia and New Zealand have barred Huawei in 5G networks on security grounds. They joined the United States and Taiwan, which have broader curbs on Huawei.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/huawei-calls-on-us-others-to-show-proof-of-security-risk-20181219-p50n3a.html

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 3:59pm

Huawei FOI reveals state government's clueless fumbling on $206m mobile data contract

f one thing's clear by now it's that the McGowan government is prepared to die in a ditch defending its decision to sling controversial Chinese telco Huawei $206 million to build a mobile data network for our public rail system.

Despite being banned from mobile networks around the world; despite Australian intelligence chiefs raising security concerns about it; despite the arrest of its CFO in Canada where she awaits extradition to the US over allegations the telco contravened trade sanctions against Iran; despite British Telecom ripping its hardware out of mobile networks across the UK, the WA government reckons Huawei is tops.

And yet the company is at the leading edge of the West's stance against an increasingly assertive Chinese regime.

So why is the state government digging in so aggressively on the Huawei mobile data contract?Hundreds of documents released to the Liberal opposition as part of a freedom of information request has opened a window on the government's thinking on the massive contract and how it has struggled to comprehend the security implications of its decision to award it.

Thanks to the release of the documents, at least we now know the government was warned the consequences could be "severe".

Premier Mark McGowan and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti have said over and over intelligence agencies had reassured them there were no security reasons preventing the state handing the contract to Huawei, which will see the company build 80 mobile data towers along Perth’s rail corridors.

The Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC), which advises Mr McGowan on security matters, rang alarm bells over the project and said in the briefing note the security implications could extend to the government's Metronet project.

The government was warned the Huawei mobile data system could be used for other applications in addition to communications, for example to support an Automatic Train Control (ATC) system.

It doesn't take a network security consultant to work out the consequences of compromise in a system like this could be disastrous.

Imagine a foreign government with access to the digital backbone of an automatic train control system in Perth. That's a worst case scenario, but that’s what the government was warned about.The consequences of interference with ATC could be severe and the protective security of the network would need to be reconsidered to ensure these risks are appropriately managed," the government's advice read.

"DPC’s concern was that technology provided by [Huawei] may not be able to support potential future uses of the network, particularly Automatic Train Control (ATC) and Public Safety Mobile Broadband."

Did the Premier or minister reveal they had advice the "protective security of the network would need to be reconsidered"?

Not on your life.

Last week Ms Saffioti's office released a written statement saying: "The Automatic Train Control project is a completely different and separate project" and was "never going to be part" of the Huawei-built mobile data network.

Then why did DPC warn the government about it?

And why did Ms Saffioti, in 2017, say to trade magazine Rail Express: "This project will help facilitate automatic train control in the future, in line with Metronet objectives."

The FOI documents also reveal Huawei's system would provide access to CCTV from the public transport system, including video from inside trains.he Premier's office told The Australian last week Huawei would not have "unsupervised access to CCTV within trains".

But when WAtoday asked whether Mr McGowan had any concerns about Huawei having any access, supervised or otherwise, to footage from inside our trains, his office said the company "doesn’t have access to CCTV from inside trains".

If that wasn’t contradictory enough, he went on to say, "if supervised access is necessary for maintenance purposes, PTA [Public Transport Authority] will be monitoring".

Which is it? Do they have access to the CCTV inside a train or do they not?

And what about unauthorised access to the system's CCTV? The Premier’s office had nothing to say about what security would be in place either way.

That’s because they have no idea.

Also among the FOI documents were emails sent from Huawei's lobbyists to the Premier's office attaching drafts of the company's media statements before they were sent to reporters.When asked if this could mean the government was too close to Huawei, written answers provided by the Premier's office were defensive and confused.

Huawei's lobbyists were "simply advising the government of its response given a media outlet was making spurious inferences in relation to two ministers".

The government is not too close to Huawei, they insisted, instead the company's lobbyists were merely "advising the government of its response to misleading media claims".

This is a "fake news" reaction more typical of a mortally wounded, bunkered-down and perilously embattled government.et we've also seen it only in the past few weeks from Mr McGowan when he accused journalists of "slurs and innuendo and ... basically a bit of dog-whistling" for reporting Labor MP Pierre Yang failed to disclose to State Parliament his membership of pro-Beijing organisations.

