The Great Malaysian Robbery?

PRESS ANNOUCEMENT BY SUARAM - EVERY MALAYSIAN MUST LISTEN TO THIS: 

 French prosecutors: Najib sought US$1bil for Perimekar

French public prosecutors probing shoddy deals in French-Malaysian arms deals found evidence that then-defence minister Najib Abdul Razak had sought US$1 billion (RM3 billion) for local company Perimekar from French shipmaker DCN's subsidiary DCNI.

According to prosecution papers revealed by NGO Suaram today, a fax shows that Najib had asked for the amount for Perimekar as a condition for a meeting with him on July 14, 2001.

The fax,dated June 1, 2001 was from Francois Dupont, the Malaysian representative for private company Thales Asia International, to one D Arnaud.

The document, one of 153 shown to Suaram, was seized by French police from the office of Henri Gide, an officer with Thales.

However, no copy of the fax was provided to media at the press conference today as Suaram said it is not allowed to take the documents out of France.

Instead, the NGO, which is pursuing a civil complaint against state-owned DCN for allegedly paying 114 million euros in defence kickbacks to Perimekar, provided media with notes from its French interpreter.

According to the notes, Dupont had in the fax detailed out the chronology of visits and future actions during a visit to Malaysia, including details of “negotiation meetings with the Ministry of Defence and the management members of Perimekar”.

“(In the negotiations) two contract proposals would be mentioned (from DCNI to Perimekar as well as between Perimekar and the Malaysian government).

“(Dupont) finally indicated a meeting with Datuk Seri Najib in France on July 14, 2001 with the condition that DCNI offers a maximum sum of US$1 billion for Perimekar’s stay (in France),” it reads.

Malaysia purchased two Scorpene class submarines in 2002.

Perimekar is owned by Najib’s associate Abdul Razak Baginda, who was acquitted on a charge of abetting in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuuyaa Shariibuu, without his defence being called.

Razak Baginda’s company paid 360,000 euros

According to Suaram, another document obtained by the prosecutors revealed that Terasasi Sdn Bhd, a company owned by Abdul Razak and his father, was also linked to the scandal.

Suaram's interpreter noted that prosecutors had on Aug 22, 2011, obtained an invoice faxed to Terasasi Sdn Bhd on Sept 19, 2004, to the then-chief executive officer of Thales, Bernard Baiocco, for the purpose of “success fees”.

The invoice states that 359,450 euros (RM1.43 million) was to be paid into a bank in Petaling Jaya, while a handwritten note on the fax reads:

“Razak demande si ce SF peut etre pris en compte assez vite. Le Support Fee suit avec un rapport (Razak is asking whether the SF can be paid into the account quite urgently. The support fee follows with a report.)”

However, Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel said the prosecutors were still trying to determine whether the ‘Razak’ stated in the note refers to Najib or Abdul Razak.

‘The Great Malaysian Robbery’

Referring to the case as “the Great Malaysian Robbery”, Gabriel said the prosecutors also found “a slew of companies” had been formed to muddy the money trail.

“More retro-commissions have surfaced, allowing the misuse of bodies such as a pilgrimage fund (Lembaga Tabung Haji) and the military pension fund (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera).

“The Malaysian and French people have clearly been misled, cheated and robbed of their monies through blatant corruption and mismanagement of funds in the name of national safety and security,” Gabriel (right) said.

As such, Suaram demanded that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission open investigation papers on these new revelations and for the Malaysian government to cooperate with the French inquiry.

It also demands that the Defence Ministry lists out to Parliament the companies involved in the procurement process involving DCN and the commissions paid.

Source: Malaysiakini - Malaysiakini

Chinese Physicists Smash Distance Record For Teleportation

The ability to teleport photons through 100 kilometres of free space opens the way for satellite-based quantum communications, say researchers
 

Teleportation is the extraordinary ability to transfer objects from one location to another without travelling through the intervening space.

The idea is not that the physical object is teleported but the information that describes it. This can then be applied to a similar object in a new location which effectively takes on the new identity.

And it is by no means science fiction. Physicists have been teleporting photons since 1997 and the technique is now standard in optics laboratories all over the world.

The phenomenon that makes this possible is known as quantum entanglement,  the deep and mysterious link that occurs when two quantum objects share the same existence and yet are separated in space.

Teleportation turns out to be extremely useful. Because teleported information does not travel through the intervening space, it cannot be secretly accessed by an eavesdropper.

For that reason, teleportation is the enabling technology behind quantum cryptography, a way of sending information with close-to-perfect secrecy.

Unfortunately, entangled photons are fragile objects. They cannot travel further than a kilometre or so down optical fibres because the photons end up interacting with the glass breaking the entanglement. That severely limits quantum cryptography's usefulness.

However, physicists have had more success teleporting photons through the atmosphere. In 2010, a Chinese team announced that it had teleported single photons over a distance of 16 kilometres. Handy but not exactly Earth-shattering.

Now the same team says it has smashed this record. Juan Yin at the University of Science and Technology of China in Shanghai, and a bunch of mates say they have teleported entangled photons over a distance of 97 kilometres across a lake in China.

That's an impressive feat for several reasons. The trick these guys have perfected is to find a way to use a 1.3 Watt laser and some fancy optics to beam the light and receive it.

Inevitably photons get lost and entanglement is destroyed in such a process. Imperfections in the optics and air turbulence account for some of these losses but the biggest problem is beam widening (they did the experiment at an altitude of about 4000 metres). Since the beam spreads out as it travels, many of the photons simply miss the target altogether.

