Don't be bystanders or tools of major powers, says Beijing
China has urged members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations not to be a bystander or "a tool of major powers" to cope with the new challenges in the current global political and economic atmosphere.
"ASEAN should exercise its independent judgment to move this region forward. If ASEAN takes sides, it would lose its relevance," Vice-Minister of Foreign AffairsFu Ying told The Nation in an exclusive interview over the weekend.
"ASEAN has an important role to play with its tried-and-true ASEAN Way, as major powers are shaping their new relations in the region."
She said relations with ASEAN countries are of "unquestionable priority" for China. China will continue to support ASEAN's "centrality" in East Asian cooperation, she said.
Fu was in Bangkok over the weekend to meet Thailand's Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow. In July, Thailand is to take over the role of ASEAN's coordinator with China for the next three years.
Since the dialogue partnership was established in the early 1990s, ASEAN-China relations have enjoyed robust development, she said.
"We have also encountered a lot of challenges. Yet, rather than hurting our relations, these challenges were turned into opportunities to reinforce our relations," she said.
Asked about the United States' decision to "rebalance" its forces in Asia and the Pacific, Fu said: "China has no problem accepting the US presence and its positive influence in the Asia Pacific. We welcome a constructive US role in regional affairs."
She noted, however, that there is growing concern from media and academics in China over the heavy US emphasis on security in the region.
"I've noticed that the same concern has also been heard in other Asian countries. Some say China is the 'elephant in the room'. Some others worry about a possible return to the Cold War," she said.
"As I see it, maybe it's still too early to draw conclusions."
Asked whether Beijing is concerned about Washington's possible "containment policy" against China, she said: "The US has loudly denied any intention to contain China. We will just take them at their word."
She said she did not believe any country could "contain" another country in the current global environment.
"How can anyone contain 1.3 billion people of China from building better lives for themselves?" she asked.
Fu said China's industrialization is "only halfway" complete. Its huge population means that China's per capita GDP would remain low for a long time to come.
"We are still a developing country working hard to address the imbalances and the uncoordinated and unsustainable aspects of the economy," she said.
Regarding the South China Sea disputes, the vice-minister reiterated that China wants to handle the disputes peacefully through direct negotiations between countries concerned.
"At the same time, we must protect China's sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. We remain committed to working with countries concerned to reach a farsighted and wise solution," she added.
China and ASEAN countries signed the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002. Central to the DOC is a commitment by all parties to "exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability".
The vice-minister said China and ASEAN are also involved in ongoing discussions on the formulation of a Code of Conduct. "This shows that safeguarding stability in the region and managing disputes appropriately remains the mainstream thinking in our region."
She added: "We sincerely hope that China and ASEAN countries will keep a cool head on this issue and exercise restraint through action, and that all parties will refrain from undermining the atmosphere for peace and stability in the region."
She pointed out that more than 80 percent of China's trade goes through the sea lanes in South China Sea.
"Safety of the navigation routes is of utmost importance for China. We will do all we can to ensure peace in this part of the world," Fu said.
By Suthichai Yoon (China Daily) Suthichai Yoon is editor-in-chief of The Nation Group in Bangkok The Star/Asia News Network
The Russians started the space race back in the 1950s.
This picture taken on June 12, 2012 shows Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force fighter pilot Liu Yang (L) together with her two male colleagues, Jing Haipeng (C) and Liu Wang (R), in their spacesuits as they pose for an official photo at the Jiuquan space base, north China's Gansu province. China said on June 15, 2012 that a female astronaut will be among the three-person team on board the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, and will take off at 6.37 pm (1037 GMT) on June 16 from the Jiuquan space base in the Gobi desert for the country's fourth manned space launch, with Liu Yang, 33, and two male astronauts on board. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)
The U.S. perfect it with putting a man on the moon, then with a series of modern high tech space shuttle missions and Mars ROVERS. But now, the final frontier captains are more likely to be Russians, with their hopes for a human Mars landing someday, or Chinese, with a new China space station due within the next 8 years.