And those "spurious inferences" and "misleading media claims"? That was a story about Huawei paying thousands for Rita Saffioti and Sue Ellery to fly around China on an expenses-paid trip, which included a gift of free mobile phones.

Too close? You be the judge.

They say attack is the best defence, but surely even that is a distant second to understanding a $206 million contract in the first place.

Or at least having some idea of what exactly they were getting themselves into.

https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/huawei-foi-reveals-state-government-s-clueless-fumbling-on-206m-mobile-data-contract-20181218-p50n1r.html
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 4:06pm
pt, huawei having to report to the government, for whatever reason, doesnt help their cause.

Why do chinese businesses have to do that pt?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 4:08pm
That is a good question. Why do they?


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 4:10pm

Forty years of China's 'reform and opening up', a personal tale

Looking back at the path taken by this county over the past four decades, it's easy to realise that freedom is not easily earned and once you have it, you never want to lose it - never again.

Bo Guby Bo Gu
  • Beijing, China - In October 1978, China's late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping paid his first official visit to Japan. After being shown around the steel, automobile and electronic factories, Deng was apparently so mesmerised by the modern Japanese technology that once he returned home he convened the third plenary session of the Communist Party's 11th Central Committee.

    That very session on December 18, 1978 sent an exhilarating signal to the country's then-one billion people: China has been poor under ill-planned economy for too long. Now, it's time to change.

    In fact, China's leaders had long felt the urge to reverse decades of political turmoil, famine and poverty, and in that pivotal meeting exactly 40 years ago they decided to steer the country's path off communism by starting the experimental integration of market elements into its centrally planned economy, or as they called it "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics".

    The transformative "reform and opening up" policy set China on the course for nationwide economic reforms and fundamentally changed people's lives across the country - including my family's.

    Bo Gu and her parents in Beijing during a summer trip in 1981 [Bo Gu/Al Jazeera] 

    I was born one month before that landmark decision in the eastern province of Jiangsu. The following year, my mother migrated from the countryside to a city in Jiangsu. Compared to the majority of China's rural population, "upgrading" to an urban setting was a big leap forward for both of my parents: my mother by becoming a school teacher and my father by joining the army in the far northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

    They only saw each other twice a year until I turned seven.

    Our first city dwelling was barely a 100 square-feet room in a small city in Jiangsu province. I was just three-years-old but this one memory had been carved deep into my mind: we had to move the bedsheets off the bed so we could use it as a dinner table whilst sitting on our little plastic stools. 

    In 1981, we moved to a bigger apartment in the same city that came with no private toilet or shower. It was still tiny but we had a proper dining table.

    That was two years after Deng and the leadership had decided to allow private business, but not entirely - we still had to use meat, rice and oil coupons to buy daily necessities. In fact, coupons were needed to buy virtually everything from food, clothes and bikes to watches and sewing machines.

    But changes, big ones, were soon afoot.

    The building Bo Gu and her parents lived in from 1981 to 1989 [Bo Gu/Al Jazeera] 

    In 1984, we bought our very first TV set. One of the earliest electronic goods made in China, it was made in the eastern city of Suzhou under the proudly branded name of "Peacock".

    The TV set was black and white but we managed to make it multicolour: we glued see-through red, yellow and blue tapes on the screen - problem solved. Occasionally, someone had to stand up and hold the antenna so the screen wouldn't turn into snowflakes.

    That was also the time when pop culture from Hong Kong, the very symbol of decadent capitalism, quietly but decisively swept north into mainland China. I would watch the popular Hong Kong kung-fu TV series Legends of the Condor Heroes along with my young neighbours.

    A 'Peacock' TV set made in Suzhou [Bo Gu/China]

    In 1985, China hosted its first concert by a Western band: British pop duo Wham!, in the capital Beijing.

    In 1986, my family bought a real-colour TV set. In that same year, we also purchased a cassette player, which I would use later on to learn English.

    In 1987, we bought our first refrigerator.