So the most important advance these guys have made is to develop a steering mechanism using a guide laser that keeps the beam precisely on target. As a result, they were able to teleport more than 1100 photons in 4 hours over a distance of 97 kilometres.

That's interesting because it's the same channel attenuation that you'd have to cope with when beaming photons to a satellite with, say, 20 centimetre optics orbiting at about 500 kilometres. "The successful quantum teleportation over such channel losses in combination with our high-frequency and high-accuracy [aiming] technique show the feasibility of satellite-based ultra-long-distance quantum teleportation," say Juan and co.

So these guys clearly have their eye on the possibility of satellite-based quantum cryptography which would provide ultra secure communications around the world. That's in stark contrast to the few kilometres that are possible with commercial quantum cryptography gear.

Of course, data rates are likely to be slow and the rapidly emerging technology of quantum repeaters will extend the reach of ground-based quantum cryptography so that it could reach around the world, in principle at least.

But a perfect, satellite-based security system might be a useful piece of kit to have on the roof of an embassy or distributed among the armed forces.

Something for western security experts to think about.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1205.2024: Teleporting Independent Qubits Through A 97 Km Free-Space Channel

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Politics and religion a bad mix !

People who go to places of worship are united in their faith and never for a particular political party or politician.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama has landed himself in a controversy by declaring his support for same-sex marriage. The US President has obviously taken into account the political impact of his move ahead of the US presidential election.

He must have done his maths and worked out the number of votes he could win and lose as a result of his stand. Obama is no angel. He is a politician and his only concern is to get himself re-elected.

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last week, a Gallup Poll Survey showed that 50% of Americans supported gay marriage while 48% opposed it. What Obama hopes to do from his announcement is to win over the younger voters who are more open to this subject. His rival, Republican’s Mitt Romney, has come under attack from the Obama camp for being out of touch with his anti-gay marriage stand.

Obama also believes that blacks will still stick with him even though opposition against gay marriage among black church-goers is the highest among all the racial groups in the US. He retains the black votes and wins extra votes from the white liberals, and he knows he’s into his second term.

But I do not think it is necessary for Obama to invoke his Christian faith as well as Scripture in his defence of gay marriage.

He is not only the first American president to reaffirm same-sex marriage but must also be the first one to quote from the Bible to justify his decision. In this instance, he quoted Matthew 7:12, known as the Golden Rule from Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount.

The Sermon On The Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus that emphasises moral teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. The Sermon is the longest piece of teaching from Jesus in the New Testament.

In a nutshell, the Golden Rule states that one should treat others the way one wants to be treated. My Bible states the Golden Rule paragraph as: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”

What Obama has done, like many politicians and their supporters including those in Malaysia, is to read selectively a passage or chapter from a holy book to back their political arguments – political expediency, in other words.

Worse still, some Obama supporters have written about or appeared on TV to point out how some figures in the Bible were polygamists or adulterers while conveniently leaving out the parts that these people eventually repented and found God. They can get away with this because most of us feel inadequate to take on a debate on theology.

Holy books are supposed to be read as a whole, not as a chapter or two, to enable us to have a complete understanding.

Obama, for example, has even implied that the Apostle Paul’s objection to homosexuality in the Bible “is less than transparent” and perhaps even at odds with Jesus. I am not sure if Obama, whose campaign theme is Change, is planning to change the Scripture.

In Malaysia, we are used to reading and hearing PAS leaders – politicians masquerading as theologians – quoting from the Quran to justify their political positions. Umno leaders are often criticised as “pharaohs” from the Age of Ignorance – kejahilan – before the age of Islam.

But now there is a trend among some Malaysian church leaders and Christian-based writers, who support Pakatan Rakyat, to quote from Scripture to justify the need to vote against the government in the coming general election.

This is done during Sunday sermons and via email, and those who are uncomfortable with this religious push are being made to feel guilty or not in sync with the rest of the church. Likewise, nobody wants to listen to a priest or pastor on a Sunday heaping praises on the Barisan Nasional or telling us about the coalition’s transformation plans. We will leave that to the Prime Minister and Datuk Seri Idris Jala.

Politics and religion should not be mixed. People who go to places of worship are united in their faith and never for a particular political party or politician. That’s why we are in a democracy and that’s why we have elections – the right to differ and the right to choose.

The lesson to learn from the Obama controversy is this – the first time around, he was a fresh personality and people around the US wanted change. They were fed up with anything conventional and mainstream. Obama represented hope and ideals.

But the fact is, he is not a Saviour. He is just another self-serving politician who will do anything for self-preservation.

First, it was same-sex civil union. Now it’s same-sex marriage and once that’s legal, same-sex couples would have the constitutional rights to adopt babies from orphanages, and churches will break the law if they reject performing wedding rites for them.

Well, that’s change for you from Obama.

On The Beat  By WONG CHUN WAI\

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Practise 'Addin', a Malaysian way of life? PAS Vows Hudud for Malaysia!

The PAS leader's statement that Islam's status in the Federal Constitution would be changed from official religion' to Addin' if Pakatan Rakyat captures power is the latest example of the party pushing its Islamic agenda without consulting its coalition partners.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang needs a quick lesson in history and the best person to give him that is his colleague and fellow traveller in Pakatan Rakyat DAP national chairman Karpal Singh.

Abdul Hadi had told a press conference in Terengganu last week that the status of Islam in the Federal Constitution would be changed from “official religion” to a “way of life” if Pakatan Rakyat captures power in the next general election.

