The art of swerving and dodging (no, not by Tony Blair)

When I was lad back in Wales, I loved rugby. I still do in fact, though the structure of the game has changed so much, it is hard to retain that same feeling of watching players rise through the ranks, or have allegiance to a club or representative team whose name actually means something to me - I want to support a local team - not the name of some energy drink.

But I digress - back to my childhood in a Welsh mining village.

When it comes to my love of rugby, perhaps I should clarify that statement. I loved watching rugby but not playing it. When you are playing a sport and people keep yelling, "Run with the bloody ball you gormless prat" it is quite off putting - and that was just the teachers - or what pass as teachers in a country where as far as education is concerned, time stood still in 1801.

I was a great watcher but couldn't play the game to save my life - or even my street cred. I was good at fouling other players and that did gain me some respect from the PE teacher who also taught us how to put mud into an opponents eyes during set scrums.

However, things could have been so much different. Had I uprooted and told, "those who must be respected" exactly where they could stick their, "welcome in the hillside" that men in their compulsory navy blue Marks and Spencer blazers and silver rimmed glasses, are so keen on singing, I could have been a star player. Women would have been looking at me gooey-eyed asking for my autograph, assistants at a particular local shop would actually smile and notice a customer amongst their midst (to be fair, they do notice customers, they just don't let such inconveniences interrupt their conversations with other staff or friends).

Here in my suburb we have the perfect training ground for developing the skills of those who aspire to be heavily sponsored for running with a ball in their hands. The local shopping centre.

Over the last 18 years, I have become skilled at sidestepping kids on scooters, kids on skateboards, kids running around (and changing direction without warning) while Yummy-Mummy has quality bonding time with another Yummy-Mummy, over a cup of what is little more than instant coffee with an Italian name - most of which is contained in the saucer and not the cup.

So far none have managed to trip me, bowl me over or bring me crashing to the ground. A bit like the rest of my life actually. I can swivel my hips to get past these miniature obstacles without even blinking. It's a survival technique.

Another successful "swerve and dodge" training technique is provided by those who mistakenly believe they only need one hand to push a supermarket trolley along a footpath that slopes towards the road. They start of well, but it doesn't take long for the trolley to develop a mind of its own (which is more than can be said for many local councilors) and suddenly swing sideways leaving no room for others wishing to pass - or who wish to avoid being hit by an out of control metal trolley loaded with groceries.

I have yet to conduct research to establish this theory, but I believe the, "One Handed Trolley Pushers" are likely to be the same as those found inside the supermarkets, pushing full or empty trolleys away from themselves and towards the check-out or "empty trolley" rack, regardless of who or what is in the direct line of their target, (I have even seen mothers with prams doing this walking down the sloping footpaths).

An escalator also makes a perfect piece of training equipment - especially those going down. After surviving the journey without any sudden stops thrusting you unexpectedly forward, you reach the bottom only to find two old ladies standing right at the bottom nattering about last night's win at bingo. Will they move out of the way? Oh no. You are expected to swerve and dodge - so you better learn fast if you want to get off an escalator without bringing yourself and others crashing to the ground.

Then there are the male, polo shirted yuppies' (with the collar turned up) who spend most of their working day trying without success to explain their job titles to others, and who like to be noticed. What better way to be noticed than to stand with other polo-shirted yuppies, blocking the passage of others. Actually, I would like to block their passages and have informed a few of that fact. I must admit, in this example I don't practice my side step or avoidance technique, I just stand and stare such people down until they move with a muttered half-sincere apology. I call that "psychology training".

Finally, although perhaps not much use in the sporting arena, it is important in my suburb to develop skills that allow you to avoid those who stand directly behind others at shop counters. I can be standing at an empty counter 10 meters wide, and when I turn to leave, I immediately bump into some pillock who apparently is under the impression, that unless he or she is virtually standing on the back of my heels, they wont get served. Of course, it is never their fault - it is always the fault of the person focusing on getting served and making sure their order and change are correct.

In such cases I practice my communication skills, but I wont go into that!