    In 1989, my parents bought their very first apartment that came with a modern porcelain toilet and a shower tub.

    Just a few years later, China started to abandon the use of coupons. People began calling each other "sir" or "madam" instead of "comrade".

    At time passed by, we had our first telephone, first camera, first air conditioner, first pager, first mobile phone and so on. I would become the first person in my close family to go to college and later, the first in my parents' extended family to study in the United States.

    My father had three brothers and two sisters, and my mother had two brothers and one sister. I had zero siblings - thanks to China's one-child policy that started at the same time as reform and opening up. The one-child policy was only abolished in 2016.

    Millions of Chinese families went through similar changes like my family did. We didn't quite understand the concepts or principles of private and planned economy, or how those crucial decisions were made by a few people that would affect our lives in every aspect. But looking back at the path taken by this county, I know that freedom is not easily earned and once you have it, you never want to lose it - never again.

    I still hope in my lifetime that I will be able to cast my first vote.

    SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 4:11pm
hey pt

note the last sentenceThumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Dec 2018 at 7:43am
Originally posted by Isaac soloman Isaac soloman wrote:

hey pt

note the last sentenceThumbs Up

Poll: Russians Increasingly Nostalgic for USSR

By The Associated Press



  • MOSCOW — An opinion survey has shown that two thirds of Russians regret the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The independent Levada Center that conducted the nationwide poll of 1,600 people last month said the results reflected a growing public nostalgia for the Soviet Union. In the latest survey, 66 percent of those polled said they regret the 1991 Soviet breakup, compared to 58 percent a year ago.

The Levada Center interviews respondents at their homes and its polls have a margin of error of no more than 3.4 percentage points.

The company said in a report released Wednesday that those polled explained their view by noting that they feel sorry for the country's integrated economic system and miss the feeling of belonging to a great power.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/12/19/world/europe/ap-eu-russia-soviet-nostalgia.html

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maccamax Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2018 at 12:18am
Great place that China .

The listed Blood Baths of wars , uprisings, has WW2 on top .

    WW1 rates 6th .

Guess who fills the 4 places in between.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2018 at 7:36am
I dont know why Donald is so down on China maxie.

They know how to build walls and would have that sucker on the Mexican border up in a fortnight the way they build stuff.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2018 at 10:02pm

Australian Government joins global condemnation of Chinese hacking

By political reporter Matthew Doran, wires

Updated about 7 hours agoAustralian officials have confirmed local companies are among the global victims of an extensive campaign of cyber attacks backed by the Chinese Government, aimed at stealing commercial intellectual property.

Key points:

  • Marise Payne and Peter Dutton issued a statement voicing Australia's "serious concern" about the hacking allegations
  • Australia has not named and shamed Beijing for such behaviour before
  • China has called on the US and other allies to "immediately correct its erroneous actions" and "slanderous smears"

Senior intelligence sources have told the ABC it is the biggest threat to Australia's cyber security uncovered so far.

The confirmation came after the US Justice Department charged two Chinese citizens, alleging they carried out hacking at the direction of Beijing's Ministry of State Security.

It is the first time Australia has named China as responsible for such behaviour, marking a change in rhetoric and diplomatic pressure from Canberra.

National Cyber Security adviser Alastair MacGibbon said the group had been targeting IT companies around the world that provide services to medium and large businesses.

"This is audacious, it is huge, and it impacts potentially thousands of businesses globally. We know there are victims in Australia," Mr MacGibbon told RN Breakfast.

He would not detail which Australian businesses had fallen victim to the hacking, but argued the intellectual property theft disadvantaged local companies and their staff.

"And that essentially takes food from the people of Australia," Mr MacGibbon said.

"It helps them compete in a way that we can't."Australia's Ambassador for Cyber Affairs Tobias Feakin argued Australia was taking a big step in naming and shaming China for its support of hacking.

"This is incredibly significant, we've never done this before. This is the first time we've ever actually named this particular country in relation to this issue," Dr Feakin told AM.

"The language that we're using, we feel, represents how strongly we feel about this, which is incredibly strong.