The unilateral statement was also justified by an attack on the Reid commission, which drafted our constitution in 1956, with Abdul Hadi claiming that there were no Muslim members among its five members, headed by Lord William Reid.

As Karpal Singh has rightly pointed, Hadi was wrong on both scores.

Political analysts and political parties, including the MCA, followed suit in severely criticising Hadi for wanting to unilaterally amend the constitution.

The matter was certainly not brought before the Pakatan Rakyat leaders' council for discussions.

Pakatan leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who advocates a pluralistic approach to religion, was noticeably missing in the controversy because Hadi and PAS, while colleagues in Pakatan Rakyat, have an entirely different approach in that they believe Islam is the only true way to God.

On his part, Hadi has always been pushing for more recognition for Islam and its primacy as the only path to God.

“In the world today, people know of two ways to describe the faith: one is what is adopted by the West by calling it a religion, which denotes the spiritual relationship between human and God, without mentioning it as a way of life,” Hadi was quoted as saying after launching the Terengganu PAS Youth annual meeting in Kampung Kubang Lembek, Manir.

“The second option is by calling it Addin the way of life which is more apt as it includes everything, from the spiritual to all other aspects of life.

“It is not right to say Islam is a religion. The right way is to describe it as Addin, a way of life,” Hadi said.

His interpretation of Islam clashes with the country's multi-ethnic society populated by different races practising different religions.

If an amendment is done it can seriously affect non-Muslims and their way of life which is radically different from that of Muslims.

Although all religions have similarities in moral values and concepts of human justice, their methods and practices differ greatly.

When religion is imposed as a way of life on the majority, the amendment will impact on the rest who practise different faiths and cultures.

It will create many “dos and don'ts” issues like the banning of alcohol, rules on entertainment, dressing and also the intermingling of sexes.

Such amendments will be a recipe for disaster as it can result in the various races drifting further apart and living separate lives instead of coming together into a harmonious, multi-ethnic melting pot.

Hadi also argued that the current definition of Islam as “the official religion of the Federation” did not do justice to Islam and suggested that legislation in this country be interpreted according to the tenets of Islam.

While PAS is under pressure from its Islamic clientele to speak up for Islam, it is also under pressure from its non-Muslim supporters club to desist and behave like PKR or DAP, in wanting to be better than Barisan Nasional at ruling.

Unlike them, PAS is a party that has dreams of creating an Islamic theocracy, something that is unsuitable in this multi-racial society.

This is one reason why PAS is obstinate and unyielding on implementing hudud law and speaking up on many other social issues and the current one to amend the constitution.

PAS' increasingly “superior behaviour”, however, is a by-product of unquestioning support from the DAP.

It shows that neither the DAP nor even the PKR can control PAS any longer and its acquiesce to its demands, like the statement from Hadi that PAS will implement hudud law if elected to Putrajaya.

PAS has a tendency to declare its Islamic agenda without due consultation with its coalition partners and in doing so, it is impinging on non-Muslims' right to freely practise their religion and rights that are guaranteed under the very constitution the party wants to change.

Originally, PAS championed an Islamic theocracy but later following pressure from PKR and especially DAP, it changed to championing a welfare state.

Now the party has come up with its “Addin” or Islam as the way of life proposal, with hudud law included.

The motive is to win the conservative Islamic vote but at the same time, try to satisfy non-Muslim voters.

Comment by BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

Islamic Party Vows Hudud for Malaysia

OnIslam & Newspapers

"If we have enough majority (of seats), if Pas is stronger than our allies, we will implement hudud," Harun said. >>

CAIRO - Seeking to lure more voters in next year’s election, Malaysia's main Islamic party has pledged to amend the constitution to allow the application of hudud in the Asian Muslim-majority country.

"We will implement hudud and amend the Constitution even if (it is) not with the current partners we have in Pakatan...may be there will be other pacts (Pakatan) that will lend us their support,” Harun Taib, chief of PAS Ulema Council, was quoted as saying by the New Straight Times on Saturday, May 12."If we have enough majority (of seats), if PAS is stronger than our allies, we will implement (hudud and the amendment to the Constitution)."

Hudud (Penalties) in Contemporary Legal Discourse

The issue was first raised when the Islamic party’s president Abdul Hadi Awang said that PAS had never backtracked on their intention to put hudud (Islamic penalties) to law and that it will seek to implement it if it takes federal power.

But the staetments drew fire from Karpal Singh, the national chairman of the secular Democratic Action Party (DAP).

Harun reiterated the party support for Hadi on the issue of hudud, saying that the party views Karpal’s criticism as a “personal opinion as a lawyer.”"I think whether it is against the Constitution or not is just his (Karpal's) personal opinion and comment as a lawyer,” Harun said.

"As a PAS member, I am fully behind Hadi."

With an estimated 800,000 members, PAS is the main rival of Prime Minister Najib Razak's United Malays National Organization.

A few years ago, PAS has enacted the hudud laws in Kelantan, to be imposed only on Muslims who represent about 90 per cent of the state's 1.5 million population.

The laws introduced Shari`ah punishments for theft, robbery, adultery, liquor consumption and apostasy.

Adamant

The leader of PAS Ulema council confirmed that hudud can only be implemented through a parliamentary majority."If we have enough majority (of seats), if Pas is stronger than our allies, we will implement (hudud and the amendment to the Constitution)," Harun said.

He added that hudud remains PAS’s intention despite the criticism it received from both its allies in Pakatan and rivals Barisan Nasional.

