Cyprus-Forum.com

[insan]

Chinese icebreaker heads north while U.S. and Canada sidelined

The Xue Long (Snow Dragon), a scientific research vessel, will be on its 4th expedition to the circumpolar region. According to Whats On Xiamen, The purpose of the current mission, which begins on July 1, is to study the atmosphere, sea ice, and melting in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, the Canada Basin, and the Mendeleev Sea Ridge. 122 people are on board, including scientists, support staff, reporters, crew, and several researchers from other countries like the U.S., South Korea, and Estonia. There is even one scientist from Taiwan, marking the second-ever time in which a Taiwanese scientist has joined a Chinese polar expedition. The Xue Long will stay in the Arctic for 85 days before returning to port in Shanghai.

The Xue Long has a rather colorful history in the Arctic stretching back at least a decade, demonstrating that China’s interest in the region is not completely new. In 1999, the icebreaker arrived unexpectedly in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada. Though the vessel had notified Canadian authorities that it was coming, the message was somehow disregarded, leaving the government and port officials unprepared. This incident prompted concerns over Canada’s ability to defend its Arctic coastlines, as expressed during a hearing in 2005 in the Parliament’s Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.

http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/20 ... ebreakers/

[insan]

Commander of the Russian Navy warns of China's race for Arctic
Jorge Benitez | October 04, 2010
Russian Navy Commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky

From Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters: Russia will increase naval patrols in the Arctic Ocean to defend its interests against nations such as China seeking a share of the area's mineral wealth, the navy commander was quoted as saying on Monday.

Arctic nations such as Canada, Russia, Norway, the United States and Denmark are trying to file territorial claims over the oil, gas and precious metal reserves under the Arctic sea bed that may become accessible as the ice cap shrinks.

But in a rare public warning about China from Russia's top military brass, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky warned that China had already joined the scramble for a piece of "the Arctic pie".

"We are observing the penetration of a host of states which... are advancing their interests very intensively, in every possible way, in particular China," Vysotsky was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Russia would "not give up a single inch" in the Arctic.

"The ships of the Northern and Pacific fleets are continuing to increase their military presence in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation with new navy ships," he was quoted as saying by state RIA news agency.

http://www.acus.org/natosource/

China to boost Arctic research
2010-05-06
China eyes Arctic shipping as the ice-cap melts.

China eyes Arctic shipping as the ice-cap melts.
Photo: Thomas Nilsen

China will increase Arctic research and expedition efforts, the country’s top administrator on Polar research says. The undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Arctic are global resources, not regional, he claims.

- We need to increase scientific research and expeditions to better comprehend the Arctic Ocean and global climate change," Qu Tanzhou, director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, told China Daily, adding that China lags behind some countries in this regard.

China, like other countries under the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, has the right to participate in the exploration of the Arctic, Qu noted.

Chinese even have the legal basis to explore the Arctic for oil and gas...

On July l6, 2001, President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation signed the ?Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation? in Moscow. Full text of the Treaty is as follows:

Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation

The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation (hereafter known as the ?contracting parties?),

In view of the historical tradition of good-neighborliness and friendship between the people of China and Russia,

Hold that the Sino-Russian Joint Declarations and Statements signed and adopted by the heads of states of the two countries from 1992 to 2000 which are of great significance to the development of bilateral relations,

Firmly believe that to consolidate the friendly and good neighborly ties and mutual cooperation in all fields between the two countries is in conformity with the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries and conducive to the maintenance of peace, security and stability in Asia and the world,

Reiterate the obligations committed by each party in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other international treaties of which it is a signatory,

With the hope of promoting and establishing a just and fair new world order based on universally recognized principles and norms of international laws,

http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjdt/2649/t15771.htm


It seems everyone's interpretation of universally recognized principles and norms of international laws differ... Maybe that's why GR most of the times looks legless...

[insan]

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tried to dampen fears of China last month, saying Russia had nothing to fear from its eastern neighbour, though many senior officials in Moscow are privately concerned about China's growing global clout.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a research note in March that China was positioning itself to gain from the prospect of new Arctic shipping routes and the region's untapped resources as the ice cap melts.

China, the world's fastest growing major economy, has sought to secure long-term oil and gas supplies from Russia, the world's biggest energy producer, which has a population of 142 million compared to China's 1.3 billion.

By international law, Canada, Russia, Norway, the United States and Denmark have a 370 km economic zone north of their Arctic borders.