"As an international community, as Australia, we are now far more robust in the way that we will name and shame, and we will shine a light on activities that we think are unacceptable."

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton issued a statement shortly after US officials announced the charges, voicing Australia's "serious concern" about the hacking allegations.

"When it is in our interests to do so, Australia publicly attributes cyber incidents, especially those with the potential to undermine global economic growth, national security and international stability," the pair said in a statement.

"Australia calls on all countries — including China — to uphold commitments to refrain from cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, trade secrets and confidential business information with the intent of obtaining a competitive advantage.

"These commitments were agreed by G20 leaders in 2015. Australia and China reaffirmed them bilaterally in 2017."

China calls for withdrawal of 'slanderous' accusations

China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday it resolutely opposed "slanderous" accusations from the US and other allies criticising China for economic espionage, and urged Washington to withdraw its accusations.

The US should also withdraw charges against two Chinese citizens, the ministry said, adding that China had never participated in or supported any stealing of commercial secrets and had lodged "stern representations" with Washington.

"We urge the US side to immediately correct its erroneous actions and cease its slanderous smears relating to internet security," it said, adding it would take necessary measures to safeguard its own cybersecurity and interests.

It has long been an "open secret" that US government agencies have hacked into and listened in on foreign governments, companies and individuals, the ministry added."The US side making unwarranted criticisms of China in the name of so-called 'cyber stealing' is blaming others while oneself is to be blamed, and is self-deception. China absolutely cannot accept this."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-21/australia-joins-condemnation-of-chinese-espionage/10645414

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2018 at 10:03pm
Donald isnt the only one down on your friends pt.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2018 at 10:29pm
pt where would china be without western world blue prints?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 9:50am

Live animals can be bought online in China, but they might not arrive that way

Updated 13 Dec 2018, 7:15am


In China, a tiny new addition to your family is just a few clicks away — and can even be delivered straight to your door.

But there's no guarantee they will survive being transported through China's postal system.

Key points:

  • Small pets are being bought online and delivered through the post in China
  • JD.com, China's largest online retailer, says it is looking into the issue
  • Pets are also being bought online and delivered in Australia, but not in the mail

Warning: This story contains images that some readers may find disturbing.

Vendors on the country's two biggest online shopping sites, JD.com and Taobao, sell a variety of live animals ranging from cats and dogs to more exotic options like African hedgehogs and scorpions.

Other breeders also use social media channels like video sharing sites and the popular WeChat smartphone app to advertise and sell pets.Small animals, as opposed to puppies and kittens, are delivered by courier service just like any other package — even though it is illegal to transport a live animal in this way in China, and despite the risks to the animal's life.

Sugar gliders, a tiny marsupial familiar to many Australians, are one of the most popular exotic pets that can be bought online and delivered by post in China.

The online demand for gliders in China has increased in part due to the popular video sharing platform TikTok, where users have posted videos of their pets jumping off high ledges and gliding into their hands.



But the safe delivery of small pets like gliders is not guaranteed, and some customers have posted negative reviews online claiming their new pet arrived dead in the box, or passed away within days of delivery.

"The deaths were a result of the long period in transit or they were thrown around during transportation," one pet vendor told the ABC.

The vendor, who declined to give his real name but uses the name Daosheng Pet Supplies Store on JD.com, tells his customers to film themselves opening their deliveries, in order to claim a refund if the animal inside has died.

He said he had also changed the way he mailed his animals — which include snow foxes, prairie dogs and peacocks — in order to reduce the risk of them dying in transit.

For instance, he no longer takes orders from areas far away from his base in China's southern Hunan province, and he puts the animals in cages placed inside cardboard boxes.

"At first, there may have been some cases where the death rate was high, but now basically there is no death," the vendor said.

'Completely unacceptable'Bronwyn Orr, a veterinarian who is also the RSPCA's scientific officer on companion animal issues, said delivering pets through the post was "completely unacceptable".

"Obviously animals are sentient, they experience pain, fear and distress just like humans do," Dr Orr said.

"It would be difficult to breathe, difficult to thermoregulate, and it doesn't look like they have any water."

Beyond the risk of death from this mode of transportation, the animals could face lifelong psychological damage.