The Islamic party had already enacted the law in Kelantan and Terengganu but faced constitutional restraint in its implementation.

"We are a party that is championing Islam,” Harun said.

“Of course we will implement what is required by Islam. Pas will always be behind Hadi and the party's struggle to uphold Islam in the government and administration of the country."

Malaysia’s parliamentary elections are due in 2013, but expectations are high that the polls could be called much earlier.

Muslim Malays form about 60 percent of Malaysia's 26-million population, while Christians make up around 9.1 percent.

Buddhists constitute 19.2 percent, Hindu 6.3 while other traditional Chinese religions make up the rest of the population.

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Former US President Bush 'guilty of war crimes & torture'

Bush found guilty of war crimes - But powerless tribunal cannot enforce sentence

KUALA LUMPUR: The War Crimes Tribunal has convicted former US President George W. Bush and seven of his associates as war criminals for torture and inhumane treatment of war crime victims at US military facilities.


KL War Crimes Tribunal pushes for Bush guilty... by presstv

However, being a tribunal of conscience, the five-member panel chaired by tribunal president judge Lamin Mohd Yunus had no power to enforce or impose custodial sentence on the convicted eight.

“We find the witnesses, who were victims placed in detention illegally by the convicted persons and their government, are entitled to payment of reparations,” said Lamin at a public hearing held in an open court at the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Crimi­na­lise War yesterday.

He added that the tribunal’s award of reparations would be submitted to the War Crimes Commission and recommended the victims to find a judiciary entity that could enforce the verdict.

The tribunal would also submit the finding and records of the proceedings to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the United Nations’ Security Council.

On Thursday, head of the prosecution Prof Gurdial Singh Nijar said Bush had issued an executive order to commit war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Five former Iraqi detainees, who were tortured while being detained in various prisons, including Guantanamo Bay, were called to give their testimonies before the Tribunal during the trial which started on May 7.

By QISHIN TARIQ
qishin.tariq@thestar.com.my

Bush 'guilty of crimes of torture'

UNANIMOUS VERDICT: Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal orders reparations be given to torture victims

Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal president judge Tan Sri Lamin Mohd Yunus (centre) delivering the verdict yesterday. He is flanked by says reparations should be given to the complainant war crime victims. With him are Prof Salleh Buang (left) and Datuk Mohd Sa’ari Yusof. Pic by Hasriyasyah Sabudin

KUALA LUMPUR: Former United States president George W. Bush and his associates were found guilty of crimes of torture by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal yesterday.

The tribunal unanimously ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

It said all eight accused had engaged in a web of instructions, memos, directives, legal advice and actions which led to the establishment of a common plan and purpose, joint enterprise and conspiracy to commit crimes of torture and war crimes, in relation to the "War on Terror".

The War on Terror was launched by the US and others in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The eight accused are Bush; former US vice-president Richard Cheney; former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld; former counsel to Bush, Alberto Gonzales; former general counsel to the vice-president, David Addington; former general counsel to the defence secretary, William Haynes II; former assistant attorney-general Jay Bybee and former deputy assistant attorney-general John Yoo.

Tribunal president judge Tan Sri Lamin Mohd Yunus said the eight accused were also individually and jointly liable for crimes of torture in accordance with Article 6 of the Nuremberg Charter.

"The US is subject to customary international law and to the principles of the Nuremberg Charter and exceptional circumstances such as war, instability and public emergency cannot excuse torture."

The tribunal agreed that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld knew the US was violating the 1984 Torture Convention and the Geneva Conventions but failed to intervene to prevent the violations.

"Evidence clearly shows the legal opinions and advice given by the lawyers Gonzales, Addington, Haynes, Bybee and Yoo to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld were legally flawed and the lawyers knew full well their advice was sought to be acted upon and thus are also liable."

The legal opinions, contained in memorandums, were that the Geneva Conventions did not apply (to suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees); there was no torture occurring within the meaning of the Torture Convention; and that enhanced interrogation techniques, consisting of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, were permissable.

The tribunal ordered that reparations be given to the war crime victims corresponding with the irreparable harm and injury, pain and suffering they had undergone even though the tribunal was merely a tribunal of conscience with no real power of enforcement.

The findings of the tribunal will be submitted to the International Criminal Court, United Nations and the Security Council and the names of the accused will be entered into the War Crimes Commision's Register of War Criminals.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in an immediate response, said the verdict and findings would be publicised globally and sent to heads of government of all nations.

He also hoped the public would not invite these war criminals to their countries.

"The International Criminal Court seems to be subservient to the big powers and does not seem to have the capacity or the willingness to charge the leaders of big powers who are responsible for torture, invasion of an independent country, destruction in war and for the killings of so many people," said Dr Mahathir, who is the Perdana Leadership Foundation honorary president.

He said one step which could be undertaken, especially in democratic nations, was for people to insist that all election candidates should declare that they would never go to war on others.

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China warns Philippines over Huangyan Island as tension rise

Air Force Flag of the People's Republic of China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 China will not allow anyone to take away sovereignty

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China, on Thursday warned the Philippines about the Huangyan Island incident, saying the country's armed forces will not allow anyone to take the sovereignty of the island away from China.

"We want to say that anyone's attempt to take away China's sovereignty over Huangyan Island will not be allowed by the Chinese government, people and armed forces," the newspaper said in a signed article titled "Don't Attempt to Take Away Half an Inch of China's Territory."