Russia wants more, claiming the Arctic Ocean seafloor is an extension of its continental shelf, though Putin urged Arctic nations last month to cut a deal on how to explore the region's mineral resources. Russia believes its entire Arctic territory holds twice as much oil and gas reserves as Saudi Arabia, the world's second biggest oil producer after Russia.Reuters


http://www.bt.com.bn/news-asia/2010/10/ ... ic-patrols

[insan]

Rebuilding Global Markets
China-Russia Competition Opens A Door For America
Jeffrey Mankoff and Leland R. Miller, 04.22.10, 11:30 PM EDT
Central Asian nations need money and security, and Washington can help keep the peace.
image

For the past two decades, many in the West have worried about the growth of Russo-Chinese influence over the newly independent states of Central Asia. Through the mutual-security group called the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and in scores of joint military exercises, counter-terrorism maneuvers and energy projects, the two great powers collaborated closely in order to keep these buffer states peaceful, compliant and relatively free of American penetration. Lately, however, a perceptible shift has overtaken the region. In 2010, the biggest threat to China and Russia's Central Asian interests may now be each other.

Fueling these growing Sino-Russian tensions are the divergent prospects of the two economies. China's economy grew by 8.7% in 2009, despite the global slump, while Russia's economy contracted by 7.9%, with foreign direct investment (FDI) plummeting by nearly half. With Russia's prospects continuing to dim, China has accelerated its courtship, rapidly replacing Russia as the principal source of foreign investment and aid in Central Asia.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/22/china- ... l-gas.html

[EPSILON]

Clinton: Turkey will form new alliances

Former US President Bill Clinton said on Saturday that Turkey was the key country for the formation of new alliances in the world in the future.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and President Abdullah Gül of Turkey

“Turkey is opposing unjust treatments and it is fighting injustice. Under these circumstances, what Turkey is doing will pull us together like a magnate. You might be doing certain things your own way and you might think that you are not free but the most important role for you in the 21st century will be devising brand new alliances,” Clinton told a conference at İstanbul’s Bilgi University.

Clinton said he had always tried to defend Turkey in the country’s bid for European Union membership bid, adding that he had cited Turkey’s commitment in democracy and its role of a model country for the Middle East to show that religion and terrorism were different from each other.

http://www.trdefence.com/2010/10/03/cli ... alliances/

--------------------------000000000000000-------------------------------

Clinton told "you" so, eh?

same,exactly, was the words of Americans with Sache in Iran ,several years ago-Turks be ready for your colapse....

[Lit]

Growing ties between Turkey, China, Iran worry Israel and U.S.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/ne ... s-1.317583

Turkey held military drill with China, after canceling with Israel; cooperation also reflected in weapons deals, with Iran buying from China mainly missile technology.

By Anshel Pfeffer

The United States and Israel are watching with concern the growing military cooperation among Turkey, China and Iran, especially following a joint Turkish-Chinese air-force exercise last week.

Until two years ago Israel was Turkey's main partner for air combat training.

In 2001 the Turkish air force inaugurated a tactical air warfare center in Konya with Israel and the United States.

Until 2008 the Israel Air Force was a frequent guest in Turkey's sky and a regular participant in the country's big annual exercise, Anatolian Eagle.

In the wake of Operation Cast Lead and the subsequent deterioration of bilateral relations Turkey last year revoked Israel's participation in the maneuvers. The United States decided not to take part in the exercise this year because of that decision. A number of other NATO members followed suit.

Turkey replaced the Israel Air Force with its Chinese counterpart. China sent Sukhoi SU-27 fighter aircraft and pilots to train with Turkey's F-16 fighters. In the past these exercises were held in relatively openness, but last week they were held covertly, with only a brief report appearing in the Turkish media after the exercise.

The West has been watching the changes in the Chinese army's structure, and especially the long-range naval and aerial exercises that indicate Beijing's intention to acquire the ability to conduct warfare far from China's borders.

The Chinese are also aggressively pursuing cyber warfare capabilities, employing some 60,000 hackers at it, according to foreign intelligence reports.

The Obama administration protested Turkey's military cooperation with Iran after it was reported that the Chinese fighter planes were sent to Turkey via Pakistan and Iran.

The developing ties among Turkey, Iran and China are also reflected in weapons deals, with Iran buying from China mainly missile technology.

The C-802 antiship missile fired by Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War at the Israel Navy's Hanit missile boat was manufactured in Iran with Chinese technology.

China has also developed a surface-to-surface rocket-launching system together with Turkey. China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is due to visit Ankara this month and to sign several bilateral cooperation agreements.

Turkey and China are also involved in projects to build oil pipelines from Iran.