"It's one thing that you might be able to get an animal to survive a journey like that, it's a whole other thing to say it hasn't been affected by it … mentally, that animal would be very stressed out " Dr Orr said.

China's postal law states it is forbidden to post and deliver live animals, or insert them into postal materials.

However, customer-submitted photos posted on JD.com indicate that several major Chinese courier companies, including Yunda, ZTO and YTO, have been transporting parcels containing pets.

The ABC approached those three companies for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.

In a statement, a JD.com spokesperson said the company was aware of concerns about the transportation of pets through its platform, and was looking into the issue.

"While all merchants on JD.com are required to be licensed and to operate in accordance with Chinese regulations, the company is looking into the standards of its merchants and their carriers in relation to the sourcing and transportation of pets," the spokesperson said.Taobao, which is owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, was also approached for comment.

Pets delivered in Australia too — but not in the post

Australians are also increasingly looking for and buying pets online, but they cannot be mailed in the post.

Classifieds website Gumtree hosts thousands of listings for pets, with some breeders also offering to organise delivery for puppies and kittens, sometimes through the use of pet transportation companies.eBay does not allow live animals to be listed on its site, and Facebook has also banned live animals on its Marketplace feature — but there are still plenty of pages and groups on the site where animals are advertised, with some also offering delivery.

But Dr Orr warned against choosing to have a puppy or kitten delivered, which can make it harder for new owners to know the animal did not come from a puppy farm, or whether the sale is a scam.

"Sometimes people forget that animals are not the same as any other commercial goods … the circumstances they're raised in directly impacts their long-term health and welfare and state of mind," she said.

"Convenience is a great thing if you want to buy cheap clothes online, but I think we have to be really careful how we trade pets online, to make sure that convenience doesn't compromise their welfare."

The RSPCA is today releasing new guidelines for the online advertising of pets, which are aimed at helping retailers better protect animals in line with the expectations of customers.

They include a range of requirements for those looking to sell animals online, as well as new due diligence measures for websites.Some of those measures would require site owners to audit advertisements for blacklisted words like "dog fighting", and display a "report animal welfare concern" button on all animal advertisements.

"Unfortunately no online retailer in Australia currently complies with our guidelines, so that's everyone including Gumtree, Trading Post, Facebook and Instagram," Dr Orr said.

"That's a bit of a disappointment, seeing as we have been working with industry on them, but we are hopeful that the online retailers will choose to comply.

"For some of these retailers, the pets category is one of their highest traffic areas … but they have a responsibility at the same time to make sure that those animals are safe, and they're not put in danger by being sold online."

In a statement, a Gumtree spokesperson said animal welfare is a top priority and the website has worked with the community and animal welfare agencies to improve its pets category over the past few years.

"Our commitment to animal welfare was also the reason why Gumtree actively worked with the RSPCA earlier this year to help develop their new guidelines for the online advertising of pets," the spokesperson said.

"We currently meet the vast majority of the requirements and will continue to roll out improvements to the category."

Red flags to look out for online:

  • If the seller is offering a puppy or kitten that is less than eight weeks old, they shouldn't be trusted: "The animal won't be fully weaned yet, or properly socialised," Dr Orr said.
  • If the seller says they "can arrange transportation", that's another warning sign: "They probably don't want you to come and see where the animal was bred, and that could be because they have really poor conditions, or they're a puppy farmer, or all sorts of reasons.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-11/live-animals-bought-online-in-china-and-mailed-in-the-post/10583586



Edited by Gay3 - 24 Dec 2018 at 10:11am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 1:57pm
this is better for the world isnt it pt.

more competition.

whats that i hear? china whinging and crying, the world is being racist. Not fair? diddums.

'No more Huawei': Vodafone CEO expects telcos to dump Chinese suppliers

Vodafone Hutchison Australia chief executive Iñaki Berroeta believes the government's decision to ban Chinese telecommunications equipment providers from Australia's high-speed 5G rollout means Huawei will be phased out from all local mobile networks.