Instead, it is wise to give up such attempts and abide by international rules to gain the forgiveness of the Chinese people and the pardon of the international community.

China has exercised restraint on the Huangyan Island incident. "If one mistakes China's kindness for weakness and regards China as a 'paper dragon' as instigated by some onlookers, he is terribly wrong," the article added.

China had suffered too much humiliation as its sovereignty was encroached and territory carved up when the country was poor and weak.

China now pursues an independent foreign policy of peace.

It will not bully the weak by being strong, nor blindly tolerate unreasonable tricks played by others, especially on matters concerning territorial integrity, national dignity and social stability.

It is obvious that the Philippine side has not realized that it is making serious mistakes, although one month has passed since the beginning of the incident, said the article.

Instead, the Philippine side is stepping up efforts to escalate tensions, has continued to send government vessels to the Huangyan Island lagoon and has repeatedly made erroneous remarks which have misled the Philippine public and the international community and provoked public feelings, thus severely damaging bilateral relations.

The situation is not optimistic, the article said.

China's sovereignty over the island is based on both historical and legal grounds. No matter what tricks the Philippines may play, the fact that Huangyan Island belongs to China will never change, the article said.

Even Philippine maps published in 1981, 1984 and 2006, which indicate that Huangyan Island is outside of the Philippines' territory, show how ridiculous the Philippine side is when it attempts to claim sovereignty over the island.

Moreover, the repeated tricks by the Philippines have failed to gain support from its own people, the international community and even its allies. It is quite likely the Philippine side will drink as it brewed, said the article.

China issues warnings as Philippines tensions rise

   by Ananth Krishnan

AP A placard with drawing of a Philippine warship is displayed during a protest at the Philippines Consulate in Hong Kong on Friday. The Philippine government used this second hand warship from the American aid, its naval personnel had boarded the Chinese fishing boats, inspected their equipment and catch last month.

China has issued a safety advisory to its citizens in the Philippines and suspended travel to the country a day ahead of a large planned demonstration against China over rising tensions in the South China Sea.

The Chinese embassy in Manila in a notice warned that “massive anti-China demonstrations” were scheduled to take place on Friday, advising Chinese nationals to avoid going out and to “keep a low profile”.

The warning came as vessels from both countries remained locked in a stand-off near the disputed Scarborough Shoal or Huangyan Island in the South China Sea, which both sides claim.

Chinese State-run media outlets on Thursday continued issuing stern warnings to the Philippines, not ruling out the use of force. The Foreign Ministry, however, appeared to strike a more moderate tone and suggested a way out through a diplomatic solution, saying it “approved” of recent remarks by officials in the Philippines “to resume diplomatic contact with the Chinese embassy”.

“China remains committed to solving the situation through diplomatic consultation and negotiation,” spokesperson Hong Lei told reporters on Thursday, calling on the Philippines to “come back to the right track of handling the matter”.

He did also hit out at the Philippines government for “encouraging people both home and abroad to launch demonstrations against China”. “We urge the Philippines side to respect China’s sovereignty on the issue of Huangyan Island and not to take actions that will complicate and amplify the situation,” Mr. Hong said.

Reflecting the rising tensions, Chinese travel agencies said on Thursday they had suspended planned trips to the Philippines following an order from central authorities. Ctrip, a popular travel portal, said it suspended travel because “trips to the Philippines have become potential safety risks”, the official China Daily reported.

The newspaper in an editorial warned that while China did not seek a military conflict, the use of arms was not off the table. “No matter how willing we are to discuss the issue, the current Philippine leadership is intent on pressing us into a corner where there is no other option left but the use of arms,” the editorial said.

“We are faithful to our commitment to being a responsible member of the international community, and we pursue peaceful co-existence. But no international law allows a country's sovereignty to be infringed upon, and a responsible nation does not try to seize territory that does not belong to it.”

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) daily struck a harder tone, saying that “anyone’s attempt to take away China’s sovereignty over Huangyan Island will not be allowed by the Chinese government, people and armed forces”, in a commentary headlined “Don’t attempt to take away half an inch of China’s territory”.

“If one mistakes China’s kindness for weakness and regards China as a ‘paper dragon’ as instigated by some onlookers, he is terribly wrong,” the newspaper said.

Suggesting the stand-off may yet be resolved peacefully, China on Thursday also appeared to respond positively to a Philippines-based mining company’s proposal for joint drilling with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Officials said Beijing was willing to talk with the Philippines government over joint development.

The South China Sea, which is disputed by China and at least ten other countries, is estimated to have as much as one-third of China's oil and gas resources and key sea lanes run through its disputed waters.

China’s first deep-water drilling rig in the South China Sea started operations on Wednesday, with calls from officials to speed up drilling projects. Feng Fei, head of the industry department of the Development Research Centre, the official think-tank of the State Council or Cabinet, said more than thousand oil wells had already been sunk by other countries. “China drilling in the South China Sea is of deep significance, and ensures our energy security by reducing dependence on foreign oil,” he said.

Wu Shicun, head of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, added that joint development of resources could help address conflicts. “Against a backdrop of some countries not responding positively toward China’s proposal of joint development, it is of supreme importance to finally solving sovereignty disputes,” he said.

“Setting aside disputes and embarking on joint development is the most effective way to solve the issue.’’

Related:

China urges Philippines to stop further harming bilateral relations

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The spokesman of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hong Lei condemned Philippines for inciting its people going on to streets for demonstrations against China. Hong says the incident has triggered severe concerns among Chinese people.