While the U.S. has basically scrapped its space mission, slashing the budget of NASA and now too close to a fiscal cliff to invest in fly-by-night government funded manned space operations, China is on the move.
The country’s Shenzhou IX spacecraft, carrying two male astronauts and one female astronaut into space this week, completed its first-ever manual docking with the Tiangong I space lab on Sunday. The manual docking of two ships whipping through space ultimately demonstrates China’s grasp of essential space rendezvous and docking know-how. Manual docking requires astronauts to have a precise judgement on the relative distance between Shenzhou IX and the Tiangong-1 module, a challenge to their capability of coordination, accuracy and psychological stability. The astronauts have done more than 1,500 docking simulations on the ground to ensure a successful manual docking.
Their successful completion of the docking mission at 12:47 pm local time on Sunday means China is fully capable of transferring humans and cargo to an orbiter in space much like the Americans, only the Americans have abandoned further work in this area beyond the current International Space Station expedition which ends next month. That current mission is actually being commanded by Oleg Dmitrievich Komonenko, a Russian national born in Turkmenistan. He’s one of three Russians on the Russian Proton vesssel, with two Americans and one astronaut from The Netherlands.
China’s three astronauts boarded Tiangong through Shenzhou IX where they will continued conducting various scientific experiments on the space lab before heading returning.
Chinese Astronauts Manually Dock Spacecraft at Orbiting Module in National First
This still from a CNTV bradcast shows the view from a camera aboard China's Shenzhou 9 space capsule shows the spacecraft just after it was manually docked to the Tiangong 1 space lab by astronaut Liu Wang on June 24, 2012. CREDIT: CNTV/CCTV
Three Chinese astronauts manually docked their space capsule at an orbiting module Sunday (June 24), a major first for China's space program and the country's plans to build a large space station.
The astronauts docked their Shenzhou 9 spacecraft with the unmanned Tiangong 1 module 213 miles (343 kilometers) above Earth. It was the second orbital linkup in a week for the two spacecraft, which performed China's first automated space docking June 18.
Shenzhou 9's astronauts Liu Wang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang — who is China's first female astronaut — are the fourth Chinese crew to fly in space. The astronauts launched into orbit on June 16, atop a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's northern Gansu province.
Tiangong 1 has been in orbit since September 2011, and was part of China's first robotic docking with the unmanned Shenzhou 8 capsule in November. The Shenzhou 9 crew made their first docking with Tiangong 1 June 18, marking the first time a manned Chinese spacecraft has docked with another vehicle in orbit. [Shenzhou 9: China's 1st Manned Space Docking (Pictures)]
The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft grasp hands to celebrate their successful manned docking with the Tiangong 1 orbiting module on June 24, 2012. At center is astronaut Liu Wang, who piloted the successful docking. Mission commander Jing Haipeng is at left with astronaut Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut, at right. CREDIT: China Manned Space Engineering
Earlier today, the astronauts undocked the two spacecraft and flew Shenzhou 9 about 1,300 feet (400 meters) away. They then maneuvered their capsule by hand, with Liu Wang at the helm, back into docking configuration with Tiangong 1 at 12:48 p.m. China Standard Time, or 12:48 a.m. EDT (0448 GMT).
"The success of the manual rendezvous and docking mission represents another important phase achievement of the Shenzhou 9 and Tiangong 1 rendezvous and docking mission," Wu Ping, spokeswoman of the China Manned Space Program, said during a press briefing following the docking. "The three astronauts will once again enter the orbiting module of Tiangong 1 to carry out scientific experiments."
The mission's docking maneuvers are a milestone in the development of China's manned space program, which flew its first astronaut in space in 2003. Tiangong 1 (which means "Heavenly Palace" in Chinese) is a prototype for China's first manned space station, which officials say will be functional by 2020.
China is the third country after Russia and the United States to fly astronauts into space.
After today's docking, the Shenzhou 9 astronauts (known as taikonauts) received a message from a group of Chinese oceanauts who are setting records not above the ground but below it.