Vodafone uses equipment from Swedish supplier Ericsson in the core its 3G and 4G mobile networks where sensitive information processing takes place, and Finland’s Nokia and China’s Huawei for non-core parts.The Australian government banned Huawei on security grounds in August, making it the first country of global cybersecurity alliance Five Eyes (including the US, Canada, New Zealand and the UK) to impose an official ban. Since then, New Zealand has followed suit and the US has an unofficial block on Chinese suppliers.

In the months after the ban there were concerns Australian providers would need to immediately rip Huawei kit out of 4G, as 5G initially uses equipment bolted onto legacy networks.“I’m comfortable with keeping [Huawei] on 4G because we have checked with authorities and that is perfectly ok, so I don’t think we’ll have an issue around keeping that,” Mr Berroeta said.

“What we know for a fact is that on 5G we will be operating with a different vendor."

Even without having to remove Huawei right away, Mr Berroeta believes the technology will be phased out over time as the new generation of mobile technology supersedes the older networks.

He said the strategy for building 5G and its interactions with 4G was still under discussion within the company, with significant implications for Vodafone's existing suppliers depending on the outcome of these deliberations.

“On the one side ... there is a school of thought that you can keep your legacy and build the new, that’s an option and it has advantages and disadvantages,” he said.The other option is to say I’ll just replace everything and look for everything that is all 5G compatible,” he said.

One of the factors that will determine how long Huawei plays a role in existing networks is how quickly Australians take-up the new technology.

In 1993, the second mobile generation 2G was launched in Australia by all three carriers. Telstra turned off 2G in 2016, Singtel Optus in 2017 and Vodafone shut down this network five months ago.

While this took about 15 years, the take-up of each mobile generation has become quicker than the last. At the moment, about 80 per cent of Vodafone’s network traffic is over the 4G infrastructure with the rest over 3G. Australia's first 3G network was launched in 2003, while 4G was launched in 2011.“There will be a year, sooner rather than later, where 80 per cent of our traffic will be 5G. There will be a time when it will be zero [on 4G]. When it’s zero there is no more Huawei,” he said.

Huawei might find itself without a role in providing telco’s networks in the future, however is likely to grow its presence in Australia with consumer devices like mobile phones.

“Chinese device manufacturers will be very early 5G entrants,” Mr Berroeta said. Currently, Samsung and Apple have the majority of market share for mobile phones and expect to launch 5G compatible devices around 2020 (Samsung will launch 5G phones earlier in South Korea and the US), however Huawei and ZTE are intending to have phones with this ability in 2019.

There is not a single supplier in the US that has anything physical [built for] 5G in the US let alone in Australia.

Vodafone CEO Inaki Berroeta

Telstra is widely expected to be first to turn on the 5G network for customer use and does not currently sell Huawei handsets. In a recent interview with The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn said this decision wasn't to do with any security concerns or issues with the company and didn't rule out selling the Chinese company's devices in future.

The race to 5G in Australia is expected to become more tense next year, with the majority of providers still yet to announce their chosen suppliers. Telstra has already signed a partnership with Ericsson.

Mr Berroeta said the government’s choice to ban Chinese providers was “not a decision that is going to create efficiencies in the market”.

“There are virtually now two suppliers of infrastructure in Australia and we’re being asked to have four networks, that’s a pretty interesting concept,” he said. “There is not a single supplier in the US that has anything physical [built for] 5G in the US let alone in Australia.”

Huawei head of corporate affairs Jeremy Mitchell recently claimed Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton criticised the US government for allowing China to become a global telecommunications power when meeting with the telco supplier ahead of the ban. Mr Dutton has denied he said this during the meeting.https://www.watoday.com.au/business/companies/no-more-huawei-vodafone-ceo-expects-telcos-to-dump-chinese-suppliers-20181223-p50nye.html

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oh for reeducation pt. what do think of the banner in the kids class room. imagine the hooha if trump had something similar. but he does doesnt he pt, and DONT we hear about it.


Why Muslim nations remain silent as China sends ethnic minorities to re-education camps

Updated Sun at 9:55am

Beijing's crackdown on its ethnic Muslim-minority Uyghurs has been met with international condemnation, however some very significant voices have remained silent — those of Muslim nations.