Wherever you may be - be safe

Copyright Mike Hitchen Online, Lane Cove, NSW, Australia. All rights reserved

Africa: Gadhafi slams AU as behind-the-scenes battle for control came close to fisticuffs

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has stepped down as chairman of the 53-nation African Union, but not without firing a few verbal broadsides at the organization. Mr. Gadhafi chastised his fellow heads of state for refusing to go along with his plan for a "United States of Africa."

All was calm on the surface. Africa's heads of state went into a conference room and emerged 20 minutes later to say Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutarika would assume the rotating African Union chairmanship for the coming year. But that announcement hid a furious behind-the-scenes battle for control of the continental organization that witnesses say nearly broke out in fisticuffs the night before.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had hoped to stay on for a second term to see through his plan for greater political and economic unification. But after handing over the chairmanship to the Malawian leader, Mr. Gadhafi let loose his wrath in a farewell speech, criticizing his colleagues for a lack of political will. His remarks in Arabic were translated by an AU interpreter.

"I doubt we will be able to shoulder the responsibilities before us," he said. "I doubt we can achieve something concrete in the future, because frankly speaking my experience of the African Union, the political elites of our continent lack political awareness and hence the political determination."

Mr. Gadhafi called himself 'a soldier of Africa', and said he would continue his crusade to integrate the continent. He blasted the African Union for wasting time with long-winded speeches, resolutions and declarations while ignoring the changing world around it.

"African political elites are not interested in these changes that are occurring in the map of the world," he added. "The world is turning into seven or 10 countries and we are not even aware of that. We have the European Union that is becoming one singe country and it is done very seriously."

Mr. Gadhafi said if he had known how little power the AU chairman has, he would have refused to take the position.

The newly installed chairman, Malawi's President Mutarika, suggested he agreed with at least some of his predecessor's criticisms.

"The way forward is for the AU Assembly to recognize that Africa is not a poor continent, but the people of Africa are poor," he noted. "Let us reflect that Europe and the much of the Western world developed using wood, meat and fish from Africa, but Europe and the Western world did not develop through resolutions, and declarations. They took action - concrete action. So I appeal to you for action, action and more action."

The opening summit session also heard pleas for urgent attention to the continent's most pressing security challenges, Sudan and Somalia.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who attended a mini-summit on Sudan, said time is of the essence, with elections just three months away, and referenda to determine the future shape of Sudan in just under a year.

"First, we will seek to forge consensus among member states on the way forward," he said. "Second, we will continue to strengthen the U.N. presence on the ground. Third, we will promote discussions on key post-referendum issues. Fourth, we will build the capacity of South Sudanese institutions."

Mr. Ban also called for greater international support for Somalia's fragile transitional government, but indicated there are no immediate plans to establish a U.N. peacekeeping force in the failed Horn of Africa state.

African countries are instead being asked to contribute more troops to the AU force known as AMISOM. The force consists of 5,200 Burundian and Ugandan troops backing a beleaguered Somali army that has been unable to drive out well-financed insurgents believed to have close ties to al-Qaida.

Peter Heinlein Published with the permission of Voice of America

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Haiti: Haitian orphans attract both criminals and saviours

Members of a church group that tried to take Haitian children out of the country may have succumbed to an urge many humanitarian groups feel but resist, aid organizations say.

Ten American Baptists were scheduled to have a hearing today in the Haitian capital after trying to take 33 children out of Haiti at a time of growing fears over possible child trafficking.

The church members, most from Idaho, said they were trying to rescue abandoned and traumatized children even though they lacked the proper paperwork to do so.

"The instinct to swoop in and rescue children may be a natural impulse," Deb Barry, a child-protection expert with Save the Children, said in a statement Sunday. "The possibility of a child being mistakenly labeled an orphan in the chaotic aftermath of the disaster is incredibly high."

Instead of ferrying children out of Haiti, Save the Children and UNICEF say they're working to register children, including the 33 traveling with the Baptist group, to reunite family members who may be looking for one another.