Another reason for the close relations between the two states is that China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has been in the forefront of opposition to imposing harsher sanctions on Iran in connection to the Islamic state's nuclear program.

[boomerang]

Why China's Air Force in Turkey?
Sometime during September, an unknown number of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force Russian-built Su-27 and Mig-29 fighters landed at the huge Konya airbase in Turkey's central Anatolia region.
Sunday, 10 October 2010 09:16


China's Air Force Goes Abroad

By Gavin M. Greenwood


Dudgeon and dragons for the Americans

Sometime during September, an unknown number of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force Russian-built Su-27 and Mig-29 fighters landed at the huge Konya airbase in Turkey's central Anatolia region. Within a few days they were training with Turkish US-built F-16 fighters in the first ever military exercise of its kind between China and a NATO country.

The brief training exercise, significantly held under the aegis of the 'Anatolian Eagle' series of joint military manoeuvres with NATO and other friendly powers, reflects multiple factors that will take some time for Turkey's allies to fully decipher. From a western perspective, China's sudden appearance on NATO's southern flank and other Chinese military adventures in the so-called 'Stans of Central Asia at about the same time was provocative in a period when relations between Beijing and Washington and many European countries are strained by a mixture of economic and military tensions.

This may have been the immediate – if probably opportunistic - intention as the Turkish deployment presaged China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's attendance at a summit with the EU commission in Brussels on Oct. 6 which was widely anticipated to be tense and probably fruitless.

The other, more strategic message embedded in the dog fights over Anatolia is nearer to China's core concerns. The deployment will strengthen the agenda of those within China's government and military who are keen to demonstrate Beijing's reach and ability to surprise. While some remain unsure whether the training event ever actually occurred, most are looking at what the episode may reveal about Turkey's motives and the country's future relationship with NATO and the European Union.

Certainly, China and Turkey appear an uneasy fit for any form of military co-operation beyond the institutional round of bland functions and stilted social events intended to somehow soothe mutual suspicions and calm often barely concealed enmities.

In particular, both countries have recently experienced serious differences over the treatment of the Uighur community, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority long settled in western China. The Uighurs are widely viewed with suspicion by Beijing and many of the Han Chinese now living among them as both a source of separatist unrest and potential Islamic extremism. Equally, many Turks view the Uighurs as victims of Chinese colonial persecution and readily offer their support in the name of pan-Turkic solidarity.

The strength of emotion the issue can generate was evident in Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's accusation that the situation in Xinjiang in July 2009 following clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese was akin to "genocide." Once it became evident that the majority of the casualties among the nearly 200 dead and thousands of injured where ethnically Chinese, the Turkish government moderated its language – even if the overwhelming mood among many Turks remained pro-Uighur if not anti-Chinese.

Erdogan's seemingly instinctive if overblown response and his subsequent softer tone towards China - perhaps reflecting Ankara's grudging recognition that Beijing's position towards the Uighurs echoes Turkey's own problems with Kurdish separatists – is likely to have been regarded in the Chinese foreign ministry as an opportunity to strengthen ties. China's diplomats were aided in this potentially tricky task by Ankara's own calculations following a series of diplomatic reversals that required a powerful, if indirect, response.

It is certain that Turkey's increasingly fraught relationship with the European Union, where a strong 'Gates of Vienna' tendency filters any efforts by Ankara to move closer to the European heartland while playing on atavistic memories of Muslim expansion, will have contributed to the decision of invite Chinese fighters to train in NATO airspace.

Similarly, the March 2010 vote by US legislators that agreed the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was genocide, coupled with Washington's failure to seriously censor Israel over its killing of nine ethnic Turks on the Gaza "aid flotilla" in May 2010,have convinced many in Turkey that their country occupies a lowly position in the US pantheon of allies.

Another, perhaps irresistible, motive for the invitation to the Chinese airmen may have been to emphasize the difference between Turkey and Greece. The parlous state of the Greek economy has left the country in the position of permanent mendicancy, most recently relying on China to buy its debt and finance its key shipping sector. Turkey's action, by contrast, demonstrated – if mainly to a domestic audience – the country's independence and sovereign parity with a major power.

China's motives for accepting a Turkish invitation to send its aircraft to Konya also reflects interests that have little to do with the location or significance of their host. While Beijing is now far more comfortable seeing its military deployed further from the country's self-determined core areas of interest, China's often cautious diplomats appear to be increasingly overruled or ignored by political and military factions who value the utility of such displays for a nationalistic domestic audience.

