US blames China wants to be No. 1 military power

According the Pentagon’s annual China power report to Congress, released on Wednesday, China is steadily continuing a secretive and potentially destabilizing military buildup that would give the People’s Liberation Army a modernized regional armed force by the end of the decade. But the PLA will have limited ability to reach the United States for years to come, The Pentagon estimates China’s total military spending at $160 billion in 2010, more than Beijing’s stated military budget of $92 billion and a 12 percent spending increase over the previous year.

With Taiwan its chief concern, Beijing’s spending on “anti-access and area denial” weaponry designed to defend its claimed air and sea territory is tilting the balance of power toward the mainland. The Pentagon now feels Chinese leaders are worried about starting an arms race among its neighbors in the region.

Defense Department officials have said for months they believe China’s desire to modernize and increase its regional military capabilities is understandable given the rising power’s rapidly expanding global economic interests.

But Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen has said that some weaponry seems to push Chinese capabilities beyond stated limited goals of its government, which must reveal more about how much it spends on its military, what it buys, and why.

“The United States welcomes a strong, prosperous and successful China,” the Pentagon report says, “that reinforces international rules and norms and enhances security and peace both regionally and globally.”

But 2010 was marred by a months-long relations freeze from Beijing in retaliation for a $6 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, the continuation of a pattern former Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought to break. The thaw began when Gates and Mullen visited China this year, trips bolstered by lower-level military engagements discussing defense policy, maritime security and other sensitive security issues.

In recent weeks, global attention turned to China’s sea trials of its first aircraft carrier, a remodeled Russian ship. Schiffer said the ship does not yet have aircraft, and China is only land-training future carrier pilots thus far, so its significance is unknown.

“Whether or not this proves to be a net-plus for the region or for the globe, or proves to be something that has destabilizing effects and raises blood pressure in various regional capitals, I think, remains to be seen,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Schiffer said in a briefing.

China likely will begin building its own aircraft carrier this year, to be operational after 2015. Several more Chinese carriers and support ships are expected in the next 10 years. But it will take years for Chinese pilots to reach a “minimal level of combat capability” from a carrier.

In the last decade, Chinese naval ships have acquired advanced air defenses that allow them to operate farther out to sea, away from land-based defenses, the Pentagon said. They are developing a new anti-ship ballistic missile that can attack aircraft carriers beyond 1,500 kilometers, and China already has deployed roughly 60 catamaran-hulled littoral ships.

A new naval base on Hainan Island is now complete and is big enough to port aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines accessible via tunnels beyond detection. Additionally, its navy continues building a new class of submarine and five newer versions of current attack submarines in development would have better technology to run silent. But the report says China’s submarines have limited ability to communicate while at sea and the navy has no experience conducting submarine patrols with live nuclear warheads.

There also are still roughly 1,200 short-range ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan, of increasing and improved varieties.

The Pentagon called China’s J-20 a “stealth fighter” – previously officials questioned its stealth capability – but predicted the aircraft would not be operational until after 2018 and requires further progress on its engine.

The Pentagon also said China was the source of U.S. computer network attacks many times in 2010, but gave no details. Pentagon officials rarely names China as the culprit behind cyber attacks.

According to the report, thirty percent of China’s foreign arms sales went to the Middle East and North Africa, with Pakistan the chief customer for conventional weapons.

Pakistan could be world’s last polio reservoir: UNICEF

As many as 63 new polio cases have been reported in Pakistan this year.

Daniel Toole, UNICEF s Regional Director for South Asia who is in Pakistan to meet government and UN officials, has emphasised the need to urgently improve local polio response, vaccination outreach, management and accountability for results.

“We must ensure access to all children as specified in the President s National Emergency Action Plan for Polio Eradication in Pakistan. We have a huge task ahead of us, and we must build on lessons learned and act now,” Toole said.

Since beginning of the year, Pakistan has continued to see rising numbers of polio cases. In 2011, a total of 63 cases were reported compared to 36 in the same period last year.

Balochistan province has reported 22 polio cases this year, more than any other region in Pakistan.

The virus, which circulated in five high-risk districts in Balochistan, has spread to districts previously not infected for the past five years.

The militancy-hit tribal belt has reported 20 cases, Sindh province has 14, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province has six, and Gilgit-Baltistan has one case.

Punjab, with 60 per cent of Pakistan s population, has not reported any cases of polio this year and UNICEF said this was a “major accomplishment that must be sustained”.

Pakistan launches military operation near Afghan border

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have launched a major offensive against militants in the northwestern tribal region of Kurram on the Afghan border, Pakistan’s military spokesman said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia, UAE funded jihadi networks in Pakistan: WikiLeaks

KARACHI: Islamic charities from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates financed a network in U.S. ally Pakistan that recruited children as young as eight to wage holy war, a local newspaper reported on Sunday, citing Wikileaks.

