The Significance of Sino-Russian Military Exercises

Between the dates of August 18-25, 2005, Russia and China participated in their first ever bilateral war games, dubbed Peace Mission 2005. The games were symbolic of the growing cooperation between the two powerful states. Since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, which led to an increasingly influential role for Washington in Central Asia, Moscow and Beijing have drawn together under the common interest of preventing further U.S. influence in the region.

Read full post at Inter Press Network: The Significance of Sino-Russian Military Exercises, September 15, 2005, by Erich Marquardt, Yevgeny Bendersky.

Sino-African Relations and Tibet

Africa is in the grip of the Red Dragon? Note this excerpt from Times of Tibet on Sino-African Relations and Tibet by Admin Dorjee, 4 October 2005:

Tibetans will soon witness the march into their country by South African companies assisting and collaborating with the Chinese government to further marginalise the indigenous people. This scenario was alluded to by China's ambassador to South Africa, Mr. Liu Guijin, when in February, 2005 he stated "The Chinese government welcomes and encourages investment and participation in the development of the Western [i.e. Tibet] region." For China, Africa is a continent ripe for exploitation and economic colonisation, and a very useful ally in muffling the Tibetan freedom movement.

So, as the 7th October arrives - and with it the 55th year of the PRCs illegal occupation of the sovereign nation of Tibet - the Tibetans enjoy only toothless support from the West, with much palm-pressing at cultural fora and inter-faith gatherings, but no speeches of outrage or diplomatic mobilisation in the arenas of secular power. The impoverished, voiceless and supplicating Tibetans will have to face the reality that the entire continent of Africa is in the grip of the Red Dragon, ready to be exploited, manipulated and wielded as a powerful tool against the people of Tibet and their rights to self-determination. Soon, the PRCs economic, cultural, spiritual and environmental programme of genocide in Tibet will be complete, and the retrospective shame of the global community will be too little, too late.