He also says China hopes Philippines to stop further harming the bilateral relations. Hong reiterated China’s stance on the dispute and urged Philippines not to taken any actions that may harm the relations between the two countries.  Full story

Commentary: Never test China's will to defend its own sovereignty

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- For nearly a month, Manila has not only turned a deaf ear to Beijing's position on resolving the dispute over China's Huangyan Island through diplomacy, but made repeated provocative moves to heighten the tension, severely infringing China's sovereignty in the process.

It is widely accepted Huangyan Island has been an integral part of China since ancient times, both on a historical and a legal basis. The surrounding waters are China's traditional fishing grounds and Chinese fishmen have fished there for generations.  Full story

China is prepared for escalation of Huangyan Island incident

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying said China is not optimistic about the situation concerning Huangyan Island, and the country is fully prepared to respond to anything the Philippine side does to escalate the situation.

Fu made the remarks when meeting with Alex Chua, Charge D'affaires of the Philippine Embassy in China, on Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday in a press release.  Full story

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Philippine President Aquino plays tough over China's Huangyan Island to revive popularity: author

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It belongs to China: Philippine media

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China urges discussion over Huangyan Island

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Tensions in South China Sea: US won't take sides, US-Philippines Naval drills, students attack US embassy

China's warns US of Confrontation over South China Sea

Manila provocation blasted; Philippine Newspaper: Huangyan Island belongs to China

Photo taken on May 9, 2012 shows deep-water drilling rig CNOOC 981 in the South China Sea, south China, May 9, 2012. China's first deep-water drilling rig CNOOC 981 started operations in the South China Sea at 9: 38 am on Wednesday, marking "a substantial step" made by the country's deep-sea oil industry. The sixth-generation semi-submersible CNOOC 981 began drilling in a sea area 320 km southeast of Hong Kong at a water depth of 1,500 meters, according to China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), the country's largest offshore oil producer. Photo: Xinhua

China Wednesday accused the Philippines of instigating demonstrations against Beijing, urging Manila not to further damage bilateral relations by provoking public sentiment over the two sides' spat in the South China Sea.

"We have noted that the Philippine side has repeatedly made strongly worded remarks about the Huangyan Island standoff, which have provoked public feelings and severely undermined the atmosphere of bilateral relations," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

"The Philippine side also instigated demonstrations, both inside and outside the country, against China, which have aroused strong responses and concern among Chinese people living around the world," Hong added.

The spokesman said there is no change in China's position on resolving the current tensions through diplomatic efforts, urging Manila to seriously respond to Beijing's concerns and return to the right track.

Loida Nicolas-Lewis, a Filipino-American businesswoman, has called on all Filipinos around the world to mount demonstrations in front of Chinese embassies and consulates at 12 pm on Friday.

According to Reuters, civil society and political groups with links to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III's political allies plan to take to the streets on Friday to "protest the Chinese presence" in waters near Huangyan Island.

The Chinese embassy in Manila has issued a safety alert, advising Chinese nationals to enhance safety awareness, avoid going out and stay away from protesters.

Ctrip.com International Ltd, a leading online travel service provider in China, decided to suspend trips to the Philippines Wednesday, citing safety risks of tours as tensions over Huangyan Island escalate.

A Global Times correspondent in Manila said the Chinese communities there are calm despite Friday's looming protest.

"Issues concerning sovereignty are non-negotiable for China. The Philippines took China's restraint for granted and kept staging provocations," a researcher surnamed Ma with the Southeast Asian Institute of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said.

"The planned global protest against Chinese embassies has shown Manila's intention to internationalize and complicate the issue. Beijing will lose its patience if Manila doesn't back off," Ma said.

Shen Shishun, a director of the Department for Asia-Pacific Security and Cooperation under the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times that stirring public emotions over Huangyan Island is a scheme by Aquino to shift domestic anger away from a gloomy economy.

"The standoff is caused by the Aquino administration. Further development of the matter depends on moves taken by the Philippine government," Shen said.

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine military reported that the number of Chinese vessels in the waters off Huangyan Island has increased to 33 from 14 last week, while the Philippines has two vessels in the area.

The paper said the Chinese vessels include three big ships, namely fishery law enforcement ship Yuzheng-310 and maritime surveillance ships Haijian-75 and Haijian-81. It said these ships are denying Filipino fishermen access to waters off Huangyan Island.

Also Wednesday, Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said he had received assurances during talks in Washington last week that the US would protect Manila from attacks in the South China Sea.

Gazmin said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stressed they were not taking sides in the dispute, but assured him the US would honor a 1951 mutual defense treaty.

"The Philippines has always wanted Washington to help it in a conflict with China, but the US won't do so due to its own national interests," Shen said, adding that Manila's attempts to bring Washington on board shows its anxiety and fears over the tensions.

Meanwhile, China's quality watchdog Wednesday ordered intensified quarantines on fruit imports from the Philippines.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said harmful insects or bacteria have been found in pineapples, bananas and other fruit imported from Southeast Asia since last year, and Chinese authorities have asked the Philippine side to make improvements.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Stephen Antig, president of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, as saying that the tighter rules imposed by the biggest buyer of Philippine Cavendish bananas have sent jitters through the local industry.

"The Philippine economy will worsen if China, a major trade partner, reduces the import of agricultural products," Shen said. "Such an import ban will not hurt China because the Philippine products are not irreplaceable."

