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Chinese official response (in Chinese): http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_ch...

The perception of the west that anything in china is controlled centrally and that the word of an director of a university is beamed directly into the heads of the students is a dangerous and arrogant misconception of the western media - the chinese students are *not* stupid robots. There are a multitude of reasons why he could have said that, ranging from personally profiling himself as a hardliner to his own kind (military) via pure academic (theoretical) thoughts misinterpreted to (and i think this is the case) a well-orchestrated weakening of the position of the opponents in a negotiations (like: look we could also send sombody like this). And the official (not: as of "a univerity director tells" but as of "the government says repeatedly over 20 years") is a non-first strike policy and a policy never to attack a country which does not posess nulcear weapons using these.

http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zzjg/jks/cjjk/2622/t93539.htm

The sino-indian conflict has other issue than China being expansionist. The main issue is (like many things regarding India) that the British Empire found it necessary to establish the balance of power everywhere and drew line on maps these were useful to them. China has no interest in anything but having control over the important connection from rest of china to Tibet.

I would think that India is seen as inconsistent and unreliable by the Chinese government - and therefore ther may be the impression that India could try something stupid (even if its probably not on the list of things of concern to india right now).

About the conflict with vietnam i have no opinion, due to a lack of knowledge.

Full text below (copied from page source)

US whistle-blower Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong and is on a commercial flight to Russia, but Moscow will not be his final destination.

The fugitive whistle-blower boarded the Moscow-bound flight earlier on Sunday and would continue on to another country, possibly Cuba then Venezuela, according to media reports.

The Hong Kong government said in a statement that Snowden had departed "on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel".

The 30-year-old left from Chep Lap Kok airport on a flight scheduled for 10.55am. He is believed to have boarded Aeroflot Flight SU213, which landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport at 5.03pm local time, according to the airport's website.

"Snowden left Hong Kong on his own will," a government source told the Post, adding that the Hong Kong government had not provided Snowden with any assistance or protection during his whole stay. The source dispelled media claims that the government had provided him a "safe house".

It was understood that Snowden's departure was a relief to the Hong Kong government, which had been making all legal preparation to deal with new developments regarding the case.

Regina Ip, former secretary of security, told the New York Times : "I think [the US] government will be upset for a while, but I hope that they will shrug it off, because our government acted in accordance with the law. Our government officials can breathe a sigh of relief."

Final destination?

Russian news agencies Interfax and Itar-Tass reported Snowden is booked on a flight from Moscow to Cuba on Monday. Itar-Tass said Snowden would fly from Havana to Caracas, Venezuela.

“A passenger under that name will arrive in Moscow from Hong Kong today on flight SU213, and tomorrow, on June 24, he will fly to Havana on flight SU150,” the state news agency ITAR-Tass quoted a source at the airline as saying. “Also tomorrow, he will go to Caracas from Havana on a local flight.”

There is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong

--Hong Kong government

'No legal basis'

The Hong Kong government said it had notified the US government about Snowden's departure.

Snowden is wanted by the US government after he disclosed classified documents detailing the clandestine cybersnooping programmes carried out by Washington’s National Security Agency.

The US government on June 14 filed espionage and theft charges against the former CIA technician, and the US National Security Council confirmed that it had put in a formal extradition request to the Hong Kong government.

The Hong Kong government said on Sunday that it had requested more information so the Department of Justice could consider whether to go forward with the US extradition request.

“As the HKSAR government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong,” the statement said.

Later on Sunday, China's foreign ministry said: "The central government always respects the HKSAR government's handling of affairs in accordance with law."

WikiLeaks' role

WikiLeaks, whistle-blowing website founded by Julian Assange, said on Twitter it had helped Snowdwn secure political asylum in a “democratic country”. It also said it had arr

Funny the article summary mentions the People's Republic of China offhand. A while back I was studying "communist" history, and if my memory serves correct, Norway was the first nation to recognize the sovereignty of the PRC (or maybe the first western nation to do so).

People I know who are native to China seem to have a very positive image of Norway; for example, I had one very good Chinese friend who aspired to live there one day--thought it was the most beautiful country in the world. Norway is beautiful, but out of all the countries in the world, why that one? Of course, this could have been a coincidence, but it further reinforces my perception that Chinese-Norway relations are strong. My girlfriend, whose family is from Pakistan (close neighbor to China, culturally and politically), also seemed to have a glorious image of Norway.

After some quick googling, I found further evidence to support my theory:

http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zzjg/xos/gjlb/3346 /default.htm
http://www.norway.cn/norway_and_china/anniversary/ 50%c3%a5r.htm

It's not surprising then, that their state policies might align. These guys really like each other.

Look, you don't get it do you? China says Falun Gong members have killed people

http://un.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/52796.html

China's a sovereign government. The US government passes laws against some crimes, so does China.

Only in the US do people whine and moan about other governments whilst watching their own government execute children as grown adults

The thing is, whiny middle class US kids' views of the world don't upset other countries' citizens one bit. When you realise that, you whine even more.

Anyone involved in actual *work* abroad doesn't give a shit what you think. fuck off back to Penny Arcade.

'On the other hand, Radical Islam has killed people'

what the fuck is Radical Islam?

'Apples... oranges...'

Idiots, Americans - is there any difference anymore?

Don't worry, Russia will happily supply China with oil.

See: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zzjg/dozys/gjlb/32 20/3221/t162446.htm

Sorry, wrong date there. The embassy attack was in 1999. Here's the PRC's statement on the matter.

Here Ya Go. (direct from the People's Republic)

Does anyone have any wild-ass guesstimates as to the likelihood of being prosecuted for guerilla infowar on China's Internet, hacking their government's web sites, stealing and publishing their government secrets, etc.?

I'm fairly sure this would be illegal under international law, but hey, they don't uphold our copyrights, I wonder if the government would tacitly condone such action, or at least not do anything about it.

I am certain it would be popular and would attract attention to this issue.

The funny thing is most of their sites are on US ISPs and even on user sites on fucking AOL and thus governed directly by US law, and thus a bad idea to mess with.

Their Ministry of Foreign Affairs appears to be based in China if the traceroute is any indication. Hits an OC3 off sprintlink, and at that point I presume a cable uplink, as the ping goes up to 1669.641 ms (from about 80 ms).

Also, their China Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation appears to be in China.

There are other such sites on Yahoo!, but the interesting stuff is probably elsewhere.

I'd best not touch it, and bad bad me for even thinking such thoughts. In China it would be illegal to think that way.

All the sites listed under "Military" are in the US. ROFL.

telnet www.moftec.gov.cn
HP-UX www B.10.20 A 9000/861 (ttyp1)

login:

Naaaaaaah, best not go there ;-) The idea is fascinating, but I'd best stop there before I start an international incident.

What's the deal, is getting ugly with those totalitarian scum a good idea likely to make one an international hero lionized by the world, or is it more likely to get you shanghai'ed to Shanghai by goons, disappeared in the middle of the night with nothing left behind but a fortune cookie for the authorities to discover?

Or would our own goons in our own respective liberty-loving nations drag us off themselves?