Monitor The Strategic Trends

Introduction:

China has climbed from an isolated backward country into one with a growing influence capable of becoming a superpower rivaling the United States.

In recent years, China has bought, borrowed, or stolen technology, which has catapulted its military capabilities into the modern high-tech arena. No one can match China for sheer numbers of people, and now it can challenge most of the world in technological achievements. The Clinton administration blindly sold sensitive technology to China and reportedly received campaign financing in return.

The human rights abuses have received less attention lately as various foreign leaders flock to pay state visits to the country and give little or no condemnation of China's human rights record. It seems that it is more important to placate than to demand reform. In the meanwhile, forced abortions and sterilization continue to be state policy, and political and religious persecution continues unchecked.

The "red dragon" no longer sleeps. It is already anticipating a war with the United States in the next decade or so and may one day prove to be a mighty adversary for anyone who gets in the way.

Just as China has emerged as a mass manufacturer, India is emerging as a giant in services. Technical and managerial strengths in both China and India are becoming more important that cheap assembly labor. And, their relative strengths are complementary, not competitive. For example, China has excelled in mass manufacturing, with multi-billion-dollar electronics and heavy industrial plants; India has specialized in software, design, services, and precision industry. Their efficiency in back-office processing alone is legendary and outsourcing such work is expected to quadruple by 2010 to over $56 billion per year!

These two emerging giants will transform the entire global economy. China and India account for one-third of the worlds population. For the past two decades, China has been growing at 9.5% per year, and India at 6% per year.Both are projected to continue at an annual rate of 7-8% for at least the next ten years. By mid-century, China should overtake the U.S. as #1. Together, China and India could account for almost half of the total global output.

Indias younger workforce will give it a chance to catch up to China. Due to its one-child policy, Chinas working age population will peak at 1 billion in 2015 and then shrink steadily. India has nearly 500 million people (twice the population of the U.S.) under the age of 19 and higher fertility rates. By mid-century, India is expected to have 1.6 billion people, 220 million more workers than China.

The Chinese Yuan And A One-World Currency April 10, 2012

China's One-Child Policy Gets A Face Lift February 28, 2012

A Dim Gleam In North Korea's Future? December 20, 2011

American - Chinese Chess Match in Asian Affairs November 29, 2011

Beaming Into North Korea September 06, 2011

China Slopping In The Mud June 21, 2011

Strategic Update: 2010 and Beyond - China by Mary Miller, Director of Research

China Update, Part 3: Communism in China by Mary Miller, Koinonia Institute

China Update, Part 2: Economics in China by Mary Miller, Koinonia Institute

China Update, Part 1: Religion in China by Chuck Missler

Kings of the East, Part 2 The Rise of India by Chuck Missler

The Centroid Continues Westward: The Kings of the East by Chuck Missler

The Rise of Asia: An Overlooked "King of the East"? by Chuck Missler

Energy Wars: The Coming Crunch by Chuck Missler

What's Really Going On? U.S. - China Relations by Carol Loeffler

From Our Private Modem: Feeding the Dragon? by Chuck Missler

News Sources

NEW! Blind Chinese Dissident to Study in US - Hillary Clinton's intervention ultimately resulted in an arrangement to allow blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng to study at New York University but not to seek asylum, which the Chinese considered an affront. Under terms that have not been disclosed, Mr. Chen is expected to leave the US Embassy in Beijing in days. The outcome, said several officials who recounted the story, reflected a maturing relationship now able to weather a fraught diplomatic entanglement. The officials would discuss diplomatic talks only on the condition of anonymity.

Pro-Abortion Groups Mum On China's Forced Abortions - Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng was reportedly pressured to leave the US Embassy in China where he had been seeking refuge and accept a deal struck by the United States and the Chinese government. Chen became a target of Chinese government after repeatedly exposing the forced abortions and forced sterilizations taking place under the One Child Policy. The Chinese government had threatened to kill Chen's wife and family members if Chen did not vacate the embassy and accept the deal. The case of Chen Guangcheng has sparked international outcry. However, there are some groups in the United States that remain conspicuously silent on the issue. Groups like Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America and NOW, which purport to support women's rights have remained silent on Chen and his activism on behalf of the women of China faced with the forced abortions of their children.