Xu Tianran and agencies contributed to this story

Related Articles and Posts:

Trust needed for joint oil exploitation 

China is willing to hold talks with the Philippines on joint oil and gas exploitation in the South China Sea if Manila shows due sincerity, the foreign ministry said Wednesday in Beijing.

Peace will be a miracle if provocation lasts
Right now, Manila is keen to stir up the situation with its public opinion showing an overzealous nationalistic tendency, and the current administration is exploiting it to cement its rule. Under the circumstances, the Philippines needs to be taught a lesson for its aggressive nationalism.

Deep-water drilling starts
The nation's first indigenous deep-water drilling rig, the CNOOC 981, will begin operations Wednesday in an area in the South China Sea 320 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong.

Huangyan white paper a needed step
The standoff between China and the Philippines over Huangyan Island is still going on. The Philippines has threatened to internationalize the territorial disputes by bringing international arbitration against China.

South China Sea Conflict

Philippine Newspaper: "Huangyan Island belongs to China"

Play Video

The Philippine Newspaper "Manila Standard Today" has released an article titled " It belongs to China" written by author Victor N. Arches II.

The Filipino author looks at evidence and international documents, saying that Huangyan Island has been an integral part of China's territory since ancient times. Recounting his motive in writing the article, Arches says he aims to educate the Philippines on the reality of the situation, versus what the Philippines media is promoting. Let’s take a look.

In the article, the author says that Huangyan Island has been a part of China’s territory since ancient times. Chinese fishermen, from both the Mainland and Taiwan, have used the island for many years.
"The Scarborough Shoal, ( Huangyan Island) does belong to China which discovered it and drew it in a map as early as 1279 during the Yuan Dynasty."



The old maps relied upon by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs were drawn up only in 1820, 541 years after China's.

'being relied upon by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in its spurious claim on the same territory were drawn up only in 1820, or 541 years after China’s."

Arches said China organized many scientific expeditions around the island in the late 1970s. In 1980, a stone marker marks China’s scientific expedition was installed by China on the South Rock. However, the Philippines removed it without authority in 1997.

" In the late 1970s, China organized many scientific expeditions in the Shoal and around that area. In fact, in 1980, a stone marker reading “South China Sea Scientific Expedition” was installed by China on the South Rock."

"This Chinese marker was removed, without authority, by the Philippines in 1997. "

He adds that all official maps published by the Philippines until the 1990 excluded Huangyan Island from its territorial boundaries. But an act approved by the Philippine government in 1961 stopped the Philippines from the claim.

"All official maps published by the Philippines until the 1990s excluded both the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island) from its territorial boundaries."

"Republic Act No. 3046, passed by our Congress and approved in 1961, stopped us from our claim."
China holds three international treaties in support of its claim over the territories in question... all limiting Philippine territorial limits to the 118th degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich.

"1898 Treaty of Paris between the US and Spain, the 1900 Treaty of Washington between Spain and the US, and the 1930 Treaty between Great Britain and the US, all limiting Philippine territorial limits to the 118th degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich. "

Arches say the basis of the Philippine claim is restricted to proximity, relying solely on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. He said that even if it were considered a "law", it cannot be made to take effect retroactively.

"On the other hand, the basis of the Philippine claim is restricted to proximity, relying solely on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."

Arches believed there is no need to internationalize the Huangyan Island issue.

He said ASEAN is remaining neutral on the dispute and the US has also declared it will not take sides.

Related stories/post

• Crossover: Analysis on China's Huangyan Island 2012-05-10
• It belongs to China: Philippine media 2012-05-09
• China is prepared for escalation of Huangyan Island incident 2012-05-08
• China again summons Philippine diplomat over Huangyan Island incident 
• Tensions in South China Sea: US won't take sides, US-Philippines Naval drills, students attack US embassy
• Who owns the South China Sea islets in the eyes of the world?
• China's warns US of Confrontation over South China Sea  

LinkedIn's Growth Continues: Fueling the Corporate Talent Machine

 Another amazing quarter from LinkedIn: revenues of $188.5 Million, up 101%, with the “hiring solutions” business now driving $102.6 Million or 54% of company revenue. LinkedIn’s revenues in the corporate recruiting market are now larger than Taleo (just acquired by Oracle for $1.9 Billion), SuccessFactors (just acquired by SAP for $3.4 billion), Kenexa, and nearly every other software company which sells recruiting solutions.

Let me highlight how LinkedIn is “fueling the corporate talent machine.”

LinkedIn has become the “must have” in corporate recruiting and is expanding its footprint.

With more than 161 million professional users in its network, LinkedIn is now the “must-have” tool for corporate recruiters around the world. The company’s “hiring solutions” business continues to deliver innovative products which leverage the data in the LinkedIn network for corporate and contract recruiters.

These products include:

• Highly effective job placement ads (recruiters tell me LinkedIn ads generate 2-3X the quality of candidates of other ad placements)
• Licensing  LinkedIn Recruiter, the recruiter’s “secret weapon” which lets corporate HR managers and staffing professionals search, find, and source candidates
• Branded career pages – an offering that lets companies of all sizes create a highly personalized candidate portal within the LinkedIn garden of  professionals
• Talent Pipeline, a new feature set within LinkedIn Recruiter which lets recruiters manage the entire process of “candidate relationship management” – a hot new application area within corporate HR.

And the company has much more to come.

The Corporate Talent Acquisition Market


Corporate recruiters are in a war for talent. Lloyds of London’s 2011 risk assessment survey points out that “Talent and Skills Shortages” are the #2 rated risk among 100 business risks today (following the risk of “losing customers.”)