Key points:

  • Muslim nations fear diplomatic and economic retaliation from China, experts say
  • Beijing has refrained from intervening in other countries' domestic issues
  • Crackdown on Uyghurs and others have not deterred Muslim tourists visiting China

The United Nations estimates that up to 1 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other minorities have allegedly been detained in China's northwest Xinjiang autonomous territory since 2017.

Experts say Muslim nations cannot be lumped into one category, however, there are a number of key similarities behind much of their silence — political, economic and foreign policy considerations.

China policy expert Michael Clarke, from the Australian National University, told the ABC that China's economic power and the fear of retaliation was a big factor in Muslim politics.

"You're dealing with one of the most powerful states in the world," Dr Clarke said.

"It's ultimately a very unfortunate situation the Uyghur people find themselves in."

In contrast, countries including Australia and the United States have publicly denounced Beijing's actions in the region.

The Turkic-speaking ethnic minorities have been detained in 're-education' camps and subjected to political indoctrination, including being forced to learn a different language and give up their faith.

Recent research reveals that the 28 detention facilities have expanded by more than 2 million square metres since the beginning of last year and detainees have been forced to sew clothes for export to a US sportswear company.

A deafening silence

Governments of Muslim-majority nations including Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have avoided raising the matter publicly.

Pakistan has gone even further by defending China, saying the reporting on the Uyghurs' situation has been "sensationalised" by Western media.

The Indonesian Government has remained quiet on the topic until last week when the issue was brought up in parliament.

"Of course, we reject or [want to] prevent any human rights violations," Jusuf Kalla, Vice-President of Indonesia, told local journalists on Monday.

"However, we don't want to intervene in the domestic affairs of another country," he said.

The statement is in stark contrast to the stance of Indonesia on other Muslim issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict and the plight of the ethnic minority Rohingya in Myanmar.

However, the Foreign Ministry has now conveyed its concerns to China's ambassador to Indonesia, amid growing pressure by domestic Islamic groups.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Malaysia and others have also repeatedly condemned the persecution of Rohingya Muslims and Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

An economy 180 times bigger

Dr Clarke said China's economy is 180 times bigger than that of a country such as Myanmar, making the latter a far safer target for criticism.

"In Myanmar, you're dealing with a much weaker regional state which is much more open to pressure and international criticism," he said.

Chinese investments and contracts in the Middle East and North Africa from 2005 until this year amount to $144.8 billion.

In Malaysia and Indonesia, it is $121.6 billion over the same period, according to think tank American Enterprise Institute.

Beijing has heavily invested in state-owned oil and gas industries in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and promises continued investments across Asia, Africa and the Middle East with its Belt and Road initiative.

"It [seems] to act as a break on any of those states from openly criticising Beijing," Dr Clarke said.

Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim groups has not deterred Muslim tourists from travelling to China.

Muslim travellers spent more than $US8 billion ($11.3 billion) in China this year, a figure that is expected to increase by $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) annually, according to a recent report from market research company Salam Standard.

China's non-intervention stance pays off

Beijing's policy of "non-intervention", whereby it avoids becoming involved in the domestic affairs of other nations, has long been a key part of its foreign policy agenda.

But analysts say it is now paying off with Muslim countries reciprocating the favour.

Embedded video

.@AP reported on Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz detainees arbitrarily detained in internment camps in China are being forced to work sewing sportswear and other products, some of which are being sold by US companies.

56 people are talking about this

China has gone as so far as to repeatedly abstain from votes or use its veto power in UN security council meetings on many international interventions, such as proposed sanctions in Syria and in Myanmar.

"Many [Muslim nations] have their own internal issues whether its religious or ethnic minorities … so they are very loathe to criticise Beijing for its handling of its own problems given they have their own problems to deal with," Dr Clarke said.

This case can be made for Turkey, which has spoken out against China on Xinjiang — a move Beijing has not forgotten.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the events in the restive province as "a kind of genocide" while Turkey also provided asylum for Uyghurs fleeing the region.