The incident comes after Haiti's government halted adoptions over concern that parentless or lost children are more vulnerable than ever to child trafficking.

Social Affairs Minister Yves Cristallin said the Americans were suspected of taking part in an illegal adoption scheme.

The group said its "Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission" was an effort to save abandoned children from death by taking them to an orphanage across the border in the Dominican Republic. The church members were arrested Friday night on a bus traveling with earthquake survivors ages 2 months to 12 years.

"In this chaos the government is in right now, we were just trying to do the right thing," the group's spokeswoman, Laura Silsby, said at the judicial police headquarters in the capital where the Americans were being held. No charges had been filed.

"Just because it's a natural disaster doesn't mean you can cut corners under what is under normal circumstances a legal and well-thought-out process," Patrick McCormick of UNICEF said.

McCormick said his group always observes the "long and arduous process" of tracing family members after any natural disaster. United Nations guidelines recommend waiting at least two years before considering placing children with adoptive families.

The children, some of them sick and dehydrated, have been taken to an orphanage run by Austrian-based SOS Children's Villages, which was trying to find their parents or close relatives, SOS spokesman George Willeit said.

The Baptist group planned to put up 100 kids in Cabarete, a Dominican beach resort, at a 45-room hotel that the group was converting into an orphanage.

U.S. diplomats met with the detained Americans and gave them bug spray and rations, according to Sean Lankford of Meridian, whose wife and 18-year-old daughter were held. "There are allegations of child trafficking and that really couldn't be farther from the truth."

Pravda.Ru
USA Today has contributed to the report.

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US: “If you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear”

By Andrew Joad
1 February 2010
World Socialist Web Site

America’s secret prisons for undocumented immigrants

There are at least 186 secret detention centers maintained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) within the borders of the US, according to an article published in the Nation magazine in December. Drawing on a report by Amnesty International (AI) entitled “Jailed without Justice,” it estimates that 415,000 people have been held at these facilities, which are operated under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security as so-called “sub-field offices” of the ICE. Their purpose is to deny undocumented immigrants due process and any means by which they can effectively lobby for their rights.

“If you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear,” explained ICE Executive Director for the Office of State and Local Coordination James Pendergraph at an August 2008 police and sheriffs’ conference, according to the AI report.

In October 2009 an assistant to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano first revealed the existence of the secret prisons to the secretary, without making the locations public. The author of the December 16 article in the Nation, Jacqueline Stevens, obtained “a partial list” of the secret facilities from an ICE officer.

These prisons include unmarked rooms without beds, showers, toilets, or windows in office parks and commercial building spaces. Stevens reports that some 84 percent of persons arrested by ICE are at first “housed” in such sub-field offices.

For example, according to her article and Ahilan Arulanantham, director of Immigrants’ Rights and National Security at the ACLU of Southern California, an underground parking ramp at a federal building in Los Angeles is called B18 and houses up to 100 immigrants a day without any hygiene, medical, or legal services.

Legal professionals struggling to assist these people found captives chained together. They are continuously rotated between the below-ground parking ramp detention pen and locals jails, to which they are transported in unlabeled and windowless vans. This makes it extremely difficult to establish the identity or whereabouts of those being held. Relatives and attorneys have searched for family members for weeks and months to no avail.

In her article, Stevens reviews the case of Mark Lyttle, who has bipolar disorder and a learning disability. He was 31 years old when he was held at a Cary, North Carolina in an unmarked “sub-field” office in “an office park adjacent to gated communities, large artificial ponds and an Oxford University Press production plant.” He had been snatched out of “the medical misdemeanor section of a nearby prison” by ICE agents and spent his time in detention begging officials not to ship him to Mexico.

The ICE file from the FBI reportedly identified Lyttle as a US citizen. He was initially denied a hearing before an immigration judge, until he landed in Lumpkin, Georgia, where agents arranged for him to appear before the court. He had no legal representation and the judge, a former ICE prosecutor, “ignored Lyttle’s pleas … and signed his removal orders.” His panicked mother and two brothers searched the Cary area obituary columns before they discovered that he was spending Christmas in “a shelter for los deportados (the deported)” in Mexico.