This mood was captured when the despatch of warships in January 2009 to the Gulf of Aden to take part in anti-piracy operations evoked official comparisons with the 15th century Admiral Zheng He's seven voyages to the Middle East and Africa.

The People's Liberation Army and Air Force also participated in the "Peace Mission 2010" series of military exercises conducted in September 2010 in Kazakhstan with military personnel from the other Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia. Although the ostensible purpose of the exercise was to test and coordinate joint counter-terrorist operations, in reality the 'Peace Mission' gave China a unique opportunity to deploy land and air units in strength beyond its borders.

According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, at least eight Chinese fighters, bombers, airborne early warning and tanker aircraft flew an unprecedented round trip from Urumqi in western China to an unnamed location in Kazakhstan, where they carried out practice air strikes. The aircraft that flew to Turkey must have taken a similar route, before heading south to Iranian airspace and on to Konya in Turkey.

More pressing, given the persistent tensions in the South China Sea between the US and China, the dramatic appearance of Chinese fighters maneuvering in a NATO country should also enliven the conversation between US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Chinese counterpart General Liang Guanglie when they meet in Hanoi at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference on 12 October.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=64987

now they realise that the US looks only after number one?...regardless, the US is not going to take this lightly...

[Lit]

Chinese warplanes refueled in Iran en route to Turkey

Monday, October 11, 2010
ISTANBUL - Daily News with wires

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php? ... 2010-10-11

Iran indirectly supported a secret military drill between the Turkish and Chinese air forces that took place in September, sparking concerns in the United States, daily Hürriyet reported Monday.

The Turkish and Chinese air forces secretly participated in “Anatolian Eagle” war games in Konya, which two years ago involved Turkey’s fellow NATO members the United States, Israel and Italy.

Four drill-bound Chinese SU-27 warplanes that took off from bases in China refueled in Iran – the first time the Islamic Republic has ever allowed foreign warplanes to refuel at its airbases, the report said.

The Russian-made SU-27s used by the Chinese air force had to refuel in both Pakistan and Iran because of their limited 3,500-kilometer range.

Official letters were sent to the two countries prior to the military drill requesting the use of airspace and passage and refueling privileges. The warplanes refueled a second time in Iran on their return to China.

The drill was conducted after two years of deliberations, the report said, adding that its sole purpose was to improve mutual cooperation between the two friendly countries.

Ankara excluded Tel Aviv from the 2009 war games, reportedly because of the political tensions that followed Israel’s invasion of Gaza in January 2009. The move prompted fellow NATO members the United States and Italy to withdraw from the drills and Turkey held them at the national level. The Turkish government then decided to freeze all military exercises with Israel in response to the killing of eight Turkish citizens and an American of Turkish descent by Israeli commandos aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May.

Memorandum from Washington received ahead of drill

Washington contacted Ankara ahead of the drill to express concerns over the planned use of F-16 warplanes in a military drill involving China – which the U.S. considers a possible threat.

"We expect you to honor the agreement article that requires the exercise of caution regarding the transfer of technology to third countries," the memorandum read.

American concerns were taken into consideration and F-16 fighters were replaced by older F-4 models in the exercises.

[insan]

China's Air Force Goes Abroad

Written by Gavin M. Greenwood
Thursday, 07 October 2010
ImageDudgeon and dragons for the Americans

Sometime during September, an unknown number of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force Russian-built Su-27 and Mig-29 fighters landed at the huge Konya airbase in Turkey's central Anatolia region. Within a few days they were training with Turkish US-built F-16 fighters in the first ever military exercise of its kind between China and a NATO country.

The brief training exercise, significantly held under the aegis of the 'Anatolian Eagle' series of joint military manoeuvres with NATO and other friendly powers, reflects multiple factors that will take some time for Turkey's allies to fully decipher. From a western perspective, China's sudden appearance on NATO's southern flank and other Chinese military adventures in the so-called 'Stans of Central Asia at about the same time was provocative in a period when relations between Beijing and Washington and many European countries are strained by a mixture of economic and military tensions.

This may have been the immediate – if probably opportunistic - intention as the Turkish deployment presaged China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's attendance at a summit with the EU commission in Brussels on Oct. 6 which was widely anticipated to be tense and probably fruitless.

The other, more strategic message embedded in the dog fights over Anatolia is nearer to China's core concerns. The deployment will strengthen the agenda of those within China's government and military who are keen to demonstrate Beijing's reach and ability to surprise. While some remain unsure whether the training event ever actually occurred, most are looking at what the episode may reveal about Turkey's motives and the country's future relationship with NATO and the European Union.

