Northeast Asia Geostrategic Forum

[TaiShang]

Cross-strait talks end in agreement
October 15, 2015

The director of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun, yesterday urged the Chinese mainland and Taiwan to choose the right path for development of cross-Strait relations.

Zhang was speaking during a meeting with Taiwan's cross-Strait affairs chief Andrew Hsia in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.

Zhang said both sides of the Strait should consider public opinion and take the need to realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation into account when making decisions.

The director of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun (R) shakes hands with Taiwan's cross-Strait affairs chief Andrew Hsia in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province on October 14. [Photo / Xinhua]


He said the mainland and Taiwan are inseparable and share a common destiny.

He called on both sides to adhere to the political basis of upholding the "1992 Consensus" and oppose "Taiwan independence," to get over difficulties and make joint efforts for the Chinese nation's renewal and people's happiness.

He said the cross-Strait situation had experienced some choppy times and even reached a perilous brink at one point but, since 2008, both sides had managed to steer cross-Strait ties toward the direction of peaceful development, yielding fruitful achievements and bringing about practical benefits for the public. "It has been proven that the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties is a right path and it has been endorsed by the public on both sides and welcomed by the international community," he said.

Hsia said the achievements over the last seven years in cross-Strait development must be cherished and protected, noting that the "1992 Consensus" was the foundation for normal exchanges between Taiwan and the mainland.

The core of the "1992 Consensus" is the acknowledgment that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China.

Some of the problems existing between the two sides may not be solved in a day, but require both sides to be realistic, accumulate consensus and use rational thinking, patience and perseverance, Hsia said.

He said that despite some outside opinions and guesses on the prospect of cross-Strait ties, the majority of people in Taiwan entertain the hope for peace and prosperity across the Strait.

"I believe it is also the common wish of all relevant parties in this region," he added.

Hsia called on both sides to continue cross-Strait institutional consultations and strengthen exchanges.

The two sides agreed that the mainland and Taiwan should continue communication between their cross-Strait affairs agencies in multiple forms and improve efficiency in handling cross-Strait issues.

They also agreed that the two sides should carry on the negotiations of further cross-Strait agreements including those regarding a pact on trade in goods and one on environmental protection.

They also pledged to create a more fair and effective investment environment to boost investor confidence, work for the earlier implementation of existing agreements on service trade, taxation and air safety, improve cross-Strait tourism and promote cross-Strait exchanges for youth, culture and education.

At a press conference held after yesterday's meeting, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, stressed the importance of adhering to the "1992 Consensus" in cross-Strait development.

 

[opruh]

Good news, another one that will break the hearts of those delusional japanese who thinks that Chinese-Taipei and japan have a closer relationship

 

[TaiShang]

Taiwan flight-transfer talks continue
October 15, 2015

Authorities from the mainland and Taiwan have yet to reach a consensus on an agreement on allowing air passengers from the mainland to transfer in Taiwan, after a fourth meeting between senior leaders from both sides on Wednesday.

"We hope an agreement on allowing mainland people traveling overseas via Taiwan would take effect by the end of this year. But a consensus is yet to be reached because both sides need to optimize details of the agreement," said Andrew Hsia, Taiwan's mainland affairs chief. He did not elaborate on such details.

Taiwan's mainland affairs chief, Andrew Hsia, visits the Huanghuagang Mausoleum of the 72 Martyrs in Guangzhou on Wednesday during a trip for a meeting on allowing mainland air passengers to transfer in Taiwan. [Photo / China Daily]

Hsia made the remarks on Wednesday after a work meeting in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, with his mainland counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

Hsia said: "Allowing mainland passengers to transfer in Taiwan will be very helpful to boosting the service industry in Taiwan. It would also benefit mainland air passengers, as it will take less time to travel overseas via Taiwan airports."

Airports in Taiwan have upgraded facilities and optimized international air routes in preparation for launching the service, Hsia said.

In addition to meeting with Zhang, Hsia visited some Guangzhou landmarks, including Sun Yat-sen University, the Huanghuagang Mausoleum of the 72 Martyrs, and the Memorial Museum of Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen Mansion. Sun (1866-1925) was the founder and first provisional president of the Republic of China (1912-49).