Conditions in the secret jails described in the AI report bear similarity to many of the illegal detention facilities maintained by the US overseas. Indeed, an attorney working for a detained immigrant compared the jails and the treatment of his client to Washington’s program of extraordinary rendition. “Jailed without Justice” identifies at least 90 people who have died in these facilities either due to abuse suffered while in captivity or medical conditions that were left unattended.

The following incident, which had initially been reported in May 2008 by the Washington Post, was recounted in the AI report.

“Geovanny Garcia-Mejia, 27, from Honduras, died on March 18, 2006. He was detained at the Newton County Correctional Center in Texas. He had been placed in a medical unit, where he was found writing on the floor with his blood, internal records show. But he was returned to the jail’s general population after a psychologist wrote in his chart, ‘No idea why he is in suicide cell.’ He hanged himself 12 days later, on his 27th birthday. The local sheriff concluded that guards who should have been checking him every 15 minutes ‘made no rounds through the night...’”

Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, the Philippines and China are the top five countries of origin for immigrants trapped in the ICE’s detention pens. Officials take advantage of individuals’ lack of English-language skills in order to deny them due process and/or terrorize them into accepting deportation. The mental anguish created by the conditions of detention drives many to despair.

“Jailed without Justice” told the story of a 34-year-old Mexican woman arrested in front of her home and in the presence of her autistic three-year old, US-born son on a petty theft charge by local police. She was jailed for 24 days. She spoke no English, and while being interviewed by an ICE official, was urged to promptly accept deportation. In the course of her detention, fearing permanent separation from her family and loss of her child, she attempted to hang herself.

For family members, efforts to secure the release of their loved ones and fight deportation often entail huge expenditures. For example, AI reported the story of an Indian man who fled to the US in 1999 after being imprisoned and tortured several times for “political activities.” In 2006 the ICE detained him and demanded a $15,000 bond for his release. His wife arranged the payment with a bondsman while her husband applied for asylum. Upon his release, he appeared, as required, at all his immigration hearings for over two years. After his final hearing, at which he testified as to the details of his torture, the ICE re-arrested the man and hauled him before a second immigration judge, who demanded another bond payment of $80,000. The man’s family and friends tapped their credit cards and mortgaged their homes in order to fork over this sum.

Immigrant incarceration in the US has risen dramatically in the last ten years, from a “daily detention capacity” of 10,000 in 1996 to over 30,000 presently. The Obama administration has continued the policy of its predecessors in this regard. The rise in immigrant incarceration over the past 15 years has been so dramatic that authorities have had to contract out the process to some 350 county and state jails.

AI estimates that about 67 percent of incarcerated detainees are jailed in these facilities, with the remainder put in the secret immigration pens and facilities run by for-profit contractors, whose reimbursement is said to be between $60-$90 per person a day.

The running of these facilities is increasingly becoming a source of revenue for cash-strapped local governments. As noted in an article in the Denver Post last April, “El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa has tapped a new source of revenue: illegal immigrants.” The sheriff is leasing jail space to ICE for an average of 150 immigrants a night. He has sent some 17 of his deputies to Pendergraph’s departmental training school to learn how to “initiate deportations without waiting for federal agents.” ICE is reportedly paying $62.40 per night per immigrant, plus transport mileage, netting the jail 10 percent of its annual budget and El Paso County $3.6 million.

The conditions in immigrant detention centers are leading to mounting anger and desperate actions inside the facilities. On January 19, ICE detainees at the Varick Federal Detention Center in Lower Manhattan went on a hunger strike. According to the New York Times, a Jamaican detainee in one dorm at Varick reported that “all hell broke loose” at the facility, with inmates refusing to follow scheduling protocols and passing out fliers protesting detention policies and practices. An ICE SWAT team arrived and used pepper spray and beatings to put an end to the protest, which apparently was inspired by inmates finding out about similar protests occurring at other facilities. Some people were put in isolation, while others were moved to detention centers in other states. The Department of Homeland Security issued its customary denial of detainee abuse.