"We wish for a great success of the manual docking and brilliant achievements in China's manned space and manned deep-sea dive causes," read a message sent by three crewmembers aboard the Chinese submersible Jiaolong, 7,015 meters (23,000 feet) beneath the Pacific Ocean in the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot on Earth, state-run newspaper Xinhua reported.
China achieved another milestone in its space program as the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft successfully completed its second docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab module by hand. This was China’s first ever manned manual space docking.
Ten meters, five meters, three.
It was a moment astronaut Liu Wang had practiced for, more than 1.500 times. And he knew he could do it.
Photo taken on June 24, 2012 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft parting from the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab to prepare for the country's first manual space docking. The spacecraft and the space lab were joined together by an automated docking on June 18. (Xinhua/Zha Chunming)
Liu said, "I’m 100% sure of a successfully operation. Because I can’t fail."
Dubbed the "space needle threading" mission, the astronauts had to carefully adjust the craft’s trajectory with very little margin for error.
It all culminated in the historic moment.
Shenzhou-9’s docking ring makes contact with the Tiangong-1 and a tight seal is formed as the connection between the craft is secured.
It was even more accurate than the first automated docking of Shenzhou-9 and Tiangong-1. The State Council Information office then announced the success of the mission.
Wu Ping, spokeswoman for State Council Information Office said, "I can announce that the first Chinese manned docking of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and the Tiangong-1 space lab module has been successfully completed."
A big success, but it’s not over yet.
After the docking, the astronauts entered Tiangong-1 for another four days of experiments.
Following this, they’ll return to Shenzhou-9’s re-entry module, to prepare for the journey back to earth.
Good news came as the crew of the Jiaolong submersible surpassed the country’s dive record by going deeper than 7,000 meters after a successful test dive in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday morning. A record breaking moment.
Jiaolong, China’s manned submersible successfully completed a dive of 7,015 meters below sea level at around 11 am local time, 8:55 am Beijing time. It’s the craft’s fourth dive into the Mariana Trench.
China's manned submersible Jiaolong is put into water to make the fourth dive into the sea at the Mariana Trench on June 24, 2012. Chinese scientists refreshed the country's dive record in a manned submersible by going to 7,000 meters beneath the sea after a successful test dive in the Pacific Ocean Sunday morning. The Jiaolong, China's manned submersible named after a mythical sea dragon, succeeded in diving 7,015 meters below sea level at 11 a.m. local time during its fourth dive into the Mariana Trench. Three oceanauts conducted the dive, which started at 7 a.m. local time in heavy rain. (Xinhua/Luo Sha)
The submersible then went on to finally reach a maximum depth of 7,020 meters below sea level.
The three oceanauts sent greetings from the bottom of the deep blue sea to the three astronauts in outer space, who were about to carry out their manual docking of Shenzhou-9 with the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module.
"We wish the Shenzhou-9 crew success with the manual docking and great achievements for China’s manned space and deep-sea dive missions."
Various samples and video footage have been taken during the deep sea mission to benefit future scientific research.
This file photo, taken in 2011, shows the Chinese submersible 'Jiaolong.' The submersible broke through the 7,000-metre mark in an ocean dive on Sunday, state media said, setting a new national record for China.
A manned Chinese submersible broke through the 7,000-metre mark for a new national record on Sunday, state media said, as the rising Asian nation showed off its technological might.
The "Jiaolong" craft dived 7,015 metres (23,015 feet) in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean on its fourth dive since arriving in the area earlier this month, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The dive came on the same day as China was attempting its first manual space docking, a complex manoeuvre that will bring the country a step closer to building a space station.
"This (dive) shows the performance of the submersible is stable," mission chief commander Liu Feng told state television in a live broadcast from aboard the ship supporting the submersible.
"The level of our technical personnel is getting better and better."
The Jiaolong -- named after a dragon from Chinese mythology -- carried three people into the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the world.