Turkey calls for constitutional democracy in Egypt

ISTANBUL: Turkey urged Egypt’s military to pave the way for elections so that a new government can form a constitutional democracy following President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation on Friday after nearly three decades in power.

“Since the start of the mass demonstrations in Egypt, Turkey has supported the Egyptian public’s legitimate demands for democracy and freedom; moreover it has made a call for a peaceful transition to a pluralist and participatory regime based on human rights,” a statement issued by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s press office on Saturday said.

“We hope that Egypt’s Military High Council will act with common sense and hand over its duty to the new governemnt to be formed as a result of a free and fair election process, and eventually Egypt will proceed to a constitutional democracy,” said the statement, reported by state-run Anatolian news agency.

Though Turkey is a member of the Western NATO alliance, Erdogan has gained considerable clout in the Middle East through his vehement condemnations of Israel after its offensive in the Gaza Strip in 2008, which heralded a breakdown in Turkey’s friendship with the Jewish state.

Turkey, as a relatively stable state with a secular constitution, vibrant economy and conservative, pragmatic government led by former Islamists, is often cited as a model Muslim democracy in the region.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking in the Georgian city of Batumi at the start of an official visit, said Mubarak’s resignation was an historic development for the Arab world and the region.

He said the onus now lay with the military to ensure stability and review the election law to allow active participation by political parties.

“Firstly, continuity of the state and public order should be secured. Secondly, people’s demands should be met and a stable and lasting democracy should be built in Egypt through evolution. Thirdly, a transparent road map that the people can follow closely together with the international community should be announced,” Davutoglu was quoted as saying by Anatolian. AGENCIES

US Drones Overflying North Waziristan

MIRANSHAH, trendpk: US Predator unmanned drones flew over various parts of North Waziristan tribal region. The locals in the region bordering Afghanistan seen more than 10 flights of drone over the region.

Meanwhile, the local administration has declared indefinite curfew from Miranshah Stadium checkpost to Miranshah Bazaar, Bypass Road, Khar Kamar, tehsil Dattakhel and other areas. Dattakhel road has been closed for all traffic, reports said.

Catastrophic Australian Floods Claim First Victim

Catastrophic Australian Floods Claim First Victim, Devastating floods in northeastern Australia claimed their first victim Sunday, with the body of a missing woman recovered as the surging waters continued to rise and a fresh storm loomed.

Emergency officials and police searched through the night by boat and helicopter for the 41-year-old swept from her car as she tried to cross a swamped causeway in the northern Gulf of Carpentaria region.

Police managed to save three children and another adult from the car but the woman disappeared before they could reach her.

“Searchers located the woman?s body around 10:20 am today about two kilometres (one mile) from the causeway,” police said.

There were fears for another man missing after his fishing boat was swamped Saturday afternoon near Gladstone, at the centre of the floods, and witnesses reported seeing a second man swept away in the swamped city of Rockhampton.

“These waters are exceptionally fast, they’re not to be trifled with and they’re not to be taken lightly,” said assistant police commissioner Alistair Dawson.

A severe storm was expected to sweep through the region late Sunday, bringing “damaging winds, very heavy rainfall, flash flooding and large hailstones” the weather bureau said, urging residents to take shelter.

Up to 200,000 people are estimated to have been hit by the floods which have left entire towns under water and cut off many more over an area the size of France and Germany combined, wreaking untold billions in damage to crops and the nation’s key mining industry.

“In many ways, it is a disaster of biblical proportions,” Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser told reporters in flood-hit Bundaberg on Saturday.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who on Friday toured inundated regions, said the floods had been devastating and would have an economic impact.

Gillard said the mining sector had been particularly badly hit, adding that farmers, small businesses and tourism would also suffer.

Residents in the coastal town of Rockhampton were forced to flee the rising waters in darkness Saturday night, while helicopters delivered food and other supplies to about 20 towns hit by the deluge.

Rockhampton’s airport, a major regional hub, was closed to commercial traffic as the runways went under water while the deluge also cut main roads into the town and disrupted power supplies.

The town’s river is expected to peak at 9.4 metres (yards) Wednesday, threatening 2,000-4,000 homes, and mayor Brad Carter said desperate sandbagging was under way.

Rockhampton could be isolated for as many as 10 days, and though food shortages were not yet an issue, Carter said he was unsure how long supplies could last as the situation worsens.

“The water inundation is far more extensive than we thought it was. It’s very extensive,” Carter said after an aerial tour of the region on Sunday.

“The geographic area has an enormous amount of water to it either side of… the Fitzroy river, which has broken through its banks and is covering large agricultural areas,” said Carter.

Officials were warning of a critical drinking water shortage at the inland town of Dalby after its treatment plant was swamped, meaning supplies had to be trucked in.