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Slavery: Poverty and Slavery of Native Americans

By Model Shootist Poverty and Slavery of Native Americans

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Sri Lanka: "I see no reason to celebrate the victory of a president whose military drive drove us into these camps"

As the results of Sri Lanka's first post-war presidential election poured in, the mood at Menik Farm, in the main government-run camp for the ethnic Tamil internally displaced (IDPs), in the northern town of Vavuniya, was sober.

Only 6,000 residents of the camp, home to some 118,000 IDPs, sought to register for the 27 January polls.

"We want an opportunity to rebuild our shattered lives," said a resident, Sellamma Vallimuttu. She recalled a time when the north was flourishing, with lush paddy fields, hectares of onion fields and unrestricted fishing.

Vallimuttu just wanted to gather her family around one hearth and lead a normal life. "Is that too much to ask for?"

"I see no reason to celebrate the victory of a president whose military drive drove us into these camps and made us war-displaced," said Selvathurai Arasaratnam, from the northern town of Settikulam, not far from Menik Farm.

But others saw a glimmer of hope that their concerns were being "politically prioritized" by the government.

Even Arasaratnam saw an opportunity to restore normality and economic development to the once prosperous region.

But with concerns far beyond electing a new president, the displaced want nothing more than to return home. The camps remain unhygienic and supplies irregular, they claim.

Kanagaratnam Kanagasabai, 22, told IRIN there were still sparks of militancy, which could resurface unless and until the political needs of the Tamil people were addressed.

Others hoped for a massive reconstruction effort and an economic drive that would raise the economic status of the north.

"Our children have been denied education for over six months. They have some ad hoc lessons within camps but is that education?" demanded an IDP, who refused to be named.

Hoping for change

"We had homes, employment, flourishing fields, and education for children, roads, electricity, transport, health and a political voice. We lost all that over the past years," said Arasaratnam.

Though clamouring to leave the camps, most of them do not have homes to return to - or the means to support family members, many of whom are now scattered.

Some displaced felt further deprived by the government's refusal to engage them in the development work taking place under the government's main northern rehabilitation programme, "Vadakkin Wasantham" or the Flourishing North.

Rishard Bathiudeen, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, agreed that the restrictions placed on IDPs' movement denied them an opportunity to be gainfully employed.

"But things will change soon," he told IRIN.

"We want to witness economic development. That's our primary need," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Mavai Senathiraja, noting that the richly endowed northeast should now experience rapid economic progress.

Low turnout

In Jaffna District - one of four districts in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province and politically the most important in the Tamil-majority north - only 18 percent of the displaced voted, a source from the Election Commissioner's Department told IRIN, despite special facilities being provided, including transport to voting centres.

What IDPs hope for is not just priority attention but a participatory process in rebuilding their homes and their lives, shattered by protracted military engagements and political neglect.

"For too long, we were bargaining chips, guinea pigs and marginalized. We would like to recommence living," IDP Subramaniyam said.

According to the Sri Lankan Election Commission Rajapaksa won 57 percent of the vote, while Sarath Fonseka, his main rival and former army commander, won 40 percent.

Some 70 percent of the country's 14 million eligible voters turned out to vote; however, turnout in Tamil areas in the north was less than 30 percent, the Independent Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, reported.

Disclaimer:This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
Photo: Copyright IRIN

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Mongolia: China sends aid to snow-hit Mongolia

Xinhua News Agency - China has sent disaster relief materials to Ulan Bator to help Mongolia combat extreme cold weather, a statement from the Information Office of China's Ministry of National Defense reports.

The 500 tonnes of rice and 180 tonnes of other relief items, including generators, quilts and food, were carried by six IIyushin IL-76 air freighters and trains, said the statement.

Chinese workers load emergency aid materials onto a transport plane at Zhengding International Airport in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 31, 2010.

Three military transport planes carrying some emergency aid materials flew to Mongolia on Sunday.

Mongolia is currently experiencing an extreme cold weather and heavy snow.