Applause broke out as a depth gauge aboard the supporting ship Xiangyanghong registered more than 7,000 metres, state television showed.
The same submersible reached 5,188 metres in a Pacific dive in July last year. And in a series of three previous dives since June 15, the craft has gone deeper each time. Experts say 7,000 metres is the limit of its design.
Experts say China intends to use the submersible for scientific research, such as collecting samples of undersea life and studying geological structures, as well as future development of mineral resources.
On its third dive on Friday, the crew collected samples of water and sediment and took photos of sea life, Xinhua said.
Scientists say the ocean floors contain rich deposits of potentially valuable minerals, but the extreme depths pose technical difficulties in harvesting them on a large scale.
And the stability and durability of the craft presents further problems for future operations.
The recent round of dives have seen some minor technical glitches, such as the breakdown of communications equipment and problems with the adjustable ballast system, state media has reported.
The 7,000 metre dive was previously scheduled for Monday, state media had reported. The reasons for the change of date were unclear but mean the record-setting dive comes the same day as China's landmark space manoeuvre.
Hanoi's disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea have given rise to frictions, and analysts said the passed law may internationalize the issue and bring a heavy blow to bilateral relations.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the NPC expressed its position concerning the recent passing of the Vietnamese Law of the Sea in a letter to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Vietnamese National Assembly.
The Vietnamese National Assembly passed the Vietnamese Law of the Sea to include China's Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands in the South China Sea within Vietnam's sovereignty and jurisdiction.
The NPC expressed its firm opposition to the move and urged the Vietnamese National Assembly "to correct the erroneous practice immediately."
"The move by the Vietnamese National Assembly is a serious violation of China's territorial sovereignty and is illegal and invalid.
It violates the consensus reached by both leaders, as well as the principles of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee said in the letter.
"The NPC Foreign Affairs Committee hopes the Vietnamese National Assembly to honestly respect China's territorial sovereignty and correct the wrongful practice so as to safeguard the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership as well as the friendly relations between China's NPC and the Vietnamese National Assembly," the letter said.
The NPC also reaffirmed in the letter that China has indisputable sovereignty over the Xisha islands, Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. - Xinhua/Asia News Network Related articles/post:
East Asia’s wealth continues to spurt, with the hope that it will not also sputter.
BEHIND the faceless economic data of countries and regions is the wealth of individual people. But how does this relate to global conditions, and vice-versa?
One answer comes by way of the High Net Worth Individual (HNWI), as defined jointly by the French consulting firm Capgemini and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
Where net worth is generally taken as total assets minus total debts, the HNWI as conceived by Capgemini, RBC and Merrill Lynch is a person with at least US$1mil (RM3.2mil) in disposable funds to invest.
In their calculation, growth of East Asia’s personal wealth last year bypassed North America’s for the first time. In their latest World Wealth Report 2011 released just four days ago, the number of HNWIs in the “Asia-Pacific” region grew 1.6% to 3.37 million.
Widening gap: China continues to develop rapidly, chalking up multiple achievements such as lifting nearly a billion people out of poverty within one generation. Yet some 100 million people in China still live in poverty. — EPA
However, the Asia-Pacific mega-region often presents a problem of definition, and does so clearly in this case. Australia is included but not New Zealand, nor is any country in North America which also lies in the “Pacific” portion of the Asia-Pacific.
India is also included even when it is not a Pacific nation, but not any other South Asian country which is similarly located and equally (in)eligible. The Philippines is also excluded along with five of the smallest or newest Asean countries.
Such concepts and their comparisons, particularly when defined by specific corporate interests, tend to be notional at best. Nonetheless, one trend is clear: individual and thus regional wealth in East Asia is growing faster than in North America.
But much of this new wealth also has shallower roots. East Asian economies are seeing fast gainers and almost as rapid losers among HNWIs.
Hong Kong and Singapore respectively lost 17.4% and 7.8% in HNWIs. The volatility is typical of rapidly growing regions: easier come, easier go.