Certainly, China and Turkey appear an uneasy fit for any form of military co-operation beyond the institutional round of bland functions and stilted social events intended to somehow soothe mutual suspicions and calm often barely concealed enmities.

In particular, both countries have recently experienced serious differences over the treatment of the Uighur community, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority long settled in western China. The Uighurs are widely viewed with suspicion by Beijing and many of the Han Chinese now living among them as both a source of separatist unrest and potential Islamic extremism. Equally, many Turks view the Uighurs as victims of Chinese colonial persecution and readily offer their support in the name of pan-Turkic solidarity.

The strength of emotion the issue can generate was evident in Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's accusation that the situation in Xinjiang in July 2009 following clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese was akin to "genocide." Once it became evident that the majority of the casualties among the nearly 200 dead and thousands of injured where ethnically Chinese, the Turkish government moderated its language – even if the overwhelming mood among many Turks remained pro-Uighur if not anti-Chinese.

Erdogan's seemingly instinctive if overblown response and his subsequent softer tone towards China - perhaps reflecting Ankara's grudging recognition that Beijing's position towards the Uighurs echoes Turkey's own problems with Kurdish separatists – is likely to have been regarded in the Chinese foreign ministry as an opportunity to strengthen ties. China's diplomats were aided in this potentially tricky task by Ankara's own calculations following a series of diplomatic reversals that required a powerful, if indirect, response.

It is certain that Turkey's increasingly fraught relationship with the European Union, where a strong 'Gates of Vienna' tendency filters any efforts by Ankara to move closer to the European heartland while playing on atavistic memories of Muslim expansion, will have contributed to the decision of invite Chinese fighters to train in NATO airspace.

Similarly, the March 2010 vote by US legislators that agreed the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was genocide, coupled with Washington's failure to seriously censor Israel over its killing of nine ethnic Turks on the Gaza "aid flotilla" in May 2010, have convinced many in Turkey that their country occupies a lowly position in the US pantheon of allies.

Another, perhaps irresistible, motive for the invitation to the Chinese airmen may have been to emphasize the difference between Turkey and Greece. The parlous state of the Greek economy has left the country in the position of permanent mendicancy, most recently relying on China to buy its debt and finance its key shipping sector. Turkey's action, by contrast, demonstrated – if mainly to a domestic audience – the country's independence and sovereign parity with a major power.

China's motives for accepting a Turkish invitation to send its aircraft to Konya also reflects interests that have little to do with the location or significance of their host. While Beijing is now far more comfortable seeing its military deployed further from the country's self-determined core areas of interest, China's often cautious diplomats appear to be increasingly overruled or ignored by political and military factions who value the utility of such displays for a nationalistic domestic audience.

This mood was captured when the despatch of warships in January 2009 to the Gulf of Aden to take part in anti-piracy operations evoked official comparisons with the 15th century Admiral Zheng He's seven voyages to the Middle East and Africa.

The People's Liberation Army and Air Force also participated in the "Peace Mission 2010" series of military exercises conducted in September 2010 in Kazakhstan with military personnel from the other Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia. Although the ostensible purpose of the exercise was to test and coordinate joint counter-terrorist operations, in reality the 'Peace Mission' gave China a unique opportunity to deploy land and air units in strength beyond its borders.

According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, at least eight Chinese fighters, bombers, airborne early warning and tanker aircraft flew an unprecedented round trip from Urumqi in western China to an unnamed location in Kazakhstan, where they carried out practice air strikes. The aircraft that flew to Turkey must have taken a similar route, before heading south to Iranian airspace and on to Konya in Turkey.

More pressing, given the persistent tensions in the South China Sea between the US and China, the dramatic appearance of Chinese fighters maneuvering in a NATO country should also enliven the conversation between US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Chinese counterpart General Liang Guanglie when they meet in Hanoi at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference on 12 October.

Gavin M. Greenwood is a security consultant with the Hong Kong-based security risk management consultancy firm Allan & Associates.

http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?o ... Itemid=171

[insan]

Oct. 09 (China Military News cited from presstv.ir) -- US Army spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Tamara Parker said on Friday that the Chinese and Turkish air forces carried out a joint exercise from September 20 through October 4 at the Konya air base in Turkey's central Anatolia region, Reuters reported.

It is the first such military exercise involving Beijing and a NATO member country. Parker said that Turkey assured the US beforehand that it would take the "utmost care" to protect sensitive US and NATO technologies.

http://www.china-defense-mashup.com/?p=7248