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Terrorist Spotlight: Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi

MURDER AND CONSPIRACY TO MURDER UNITED STATES NATIONALS AND UNITED STATES MILITARY PERSONNEL;

CONSPIRACY TO USE AND USING WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION;

DAMAGING AND DESTROYING GOVERNMENT PROPERTIES AND DEFENSE FACILITIES;

PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

Aliases: Jamal Muhsin Al-Tali, Abu Abdul Rahman Al-Badawi, Abu Abdul Rahman Al-Adani, Jamal Mohammad Ahmad Ali Al-Badawi, Jamal Mohammad Ahmad

DESCRIPTION

Dates of Birth Used: July 22, 1960; October 23, 1960; 1963
Hair: Black
Place of Birth: Al-Shargian, Makiris, Yemen
Eyes: Black
Height: Approximately 5'5"
Sex: Male
Weight: Approximately 175 pounds
Complexion: Olive
Build: Medium C
itizenship: Yemeni
Languages: Arabic
Scars and Marks: None known

Remarks: Al-Badawi may have facial hair.

Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi is wanted in connection with the October 12, 2000, bombing of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen. This attack resulted in the deaths of 17 American sailors. Al-Badawi was being held by Yemeni authorities in connection with the attack when he escaped from prison in April of 2003. Al-Badawi was recaptured in March of 2004, but again escaped Yemeni custody on February 3, 2006.

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.

FBI

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Saudi Arabia: Human rights unit planned

(MENAFN - Arab News) In an attempt to improve the image and performance of the Commission of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a human rights unit will be launched in cooperation with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR).

The director of the Legal Department of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Sheikh Khalid Al-Shafi, said in a statement on Sunday that the administration is building close ties with the HRC and the NSHR to address issues that may exist by the nature of fieldwork and directly address a number of crimes and violations.

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Philippines: Election security increased as more violence expected

Government of the Philippines - The Bureau of Public Information of ARMM reveals that the military expected Maguindanao to experience "more violence in the next three months" as election tension heats up in the province.

In a press dispatch, the BPI said that intense political rivalry, ?rido' or family feud, and lawless elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are expected to jeopardize peace and security in the province this election period, Lt. Col. Diosdado Carreon, 40th Infantry Battalion commander reported to other members of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) of Maguindanao, which is chaired by the OIC-Governor, Bai Nariman Ambolodto.

They are also taking into account the threat posed by armed groups loyal to the family of former Maguindanao Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan.

As in previous elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is placing most of the province's 36 municipalities on its watch list for election-related violence.

Carreon said they are stepping up efforts to neutralize all threats and ensure a smooth and peaceful election this May 2010.

The military and police force have already "identified and assessed" Maguindanao's hotspot areas. Military checkpoints are being put in place to see to the strict implementation of the Comelec gun ban.

Moreover, all security details of politicians have been ordered to report back to their original unit.

Ambolodto convened PPOC to see to the election security preparation in the province and ensure stability even as mounting tensions instigate more violence.

"Measures will be put in place to contain any election-related violence. We are persistent in trying to restore the province back to normal," Ambolodto said.

The province's joint security control center (JSCC), chaired by provincial election supervisor Estelita Orbase, has already been activated early last week to formulate and implement election security preparations.

Ambolodto has been appointed to take charge of the province after its former officials have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the November 23 gruesome massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, which left at least 57 people dead.

Maguindanao, the neighboring province of Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City are still under a state of emergency following the incident considered to be the worst election-related violence in the country.

Authorities have already secured more than 800 firearms and impounded 11 vehicles in relation to the massacre.

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China: Taiwan arms sale - China confused, outraged

By B.RAMAN
See also: www.southasiaanalysis.org

At a time when Chinese officials and non-Governmental analysts have been highly confused by the unusually strong line taken by Mrs.Hilary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, in support of Internet freedom in the wake of Google’s threat to stop censoring its search engine in China and its protests over alleged Chinese web snooping into the Google mail accounts of Chinese political dissidents and Tibetan and Uighur nationalists, they have been in for another shock by the decision of the administration of President Barack Obama to notify the Congress on January 29,2010, of its plans to sell a fresh package of arms to Taiwan in disregard of Chinese protests and sensitivities on the subject.