Despite the high unemployment rate in most countries, companies tell us over and over that there is a paradoxical mismatch between demand and supply of skills. And great candidates are not looking for work.

And the cost of sourcing and recruiting is very high.

The average employer spends over $3500 per hire on all areas of recruiting (from our Talent Acquisition Factbook®), and the spending is much higher in executive positions. This means the entire US marketplace for talent acquisition is around $130 billion by our estimates, so LinkedIn still has a lot of whitespace to cover.

I just finished meeting with the head of corporate recruiting for Pfizer (who is on LinkedIn’s advisory council) and she reinforced that LinkedIn’s network is truly global and has become one of their primary tool for finding great candidates.

Pioneering the shift from cloud-based software to BigData applications.

LinkedIn is benefiting from something else here. The company understands that its future relies in leveraging BigData and the power of the network over the existing markets for cloud-based HR or talent acquisition software.

Raj de Datta describes the shift well in his TechCrunch article “The Rise of BigData Apps and the Fall of SaaS.” The next big thing is data. BigData.

I’m not ready to write-off enterprise software businesses by any means, but ultimately cloud-based applications do become somewhat commoditized. Now that most major applications are “in the cloud,” differentiation comes down to architecture, features, and level of integration with other cloud-based systems.

If you’re an HR manager, can you really tell a huge difference between Oracle, SAP, Taleo, SuccessFactors, Cornerstone, SumTotal, and PeopleFluent? Workday claims they are the “next big thing” – but ultimately even new products like Workday become replaceable. This year I’ve talked with at least a dozen companies who are coming up for renewal on their cloud-based software and they are very willing to switch platforms. So the future of cloud-based software is wrapping all these great applications in rich, highly-integrated data.

A great example of this is trend is Salesforce.com.  We are a big user, and it always bothered me that we have to clean and maintain our own database of accounts when every other Salesforce customer is doing the same thing. Voila. Salesforce acquires Jigsaw, and now Data.com is born. You can now buy data to go along with your new CRM system.

Data, unlike software, becomes increasingly valuable as you collect more. In the enterprise Human Resources market companies are dying to get more data – data about candidates, data about workforce skills and demographics, data about salaries, and data about their own brand. Once this data is integrated with your cloud-based application, the value to a client skyrockets.

And even when you do buy your brand-new cloud-based applications for talent management, you still need to load them with data in order to make them work. Not only do you have to load all types of data about your employees, you also have to load job profiles, assessments, training modules, and dozens of other types of third party data. As HCM software companies mature, they will start building and adding their own data products to their offering.

Companies in the HR space are starting to figure this out. SHL, a leading global assessment provider recently launched its new Talent Analytics ”big data application.” This new platform gives customers access to tens of millions of assessments to compare candidates against the market and their competitors.

Data is sticky, proprietary, and ever-increasing in value.

The acquisition of Slideshare drives even greater data value – fueling both memberships and recruiting revenue.

LinkedIn also announced the acquisition of SlideShare, a great little company that has become the “YouTube” of corporate presentations. Slideshare is an addictive application that encourages you to share your best slide sets with others.

Not only does Slideshare further ignite LinkedIn’s membership business by extending the data people can add to their profiles, it also brings tremendous value to the corporate recruiting segment.

Think about this: Slideshare is a vast database of knowledge and expertise, all published through Powerpoint presentations that are easy to view, download, and share. Some of the most powerful thinkers and practitioners in all industries publish their deep expertise in SlideShare, and the content is trivially easy to find and view.

Once Slideshare is fully integrated into LinkedIn, we can expect the company to link data about slides to data about people.  (The company claims that there are already 9 million content uploads and we can expect that to explode.)

Every time an individual uploads one of their favorite Powerpoint decks their “profile” becomes more valuable to others. And since people can “like” and “comment” on slide sets, LinkedIn can start to see who the real experts are throughout the network.

Imagine the power of using this information to assess someone’s skills and experience. By looking at the traffic and ratings of an individual’s slides, and the relative “authority” of those who link and recommend these slides, LinkedIn can create one of the most powerful expertise-networks in the world.  The company has been working away on its “skills” functionality for a few years (look at the “skills” application under the “beta” link). This will further ignite LinkedIn’s ability to characterize and understand who the real experts are.

Why is skills information so valuable? Because when recruiters search for candidates, one of the most important challenges they face is “finding the right skills.” Companies pay search firms tens of thousands of dollars to find the best highly-skilled candidate. Putting more “skills-related” information into LinkedIn creates a new measure of authority and expertise.

(Skills have become the new currency of success. While experience and raw talent still matter, our research shows that jobs are becoming more and more specialized every year, so deep skills are what makes you succeed.  Read “The End of a Job as you Know It” for more details. )

Plus, of course, Slideshare dramatically increases the amount of information each LinkedIn user can upload – making the whole network far more valuable for individuals and members.

By the way, I noticed that LinkedIn recently removed several features from its free membership service (the ability to see who clicked on your profile, for example). Every time the company adds a new type of data-driven content, LinkedIn can come up with new, higher-value membership packages as well.

LinkedIn is really firing on all cylinders.  Watch the company continue to grow as it “fuels the corporate talent machine.”

I would expect LinkedIn’s hiring solutions segment to continue its growth as a percentage of revenue in the coming quarters. And with little competition in the BigData market for candidates, we should see this growth accelerate as the economy picks up steam.

By  Josh Bersin, Forbes Contributor

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