Hsia will also pay a visit on Thursday to Dongguan, a manufacturing city neighboring Guangzhou, where a large number of Taiwan-invested businesses are located, and will talk with Taiwan businesspeople.

During the meeting on Wednesday, the two sides discussed aspects of cross-Straits relations including the strengthening of regional economic cooperation, exchanges among grassroots people, environmental protection and commodities trade.

Zhang, the mainland's Taiwan affairs chief, said questions on cross-Straits relations should be better negotiated in accordance with the 1992 Consensus and opposition to Taiwan "independence".

"Both sides agreed to maintain a regular communication mechanism to better discuss issues on cross-Straits relations," Zhang said.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the authorities would not introduce measures to stop people from the mainland from visiting Taiwan in the near future. "We have not learned of any sources … which will prevent mainland visitors to Taiwan before elections in Taiwan," said Ma.

According to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, more than 9.41 million people made trips between the mainland and Taiwan last year-a record high and a year-on-year increase of 16.52 percent.

Additionally, the number of tourists from the mainland who visited Taiwan soared to 3.22 million last year, a year-on-year increase of 47 percent, it said. The meeting in Guangzhou was the fourth round between the two sides since last year, and insiders said it would be helpful to strengthen dialogue toward a peaceful development of cross-Straits relations in the future.

"The meeting is of great political significance to a peaceful development of the cross-Straits relationship, sending a signal of strengthening ties by maintaining a regular communication mechanism after a new government is elected in Taiwan within half a year," said Zhu Songling, a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Beijing Union University.

***

 

[Raphael]

Dream team: Russia's GLONASS & China's BeiDou to make satnav system parts together — RT News

China's BeiDou navigation satellite system, which reportedly boasts accuracy to the centimeter, and Russia's GLONASS, hailed as the only global rival to GPS, plan to join forces and build a production facility.
The news was broken by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who spoke in Harbin, the capital of the northeast Chinese province of Heilongjiang. He added that it is planned that the facility for production of receiver modules and chipsets will be based in Russia.

According to the Xinhua news agency, China began to build the BeiDou satellite navigation system in 1994, two decades after the US developed GPS. China is the third country to have an independent satellite navigation and positioning system, after the US and Russia.

BeiDou now has about 20 satellites that ensure positioning to an accuracy of 10 meters, which is set to get even better with the introduction of next generation satellites. With the help of ground-based facilities, the positioning precision of BeiDou is now accurate to the centimeter, according to Xinhua.

Long March 3C, carrying the 6th Beidou navigational satellite, lifts off from the launch pad at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, November 1, 2010. © Reuters
Yang Hui, Beidou’s chief designer, pledged in September that the next generation of the satellite navigation system will rival the next generation of GPS in terms of precision.

Moscow has been developing GLONASS since 1976, with full global coverage enabled in 1995. The system currently comprises nearly 30 satellites, including 24 operational spacecraft, three spares, and one platform in the flight-testing phase. There are 19 ground stations providing consumers with a navigation signal with an accuracy of one meter. Three stations are also located in the Antarctic and one in Brazil, with two more to be constructed in Kazakhstan and one in Belarus.

Russia is likely to sign a rocket engine delivery agreement with China in mid-December, during Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Beijing.

"We are talking about an agreement to deliver Russian rocket engines to China, as well as counter deliveries of Chinese microelectronics we need in spacecraft development," Deputy PM Rogozin told journalists.

China’s rapidly developing space program has recently raised the alarm for the US, with the Pentagon saying in a report to Congress earlier this year that Beijing's space activities allegedly consist of testing new anti-space technologies.

READ MORE: China fast builds ‘counter-space’ capabilities to counter US satellites, Pentagon warns

While acquiring new space assets of its own, China is developing “a variety of capabilities designed to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by adversaries during a crisis or conflict, including the development of directed-energy weapons and satellite jammers,” the report warned.

China has denied developing any counter-satellite technologies whatsoever.

 

[TaiShang]

Without any doubt, China and Russia have been the most dynamic strategic duo in present day. This is a very significant move as a starter. I am hoping for a more dynamic and integrated interaction between BeiDou and Glonass to create an entire navigation eco-system to ensure national security, assist partners (as Russia does in Syria and Iraq) and also make profit.