2. Mrs.Clinton’s strong statement on the question of Internet freedom has already given rise to Chinese allegations of the US reverting to its past policy of “information imperialism” and adopting double standards with regard to restrictions on the Internet in the interest of national security. As a result, earlier speculation and even expectations that the Chinese authorities and Google could reach a face-saving compromise to facilitate the continued operation of the Google in the Chinese market have been belied so far.

3. The continuing controversy over the Google was till now viewed by the Chinese authorities as an aberration and not as reflective of any change of policy by the Obama Administration towards China. However, the Administration’s notification to the Congress of its plan to sell to Taiwan US $ 6.4 billion worth of Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and minesweepers has come as a second surprise to Beijing. It is learnt that the Chinese authorities were aware for some time that the sale of this package was under the consideration of the Obama Administration, but were confident that after the smooth visit of Mr.Obama to China in November last and the importance attached by him to China’s role as an Asian power with stakes even in South Asia, he will not go ahead with the sale.

4. His surprise (to the Chinese) decision to go ahead with the sale has evoked strong resentment in official circles and has been strongly criticized by non-governmental analysts, who have accused him of being insincere and projected his decision as a wake-up call to China about the real Obama.

5.In its strong reaction within 24 hours of the notification, the Chinese Government has suspended (not cancelled) all military exchanges with the US. Mr.Qian Lihua, Director of the Foreign Affairs office of the Chinese Defence Ministry, lodged a strong protest with the US Defence Attache in Beijing. A press release issued by his office on the protest said: "The Chinese military expresses grave indignation and strongly condemns such a move to grossly interfere in China's internal affairs and harm China's national security interests. The Taiwan issue is related to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and concerns China's core interests. The US arms sales to Taiwan gravely violates the three joint communiques between China and the United States, and seriously endangers China's national security and harms China's reunification course. Such a move also constitutes severe violation of the agreements reached by the top leaders of both sides on the China-US relations in the new situation. It runs counter to the principles of the joint statement issued during US President Barack Obama's visit to China in November last year.”

6. A strong commentary on the US notification by the “China Daily” published on January 31,2010, said: “ The latest US arms sale to Taiwan has once again come up as a wake-up call. It cannot but let us be clear that in a world where the law of the jungle still prevails, China, like any other developing country, cannot remain aloof from bullies. It is painful to come to such reality. The feeling gripped us when our embassy was bombed in Belgrade; when our ace pilot was knocked down into the sea by a spy plane at door step. It is gripping us now….
More than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, the US is still bent on integrating Taiwan into the American defense strategy in Asia, and still dreaming of using the island as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" to contain the growth of China. Forget about the pledge that "the United States does not seek to contain China" made by Mr Barack Obama when he was in Beijing just two months ago. Sincerity is subject to proof by action, not by words….China's response, no matter how vehement, is justified. No country worthy of respect can sit idle while its national security is endangered and core interests damaged. When someone spits on you, you have to get back. Compared with the US, China is still weak, both economically and militarily.

The counter-measures that China has taken -- ranging from repeated protests to plans to halt military exchanges and punish US companies involved in the arms sale, may not be forceful enough to make Washington smart and mend its ways. But a message has to be sent: From now on, the US shall not expect cooperation from China on a wide range of major regional and international issues. If you don't care about our interests, why should we care about yours? China must never waver to make sure that it means what it says.”

7. The Chinese have also been surprised by indications from Washington DC that Mr.Obama intended meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama at a convenient time. He had avoided meeting His Holiness during his last visit to the US which came shortly before Mr.Obama’s visit to China.

8. Chinese analysts are confused as to why this sudden change in the policies of Mr.Obama on two issues----Taiwan and Tibet--- which are among the core concerns of China. Barring what the US viewed as China’s unhelpful stance at the recent Copenhagen summit on climate and Beijing’s dispute with Google, the relations between the two countries have been proceeding smoothly and the Chinese, in Beijing’s perception, have been co-operating with the US in its efforts to stabilize the global economy.