China Launches Two Satellites With One Rocket - China successfully launched two satellites into space for its Beidou global navigation and positioning network, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. The Beidou-2 satellites were lifted into space by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and have entered the scheduled orbit. It is the first time China has launched two navigation satellites, the 12th and 13th of its indigenous global navigation and positioning network, with one rocket.

20 Thousand North Koreans Die of Starvation Since December - While lavish celebrations were being held to mark the centenary of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung's birth, a great number of people across the country are literally starving to death. More than 20,000 North Koreans in South Hwanghae province have died of starvation since former leader Kim Jong-il's death in December last year, according to the Japanese daily Tokyo Shimbun. The paper added that the North's new leader Kim Jung-un has recently instructed authorities to distribute rice from military rations to the hunger-stricken residents.

China's Competitive Self Destruction - Over 50 Chinese cities are sinking into the ground because of the continuous subsidence of the soil. The excessive consumption of ground water is to blame. As its result, under many Chinese cities, including Beijing, the world's largest underground funnels have formed. But there are other environmental problems in the country. In China lakes are evaporating, rivers are drying out, 75 percent of forests have been logged. Because of the destruction of the topsoil the land turns into desert sand that invades cities and even neighboring countries. The country is paying for the unprecedented pace of economic development and a passion for unbridled consumption...

China's Next-In-Line Meets With U.S. Congressional Leaders - China's presumptive next leader, Xi Jinping, met with U.S. congressional leaders Wednesday, the third day of a high profile visit that could influence relations between the two world powers for years to come. For his part, Xi said the main purpose of his visit was to work to strengthen U.S.-Chinese relations and build a "cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interests." He also said he hoped to engage with a broad section of the American people. But beneath the carefully choreographed presentation of the high-profile meetings lies a range of contentious issues on which Xi has little incentive to give ground, including trade, human rights and China's growing military presence.

China Deepens Energy Partnership With Arab States - As the world's biggest energy consumer, China's roaring appetite for stable oil and gas supplies is driving its Gulf push — a relationship made clearer last month when Premier Wen Jiabao traveled to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In Saudi Arabia, Wen specifically called for the two countries to "deepen their energy partnership" and increase trade in oil and gas. State oil giant Saudi Aramco and Chinese refiner Sinopec just finalized plans to jointly build a refinery in the Red Sea city of Yanbu capable of handling 400,000 barrels of oil a day. The two companies and Exxon Mobil Corp. are already partners in a refinery in eastern China. Nearby Iran was not on Wen's January itinerary even though China remains Iran's trop crude oil buyer and its powerful state energy companies have rights to exploit untapped Iranian oil reserves.

Russia Seeking Closer Ties With China - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese leaders opened two days of meetings Tuesday aimed at boosting relations amid strains over declining military sales and stalled talks over energy deals. Besides a struggle to increase trade and agree on sales of Russian gas to fuel China's booming economy, Moscow is also unhappy with China's copying of Russian fighter jets and other military hardware and recently announced the arrest of a Chinese man accused of seeking to buy military secrets. Putin's two-day visit follows his recent announcement that he plans to swap jobs next year with President Dmitry Medvedev. Many observers say that transition could see Russia turn eastward after years of warming ties with the West under Medvedev.

China Not Pleased With US Senate Currency Manipulation Bill - China expressed strong objections on Tuesday to a bill in the United States Senate that would threaten to impose higher tariffs on some Chinese goods over its currency policies. The tariffs would be in retaliation for what some American lawmakers and economists say is a Chinese policy of keeping its currency artificially depressed, to give its exports a price advantage. The Senate voted 79 to 19 on Monday to open debate on the bill, which would require the Treasury Department to determine whether China is manipulating its currency, and then order the Commerce Department to impose tariffs on certain Chinese goods as a punitive countermeasure.

US Wants China To Stop Undervaluing Its Currency - The Senate will move forward next week on legislation that aims to encourage China to raise the value of its currency as a way to strengthen the U.S. job market. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate will take up the bi-partisan currency legislation next week, and that he feels "very comfortable" it will be passed. The Senate bill would require the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate if a country is undervaluing its currency, which would be regarded as a government subsidy under U.S. law. Affected U.S. companies would then be allowed to seek retaliatory tariffs on goods imported from the country.