 

[Raphael]

China-Russia financial alliance established | gbtimes.com

An alliance of 35 Russian and Chinese financial institutions was established on Thursday in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, to better serve cross-border financial activities.

The China-Russia Financial Council, initiated by Harbin Bank, a private commercial bank, and Sberbank of Russia, the largest bank in the country, will promote cross-border trade, said Sun Yao, vice governor of Heilongjiang Province, at the inaugural ceremony for the organisation.

Consisting of 17 Russian financial institutions and 18 Chinese counterparts, ranging from privately-owned commercial banks and insurance companies, the Council offers participants a platform for communication, discussion and information exchange. It will improve the local currency settlement mechanism, support credit business and capital raising and promote new industries such as cross-border e-commerce, said Sergei Tsyplakov, chief representative of Sberbank of Russia.

Heilongjiang shares a 3,000-km border with Russia. China remained Russia's largest trade partner for the fifth year in 2014, while Russia is China's ninth-largest trade partner. Bilateral trade rose 6.8 percent from the previous year to a record high of 95.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2014. Twenty years ago, it was less than 7 billion dollars.

 

[TaiShang]

The most important strategic partnership of the time.



Russia, China grow closer as tensions with USA increase
Special for USA TODAY1:33 p.m. EDT October 21, 2015


BEIJING — In the latest sign of warming ties between Moscow and Beijing, the Russian Orthodox Church ordained its first Chinese priest in 60 years.

The rare move in the area of religion underscores how the two nations have moved closer at a time when each faces growing friction with the United States.

Yu Shi, a former banker also known as Aleksandr from the northeastern city of Harbin, took his vows at a ceremony in a church in St. Petersburg, Russia, this month following three years of training in a seminary there, church spokesman Dmitry Petrovsky told USA TODAY.

Petrovsky said Yu’s ordination was carried out with the full knowledge of China’s authorities and that Yu would be allowed to work in the mainland when he completes his education.

“He will serve in the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Harbin,” Petrovsky said. China’s Religious Affairs Bureau declined to comment.

The ordination follows major deals signed by Russia and China on gas, aerospace and infrastructure in the last two years, as they find a common interest in opposing American hegemony in world affairs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping also appear to enjoy a good personal relationship, having met over a dozen times in the last three years.

 

[TaiShang]

China, Russia, Mongolia boost cross-border tourism
October 26, 2015

China, Russia and Mongolia have signed a string of cross-border tourism cooperation agreements as part of the efforts to push the construction of the economic corridor among the three countries.

The ten cooperation projects, worth 1.4 billion yuan (220 million U.S. dollars), were signed by government authorities and enterprises during the first China-Mongolia Expo which opened in Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Friday.

They include cross-border tourism route development, tourism personnel training as well as hotel and resort zone construction. The trilateral cooperation involves a tourism route which links Hohhot, Ulaan Baatar, Ulan-Ude and Irkutsk.

"Cross-border tourism is an important part and platform of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor," said Wei Guonan, head of the Inner Mongolia Tourism Administration.

In 2014, Inner Mongolia received 810,000 tourists from Mongolia and 630,000 from Russia, statistics with the administration show.

 

[TaiShang]

© TASS/Alexandr Sherbak

Over 800,000 Chinese tourists expected in Russia in 2015

ASTRAKHAN, October 28. /TASS/. Some 2.5 million tourists from China visited Russia in 2015, and their number is expected to triple by 2020, a deputy head of the Federal Agency for Tourism said on Wednesday.

Roman Skory said the incoming tourist flow to Russia has grown by five percent in the first half of 2015, adding that most tourists were arriving from China, Germany and the United States.

The Federal Agency for Tourism earlier announced plans to open offices abroad to attract potential tourists.

The agency’s deputy head, Sergey Korneyev, said travelling to Russia is now profitable for tourists due to low ruble exchange course.

 

[TaiShang]

China, Russia to restructure trade to tackle slumps
November 11, 2015

China and Russia will adjust their trade structure and deepen economic cooperation to revive bilateral trade after sharp declines amid the gloomy global climate.

The two sides have agreed to jointly take action to promote steady development of economic and trade relations by expanding bilateral trade, expanding market access, deepening local cooperation and reinforcing multilateral and regional coordination, according to a ministerial meeting held here on Tuesday.