In Bundaberg, in Queensland’s southeast, the clean-up was set to begin in about 300 homes and 120 businesses as flood waters recede, but other towns such as Theodore and Condamine remain empty of residents.

Deputy state premier Paul Lucas flew over the devastated region and warned much of the heartbreak was still ahead as the full extent of damage became clear.

“(There are) swimming pools filled with mud, houses where people are sweeping the mud out. The devastation is enormous,” said Lucas.

Offshore oil drilling operations have been suspended due to a tropical cyclone developing off Australia’s resources-rich west coast, which also forced the closure of major iron ore export ports.

$25 to $30 billion Investment Expected by China: Kaira

Trendpk.com: Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that a $25 to $30 billion Chinese investment is expected in different sectors of the country.

Addressing a press conference on Chinese premiers visit, he said Pakistan and China inked 13 agreements and Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation in economy, energy, banking, security and technology. He said China would give a grant of dollar 229 million for flood affected road network and agriculture sector leading to provision of rice processors and latest technology of cold storage. He said the Chinese government would extend soft loan of $400 million while another $10 million cash amount would be provided to be disimbursed as compensation to the flood affected families.

Kaira said that a $10 billion trade agreement would be signed in Saturdays business summit with the Chinese businessmen.

A total of 500 scholarships to the Pakistani students will be offered to enable them to learn Chinese language and study spheres of advance science and technology, besides, a total of 1,000 cataracts operations would be undertaken by the Chinese surgeons, he added.

He said the Chinese premier has also assured in a meeting with the Pakistan Prime Minister that they would be supporting all the energy projects including coal, wind, hydel etc.

He said with this support, the largest coal reservoirs in Thar would be tapped for power generation.

He said the joint economic group of both countries had identified 36 projects for cooperation which would be completed within a period of five to ten years.

Kaira said besides, completion of small dams, the Chinese government had also assured to invest in mega hydel projects.

The minister replying to a question said that without solution to core issue of Occupied Kashmir with India, progress could not be achieved with the neighbour and China was very well aware of it.

To another question, he said Pakistan did not require to tilt its balance in favour of China, viz a viz, US in this region as it already enjoyed time-tested relationship with China which was exemplary in the whole region.

To another question, he said the safe city project for Islamabad was a part of Chinese government efforts to help Pakistan in the war against terror.

Reiterating Pakistan governments stance over drone attacks, he said that they had expressed their reservation over such attacks.

Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Ahmed Khan speaking on the occasion said that with signing of these agreements, their desires and expectations had been fulfilled.

He said the situation was changing in the region, and added that Pakistan-China strategic relations would be further strengthened with the current visit of Chinese Premier.

Masood Khan said the strategic relations between two friendly countries were aimed at peace and stability in the region.

Replying to a question, he said both China and Pakistan have consensus that all issues in the region including the core issue of Kashmir should be resolved through dialogue.He said Pakistan has invited India a number of times to the negotiation table for resolution of issues.

Replying to another question, he said China has not given any indication to India to support its ambition to get a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

On this issue, Chinese government has said that UN General Assembly was the right forum to discuss reforms keeping in view the interest of developing countries.

Letter to Honorable Railway Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour

A Chinese firm has started the construction of the North-South Railway line in Afghanistan. This railway line will connect the Tajikistan border with the Pakistan border.

I think this is the right time for the Honorable Railway Minister Mr. Ghulam Ahmed Bilour to make a mark in the History of Pakistan. If the Railway Minister can construct a new railway line, compatible with the under construction North-South Railway line of Afghanistan, running from North Pakistan to Gwadar South Pakistan, then he will be able to open a new South Asian trade Route in this region. This trade route can be one of the most beneficial trade routes of the world and can alter the Economics of the whole region.

If the Railway Minister wants, he can actually build this railway not only free, but also achieve a profit for Pakistan. All he has to do is

• Use his current team to lay down the plans for a new railway.
• Purchase the land for the new track in a years time.
• Issue a tender for the Build-Operate-Transfer of the new railway line for 25 years.

The contract should include lease of Government land (Route of Railway line) and agreement for flat tax rate for 25 years. With this tender the Railway Minister will not only get a brand new free railway line for Pakistan, he would also go down in History as the person who started this new trade route which changed the whole Geo-Economic landscape of the Region.

KSE 100 index crosses barrier of 11,600

Bulls ruled the Karachi stocks today, News Trends reported on Wednesday. KSE 100 index crossed the barrier of 11,600 points.

Positive trend was witnessed since the start of the market today. Due to increased international oil rates and decreased Pakistani share prices in the region buying jumped up. Local and international funds remained active in the market. At the end of trading 100 index closed at 10,629 after increasing by 198 points. Total trade volume remained 190 million shares. Share prices of Lotte Pakistan topped the list whose share price increased by 0.53 rupee to reach 13.16 rupees.

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