The Beijing’s Winning Strategy in Africa: Challenging AMERICA’s POSITION at the TOP on THE ONCE-UNIPOLAR WORLD

Contention between China and the United States is extending far beyond the current hot spot of the South China Sea. As China’s economy continues its rapid expansion, a truly global realignment of power is taking place. Regions that were dominated by the West for centuries are now coming into China’s orbit, challenging America’s position at the top on a once-unipolar world. This trend is particularly evident in Africa. The United States is now seeking to counter China’s economic and political inroads in the African continent. The Africa policies of both the US and China are important not only in their own right, but also because these policies serve to indicate the significant differences in these two powers’ general foreign strategies and world views. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been quick to question China’s relationship with Africa, and highlight the purported difference in Africa policy between the US and China. During her visit to Senegal (the first stop of her African tour), she promoted “a model of sustainable partnership that adds value, rather than extracts it”. She went on to promise: “America will stand up for democracy and universal human rights even when it might be easier to look the other way and keep the resources flowing.” [1]

Beijing arrests 1,000 online offenders

Beijing arrests 1,000 in Internet crime crackdown (Xinhua)   BEIJING -Beijing police on Saturday said they have arrested 1,065 suspects and deleted more than 208,000 “harmful” online messages as part of an intensive nationwide crackdown on Internet-related crimes conducted since mid-February. The operators of more than 3,117 websites have received related warnings, a spokesman from the city police’s cyber security department said Saturday, adding that 70 Internet companies that defied the warnings have received administrative punishments, including forced closures. The spokesman said the campaign, dubbed “Spring Breeze,” mainly targets the dissemination of information related to smuggling firearms, drugs and toxic chemicals, as well as the sale of human organs, the counterfeiting certificates and invoices and trade in personal information. The crackdown is meant to address prominent public complaints about Internet-related crimes, the spokesman said, adding that reports about Internet related crimes have gone down 50percent since the campaign was launched on February 14. The spokesman urged Internet users to actively oppose the spread of harmful information. China has stepped up its efforts to “cleanse” cyberspace over the past few weeks. Beijing police on Friday announced the detention of six people for allegedly fabricating and spreading rumors on the Internet, as well as punishment for websites and social media that carried the rumors. Sixteen websites were subsequently forced to close, and the country’s two largest micro blog operators — Sina Weibo and Tencent — have suspended commenting functions on their sites from March 31 to April 3. A Tencent statement said the move was made to prevent illicit information from spreading through microblog posts.  

The FRB’s “Operation Twist”: Europe and America Grim Economic Prospects

Seven months after the official announcement on 9/21/11 of “Operation Twist” not much progress has been made at the long end of the market to reduce yields.The yield on the 10-year T-note has gone from 1.88% to 2.3% and the 30-year bond went from 3.03% to 3.41%. The episode has been marred by hedge fund and sovereign selling, which has left the short end a little higher, but the long end much higher. The question now is how much did this cost the Fed for such disappointing results? Or in fact was this really their objective? We may never know, because the Fed hides what they do not want anyone to know. These results might not seem important but US Treasury instruments are the foundation of the global monetary system.

Another Open Letter to US President Obama From The People of China

We’re told you are “very, very interested in how to reach into China, how to (bypass our government and) reach Chinese citizens directly”, and that you have enlisted help from apparent Chinese “dissidents”, asking where and how you should use your leverage. As we understand it, you mean to try to corrupt the allegiance of our people by attempting to destroy our loyalty and patriotism, to turn us against our own government, and to use us as pawns to undermine the foundation of our own country. We are writing to express our objection. Thanks, but You’ve Done Enough for us Already We have watched you, your cabinet, and your politicians as you daily condemn our country and our people, for the sake of what appears to be cheap political gain. We have watched as your media publish twisted, biased and unfair ‘news’ of our country, as they fabricate events and photos that are not real and never happened. We have watched the simple-minded in your country being stoked with bigotry, racism and even hatred, of our country and our people, by twisted stories and knowingly false accusations.