Chilled by feeble global economic recovery and commodity price volatility, companies from the two countries have been confronted with difficulties since earlier this year. Bilateral trade volume tumbled nearly 30 percent year on year to 55.91 billion U.S. dollars in the first ten months, customs data showed.

At the meeting, China's Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said the slumps prompt the two sides to accelerate trade restructuring and cooperation transformation.

The two countries can focus on cooperation in high technologies, clean energy, modern agriculture, equipment manufacturing and the development of the Far East, and step up efforts to implement strategic projects, Gao said.

Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukaev said Russia will work with China to improve trade structure, boost exports of electromechanical products, high-tech merchandise and farm produce and encourage mutual investment and economic and technological cooperation.

Mainly affected by external headwind, the trade slumps should be temporary, Ulyukaev added.

Both major economies, China and Russia have seen closer ties and booming trade and investment after rapid growth of cooperation over more than 20 years. Leaders of the two countries have held multiple talks to further economic cooperation since the start of 2015.

Gao said the two sides will push forward cooperation between the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Eurasian Economic Union and strengthen coordination in multilateral organizations.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev are scheduled to meet in December to discuss economic and trade cooperation.

 

[TaiShang]

China Could Become a Stakeholder in Russia's State Oil Giant

Russian Economic Development Minister has said Moscow is ready to sell 19.5 percent of its shares in Rosneft in 2016 - including to China

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Chinese oil companies could take part in the privatization of the Russian oil giant Rosneft if the government offered attractive prices for the state-held assets, experts told Sputnik.

According to Kirill Tachennikov, a senior oil and gas analyst with BCS Financial Group, Moscow would allow Chinese businesses to purchase shares in Rosneft.

“Chinese companies may be admitted to the privatization. Rosneft has already been selling stakes in its subsidiaries to Chinese investors,” Tachennikov told Sputnik.

He added that Chinese interest in purchasing Rosneft shares would largely depend on the share price offered by Moscow.
“Given that the number of potential buyers of this stake is limited due to the sanctions regime, I doubt that the price of $8.12 per share will seem attractive to the Chinese side,” Tachennikov pointed out.

According to an order signed in November 2014 by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the Rosneft shares to be privatized cannot be sold for anything less than the initial public offering (IPO) of $8.12 per share. Rosneft's current share price is just above $4, due largely to the current weakness of the ruble.

Ildar Davletshin, an oil & gas analyst with Renaissance Capital investment banking firm, also believes that the share price of $8.12 is unlikely to draw interest from buyers.

“In terms of dividends, buying shares for $8.12 bodes a very low yield. I think the Chinese will demand that the price be decreased,” Davletshin told Sputnik, adding that the Russian side could attempt to attract Chinese partners by offering access to projects in Russia, or increasing Chinese participation in the production, refining and transportation of Russian oil.

Professor Keun-Wook Paik, an associate fellow of the Energy, Environment and Resources department at Chatham House independent policy institute told Sputnik that Rosneft's equity buyout “was, is, and will be” of interest to China.

However, he stressed that the oil price collapse has made it difficult to offer an optimally evaluated price that could satisfy mutual expectations.

“If the oil price at the end of 2016 returns to 70 dollars per barrel, the chance of compromise between the two entities will be much higher,” the expert concluded.

Rosneft is the leader of Russia’s petroleum industry. The company’s activities include hydrocarbon exploration and production, upstream offshore projects, hydrocarbon refining, and crude oil, gas and product marketing in Russia and abroad.

Currently, the company's main shareholder (69.5 percent) is the state-owned Rosneftegaz.

 

[ahojunk]

America is the cheerleader for the sanctions against Russia followed by the pivot to Asia to contain China.

What do you expect to happen?

Russia getting closer to China and vice versa.

Nations don't have permanent allies, just self interests.

 

[cirr]

Russia Ready to Bring China into Arctic Offshore

By MarEx 2015-11-16 15:59:42

Russia's Rosneft is in talks with Chinese companies to allow them to take part in its offshore Arctic projects, the RIA news agency quoted Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky as saying on Monday.

In September, China Oilfield Services Limited signed deals with Rosneft and Statoil to drill two exploration wells in the Sea of Okhotsk off the nation’s west coast. Rosneft president Igor Sechin said the agreements unlocked new cooperation potential for oil and gas exploration by industry leaders in Russia, Norway and China.