9. Even presuming that the Obama Administration might have been unhappy over the Chinese role in Copenhagen, its dispute with Google over web snooping, its failure to exercise sufficient pressure on North Korea to return to talks on the nuclear issue and its opposition to robust sanctions against Iran, would that be sufficient cause to go ahead with the arms sale to Taiwan at the risk of serious damage to Sino-US relations? That is a question to which the Chinese have not yet been able to find an answer. (31-1-10)

The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies.

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Cyprus: UN chief arrives to hasten reunification talks

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today praised the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders for the significant progress made under United Nations-backed talks on reunifying Cyprus, as he arrived on the Mediterranean island for the first time.

In 2008 Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat committed to establishing a federal government with a single international personality, along with a Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and a Greek Cypriot Constituent State, each of equal status.

“I am under no illusions that the Cyprus problem is easy to solve, or about the difficulties that you face,” Mr. Ban said on his arrival at Larnaca Airport. “At the same time, I am confident that a solution is possible and within reach.”

In December, the Security Council extended by six months the mandate UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP), which was set up in 1964 to prevent further fighting between the communities. After hostilities erupted again in 1974, its responsibilities were expanded to supervise ceasefire lines, maintain a buffer zone and undertake humanitarian activities.

Mr. Ban said he was impressed by the time and energy invested by the two leaders over the past 16 months during the fully-fledged negotiations on reunification of the island.

“I am pleased by the significant progress that has been achieved recently on governance and power-sharing,” he said in remarks commending the efforts of Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat.

“I am here to encourage the two leaders to bring these talks to a successful conclusion,” he said, noting that reaching a “mutually acceptable solution will require courage, flexibility and vision, as well as a spirit of compromise.

“You are the ones driving the process and the ones who will benefit from the tremendous benefits and opportunities a settlement would bring to this island,” said Mr. Ban.

During his three-day visit to Cyprus, Mr. Ban is slated to hold discussions with Alexander Downer, his Special Adviser for Cyprus, as well as with Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat.

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Advertising: Made in China or Swiss made?

Advertising that a toy is made in China can be as successful as saying a watch is "Swiss Made", if the marketing is done right, a Queensland University of Technology researcher says.

Professor Brett Martin found that promoting a product's country of manufacture could help it to sell, even if it was made in a country associated with lower quality.

"It is standard advertising practice to market a product's country of origin if the country is perceived as a high quality producer and not mention the country if it is not," Professor Martin said.

"However, my research has found consumers can easily be persuaded to think positively about a 'low quality' country."

Professor Martin said the trick was to get consumers to imagine positive thoughts when reading product information.

"This is because getting people to use their imagination weakens the stereotypes people use about goods from different countries," he said.

His study tested 516 young adults after they viewed product information for digital cameras made in Germany, which is seen as a manufacturer of high quality products, and Poland, which is regarded as a maker of lower quality products.

Measuring their purchase intentions and emotions, the study found that sparking the consumers' imaginations about Poland created a lasting positive response towards the Polish-made camera which equalled the positive response felt towards the German-made camera.

"These findings form an interesting consideration for marketers," he said.

"Having a strong country of manufacture can be effective for advertising, but if you get people to imagine how good a supposedly weaker country is, the advantage for the high quality country drops substantially.

"This is because many people form a quick impression when they find out where a product is from, like a t-shirt from Hawaii.

"Getting them to imagine the islands' great beaches and surf culture interrupts that thinking and lets a product sell on its merits, rather than being dismissed without consideration."

Professor Martin said his research which is forthcoming in the Journal of Consumer Behaviour meant companies which manufactured their products in countries associated with lower quality should rethink their marketing strategies and not just compete on price.

He said that a strong country of manufacture was not necessarily the great advantage that many advertisers think and cautioned against resting on the laurels of a country's good reputation.

Source: Queensland University of Technology

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