Overall, East Asian wealth accumulation for investment is still behind North America’s – US$10.7tril (RM34tril) to US$11.4tril (RM36.4tril). The gap remains, but it is just as obvious that it is narrowing.
Without East Asian volatility, the gap would be narrower still. And if the number of HNWIs were considered on per capita terms, East Asian development would seem even more impressive.
That leaves a large question mark over China, with the world’s largest population at more than 1.3 billion. It has already produced the fastest and most sustained growth anywhere on the planet, with the prospect of much more to come.
China continues to develop rapidly, chalking up multiple achievements such as lifting nearly a billion people out of poverty within one generation. Yet some 100 million people in China still live in poverty, as Prime Minister Wen Jiabao conceded during the week.
In essence, much of China’s economic growth has yet to come. How far it still has to go may be taken as a measure of how much further it can still go.
Owing to its sheer size and the scale on which it operates, China’s progress will determine the fate of both greater China (the mainland, plus Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) and much of the world.
That was the broad consensus reached during the week at both the Rio+20 summit in Brazil attended by Wen, and the G20 summit in Mexico attended by President Hu Jintao.
And that is where the sums and the conclusions, whether tentative or premature, become mired in obscurities. But if it is any consolation, the obscurities are also the realities.
When comparisons are made between (East) Asian and North American growth, investment or expenditure, the comparisons are essentially between China and the US.
And in economic growth in particular, much of China’s data is derived from trade with and investment from the US. The most important bilateral relationship in the Asia-Pacific, if not also in the world, is also growing steadily on multiple fronts: economic, but also diplomatic and strategic.
How the world’s two largest economies get along has always been important for the world. That becomes much more so when it encompasses other spheres of their relationship as well.
In Hu’s address in Los Cabos on Tuesday to an audience that included his US counterpart Barack Obama, he developed a model of bilateral relations he introduced at a China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue last month in Beijing. This consisted largely of two prongs, each with three main points.
The three key principles are for both countries to maintain strategic communication between them at the highest levels, to manage any differences between them without letting anything get out of control, and to keep any prospective interference from any quarter boxed up.
The three broad areas of interest outlined by Hu in his “hopes” are that the US will act positively in opting for a pragmatic rather than an ideological approach to relations, respect China’s legitimate sovereign interests, and stop the narrower concerns of domestic politics from upsetting ties.
These points may be taken to mean China’s preference for a full, direct relationship that avoids hiccups from occasional sentiments in the US over China’s internal political affairs, currency valuation or a lingering US tendency to protectionism.
There were at least three points of immediate agreement at Los Cabos: that both countries should develop the next phase of their relationship meaningfully, that relations were so far going well, and that more should be done to build mutual trust.
This G20 summit is seen as the second meeting between Hu and Obama this year, and the 12th in three years. It is also timed just right for Hu in reminding Obama that bilateral relations should not be subordinated to domestic pressures in a US election year, as Obama begins his campaign for re-election.
These personal exchanges are crucial, despite the passing nature of the presidencies. Hu is due to be succeeded next year, and even if Obama is re-elected, he has only another four years in office.
But formal relations between major powers are made of more durable stuff. There is scant difference between the Democratic and Republican parties on ties with China, and Beijing itself is known for worldviews that endure.
Beyond these, the summits in both Los Cabos and Rio de Janeiro took due notice of the gravity of the eurozone debt crisis.
The eurozone is after all an important leg of the world economic tripod, and its economic prospects are bound to be of concern to other regions.
At both summits, China and the US tried to shore up global confidence in the eurozone by helping to talk up prospects of recovery, or at least avoided consideration of worst-case scenarios.
The next EU summit in the following days should do more to spell out specific measures that member countries can take to that end.
Europe has the greatest responsibility in putting its collective house in order. North American and East Asian economic entities can do no more than assist in the hard decisions that Europeans have to take themselves.
For East Asia and North America at least, how well China and the US work together will determine prospects for all players in both regions. For East Asia in particular, HNWIs and standards of living generally are determined by the peace and prosperity that only close ties between major powers can offer.
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