When asked about the talks between Rosneft and Chinese firms on their possible participation in Rosneft's offshore Arctic projects, Russian First Deputy Natural Resources Minister Denis Khramov said that partnership between Russia's Rosneft and U.S. firm ExxonMobil was long-term. "I don't think that currently... there is a search to replace Exxon," he told reporters.

Rosneft suspended drilling in Arctic Kara Sea in 2014 after U.S. ExxonMobil withdrew from the project because of Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

In response to the actions and policies of the government of Russia with respect to Ukraine, in 2014 the United States imposed a series of progressively tighter sanctions on Russia. Among other measures, the sanctions limited Russian firms' access to U.S. capital markets, specifically targeting four Russian energy companies: Novatek, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Transneft. Additionally, sanctions prohibited the export to Russia of goods, services or technology in support of deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale projects.

Russia was the world's largest producer of crude oil including lease condensate and the third-largest producer of petroleum and other liquids (after Saudi Arabia and the United States) in 2014, with average liquids production of 10.9 million barrels per day. Russia was also the second-largest producer of dry natural gas in 2013 (second to the United States), producing 22.1 trillion cubic feet.

Russia Ready to Bring China into Arctic Offshore

 

[cirr]

I am pretty certain that our Russian friends simply love this kind of cash injection from China

This hour and moment

Rosneft Gets $15 Billion Advance Payment for Oil Supplies

Bloomberg

NOV 13, 2015 - 16:50

(Bloomberg) -- Rosneft OJSC, Russia’s largest oil producer, received about 996 billion ruble ($15 billion) in the third quarter in advance payments for future fuel supplies, a boost for the company amid a slump in crude prices and sanctions that limit its access to international borrowing.

The company’s long-term liabilities for advance payments on oil supplies increased to 1.83 trillion rubles at the end of September from 829 billion rubles at the end of June, according to quarterly reports to Russian accounting standards published on its website on Friday.

Rosneft has taken payments for future oil supplies to China and trading houses such as Glencore Plc and Trafigura Beheer BV as it pays debt raised for the $55 billion acquisition of BP Plc’s Russian venture, TNK-BP, in 2013. The purchase made Rosneft the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer by volumes.

The U.S. and E.U. have limited state-led Rosneft’s ability to borrow internationally and closed access to some technology to pressure President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s support for separatists in Ukraine.

Rosneft signed a 25-year supply agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. in 2013 that included prepayments that Putin estimated at about $70 billion. Vitol Group, Glencore and Trafigura agreed in 2013 to provide Rosneft a total of $11.5 billion in financing in exchange for guaranteed oil supplies. Last year, Rosneft signed a $1.5 billion prepaid deal with BP.

Rosneft’s press service declined to disclose the exact amount of the advance or who paid it. The shares fell 0.9 percent to 260.70 rubles after rising as much as 1.1 percent earlier in the day.

Rosneft Gets $15 Billion Advance Payment for Oil Supplies - SWI swissinfo.ch

 

[TaiShang]

China, Russia reaffirm cooperation on military defense
| 2015-11-18 05:53:23 |

MOSCOW, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia on Tuesday said the high-level political mutual trust could be used to stimulate the pragmatic cooperation in military defense areas.

Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, stressed that China is willing to work with Russia to promote defense cooperation in protection of mutual interests and regional as well as world stability.

During his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xu hailed the high-level growth of bilateral comprehensive partnership of strategic coordination, which brought along the fruitful cooperation of the two countries' armed forces.

Putin on his part praised the China-Russia all-around cooperation as one crucial factor for world peace and stability.

Recalling several meetings held this year with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin said the bilateral partnership was consolidated with more consensus reached on mutual concerns.

"The military cooperation between the two countries is unique and important part of our relationship," Putin said, adding that joint military drills, army training and so on should be enhanced for more pragmatic cooperation.

During the meeting, Xu conveyed the cordial greetings and good wishes of Chinese President Xi to Putin, who offered his appreciation and in turn asked Xu to convey his greetings to the Chinese leader.

Chinese Industry and Information Technology Minister Miao Wei, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li hui, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Yi Xiaoguang and deputy director of PLA General Armament Department Liu Sheng also attended the meeting.