Beijing had extended an offer of support during this year's economic crisis in Turkey, on the provision that Ankara didn't release any "irresponsible remarks" related to Uyghurs or ethnic policy in Xinjiang — and no comments on the matter have been publicly made since.

"Unfortunately, it all comes down to the calculation of [whether] it's of any benefit to us and our relationships with others more broadly," Dr Clarke said

The Indonesian Government did not respond to requests for comment.

A map of Xinjiang and surrounding regions.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-23/muslim-governments-stayed-silent-on-chinese-minority-uyghur/10630822
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have you got that banner in your house pt?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Isaac soloman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec 2018 at 11:01pm
can the western world reeducate china? ironical that china makes the chinese decorations for the western world. We are such a dead s*** mob.

China bans decorations in Christmas crackdown

Christmas decorations have been banned in at least four cities and a county in China.

The ruling Communist Party's emphasis on tradition and the suppression of religion under President Xi Jinping are behind the crackdown on festivities.At one 27-story shopping and office complex in Nanyang, eastern China, the Christmas trees, lights and other decorations were removed within 24 hours after government officials paid a visit.

"Everything is gone and cleaned," said Ma Jun, who works at a tutoring company in the building.Christmas is still celebrated, albeit more as a shopping festival, across most of China, but anti-Christmas sentiment has been seen in the country before in 2014 and last year.

It is thought to come from local authorities seeking to align themselves with the wider push for cultural nationalism.

"The ongoing local reaction against Christmas is part of the wider sentiment since Xi took power," said Zi Yang, a China expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

He argues that President Xi is promoting the Communist Party as a bastion for Chinese tradition, saying: "therefore, foreign cultural elements such as Christmas are placed on the chopping block."

An official from the Nanyang's urban management bureau hung up when asked to comment on the removal of the festive items, according to AP.

Elsewhere in the country, official government social media accounts posted to warn that anyone found holding Christmas sales or celebrations that blocked the streets would be punished, Communist Party members should be "models of adherence to Chinese traditional culture", and Christmas stage performances and merchandising promotions would be banned.The state-run Global Times newspaper argues the Western media are exaggerating China's crackdown on Christmas and reported that some of the restrictions mentioned are aimed at cleaning up roadside stalls and migrant vendors in hopes of winning an award from the Communist Party.

China's moves to push nationalism has seen the country be forced to deny claims one million of its mostly Muslim Uighur minority are being held in internment camps, while it has also insisted "there are no such things" as re-education centres.https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/china-bans-decorations-in-christmas-crackdown/ar-BBRnprl

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Ringleader of alleged migration scheme arrested boarding a flight to China

Dozens of fraudulently obtained Medicare cards and credit cards have been seized by police as part of a major investigation into a Chinese national allegedly spearheading a migration fraud scheme.

Xuan Zho, 32, was arrested as she tried to board a flight to Shanghai on Friday, the day after Australian Border Force and Australian Federal Police officers raided an Auburn business and found the credit cards and Medicare cards, as well as a "large number of documents and electronic evidence".

Police will say in court that Ms Zho - who is not a registered migration agent - lodged more than 1700 visa applications, billing her clients for the applications.

She has been charged with four offences under the Migration Act, including giving immigration assistance while not being a registered migration agent, receiving fees while not being a registered migration agent, falsely representing herself as a migration agent and advertising immigration assistance when not a registered agent.Ms Zho appeared on Saturday before Parramatta Bail Court, where she was granted bail on condition she lives at an address at The Ponds, in Sydney's north-west, under strict house arrest except when reporting twice daily to the Quakers Hill police station or attending a legal meeting.

She is not allowed to go within a kilometre of an international point of departure, apply for a passport in Australia or overseas or associate with any of her co-accused.

Border force regional investigations NSW Superintendent Garry Low labelled the arrest a "significant result".

"Through inter-agency co-operation and a long-running investigation, we have been able to identify and stop a substantial unregistered migration practice," he said.

"Migration fraud is a very serious offence which carries severe penalties. People seeking migration advice should always ensure they use only registered migration agents to protect themselves from fraud."


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Passing Through Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Dec 2018 at 8:10am
Why should China embrace Christians Isaac? 
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