Blind Forced Abortion Opponent Headed To Personal Prison - Blind forced abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng and his wife, Yuan Weijing, will be transferred to a small prison built specifically for them, according to a Radio Free Asia report. They will be separated from their five-year-old daughter in the move. Their young son, living with relatives, was reportedly strip-searched leaving the family home. Chen was arrested in 2006 for exposing evidence that 130,000 forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations were performed on women in Linyi County, Shandong Province in a single year.

Burmese Lives Ruined In Thailand - Ye worked for eight months on one boat. He was never paid for his work and forbidden to keep any cash of his own. Compared to Burma, whose government is often damned as repressive, he felt Thailand was even more like a prison. Once a worker boards a fishing boat, he said, there was often no escape. Finally, however, Ye was able to escape. He said he could never forgive the captain. He wanted all Burmese thinking of coming to Thailand to hear his story, so they could be spared the same fate. Sanda, a Christian Chin woman, was trafficked by a Mon couple to work at a construction site in Thailand, only to find herself working without pay in the fishing industry and sexually enslaved. "There is no law here," Sanda said. She does not want any more Burmese people to come to the Kingdom and suffer as she has.

Vietnamese Christians Savagely Beaten - Sixteen men and women were severely beaten in a police attack against indigenous minority Christians in the central highlands of Vietnam this July. The youngest victim was a 13-year-old girl. Vietnam has a long-standing practice of harassing and arresting Christians who are unaffiliated with the government-sanctioned religious bodies in the nation. According to Scott Johnson, with the Montagnard Foundation, "The Vietnamese government has targeted indigenous Degar Montagnards for simply being members of Christian house churches in a long running policy designed to eliminate independent Christian house churches. Hundreds of Degar Montagnards remain in prison today, and in custody many prisoners are brutally tortured and even killed."

Biden Not 'Second-Guessing' China's One-Child Policy - "But as I was talking to some of your leaders, you share a similar concern here in China. You have no safety net," US Vice President Joe Biden said in prepared remarks. "Your policy has been one which I fully understand - I'm not second-guessing - of one child per family. The result being that you're in a position where one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people. Not sustainable." China's one-child policy has stirred global controversy since it was implemented, as it has resulted in massive campaigns of forced abortions and sterilizations, fines for families violating the rule, sentences to prison and forced labor camps for violators and their families who shelter them from government officials, home detention, loss of jobs or government benefits, beatings and other human rights abuses.

Biden Off To Talk Economics With China - US Vice President Joe Biden is flying to China for talks likely to focus on the economy after the downgrading of US debt and ensuing market turmoil. China is the US government's biggest foreign creditor, holding $1 trillion of debt, and has called on it to do more to reduce its budget deficit. Officials say Mr Biden will explain the finer points of a "very strong deficit reduction package" agreed by Congress. China's state-run media was scathing over the recent political showdown in the US over how to increase the debt ceiling and avert a financial default. State media criticised the US "addiction to debt", calling it irresponsible and demanding that America live within its means.

North Korea Nosediving Says Korean Journalist - The head of a leading news service covering North Korea is predicting that the ruling communist regime is headed for the dustbin of history - and soon. "North Korea will collapse, of course, but the question is how long it might take," Park In-ho, president of the Seoul-based Daily NK, told The Washington Times. His confidence stems from the North Korean regime's plunging popular support, its lack of funds and its loss of diplomatic support - including from former sponsor China.

US Invites North Korea To Resume Nuclear Talks - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday that the U.S. had invited a top North Korean envoy to New York to talk about ways to resume long-stalled talks aimed at halting North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons. The U.S. invitation to the North came after senior diplomats from North and South Korea met Friday on the sidelines of a regional meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations here and pledged to try to return to the so-called six-party talks, which also involve China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

Kings of the East - MP3 Download - Chuck Missler What are the prophetic implications of the King's of the East and their rise as a world superpower? Click for more information - MP3 Download