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Thursday, September 3, 2015

WW2 Eastern frontier main battle: China's V-day parade 2015

Xi takes group photos with foreign guests ahead of V-Day parade Chinese President Xi Jinping took group photos with foreign leaders, government representatives and leading officials of international and regional organizations ahead of a V-Day parade on Thursday morning.





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China holds parade, vows peace on war anniversary

Staged a grand parade on Thursday in Tian'anmen Square to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) and the end of World War II, China attracted the world's attention by showing the aspiration for peace and its determination to safeguard post-war international order.

President Xi Jinping delivered a speech before the parade to call people to commemorate the hard-won peace after years of bloody war that had inflicted heavy losses on China and other countries.
China holds parade, vows peace on war anniversary
Scan the code and check China Daily's up-to-date full coverage of China's V-Day parade.

In honoring all the Chinese who perished in the war and those who have contributed to the victory in the deadly conflicts with Japan, the parade is a tribute to history and a call for peace, Xi said.

But he warned that the world is far from tranquil although peace and development have become the prevailing trend.

War is the sword of Damocles that still hangs over mankind. We must learn the lessons of history and dedicate ourselves to peace, he said.

Ravaging through Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania, that war inflicted over 100 million military and civilian casualties. China suffered over 35 million casualties and the Soviet Union lost more than 27 million lives, Xi said.

The victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression is the first complete victory won by China in its resistance against foreign aggression in modern times.

This great triumph re-established China as a major country in the world and opened up bright prospects for the great renewal of the Chinese nation, Xi said.

Xi vowed that China will never seek hegemony or expansion no matter how much stronger it may become. He said the country will never inflict its past suffering on any other nation.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected the troops after the speech.

On the Tian'anmen Square, Xi and the first lady Peng Liyuan welcomed honored guests, including 30 national leaders, to watch the parade which involved more than 12,000 military personel as well as veterans and their descendants. Seventeen foreign military teams also took part.

Leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of the Republic of Korea Park Geun-hye, Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moom witnessed the historical event.

1779 overseas Chinese from more than 120 countries and regions were invited, 5 of them were invited to watch the parade from the Tian'anmen Rostrum, including Chinese American physicist Paul Chu, and business tycoon Lucio Tan.

Opened with a helicopter flying by parading the national flag, the march past lasted for about 50 minutes. 20 military helicopters flew overhead forming the figure 70 to mark the 70th anniversary commemorations. Seven fighter jets flew past, making the world's longest colored vapor trail.

After more than 300 veterans, including Kuomingtang veterans, and their descendants passed by in two vehicle formations, eleven formations of Chinese troops marched past, including 51 female honor guards. It was the first time female honor guards have joined a parade. More than 50 generals, with an average age of 53, leaded parade units.

Seventeen formations of foreign troops from 17 countries including Russia and Pakistan, marched past, before twenty-seven formations of armaments paraded. This was the first time foreign military teams join in a Chinese military parade.




More than 500 pieces of China's latest equipment were displayed, 84 percent of which have never been viewed by the public, many of which are among the world's most advanced.

The navy displayed its latest anti-ship missiles, ship-to-air missiles and carrier-based aircraft, while the air force brought long-range bombers, fighters and airborne early warning and control (AEWC) aircraft.

The armaments on display also included the army's newest helicopter gunships and battle tanks as well as intermediate-range conventional and strategic ballistic missiles from the Second Artillery Force.

The events ended with 10 air force formations flying over the square and doves and balloons being released.

China has held 15 military parades since the establishment of the People's Republic of China. In 1999 and 2009, grand military parades were held to celebrate the country's 50th and 60th founding anniversary. This was the first parade not held on China's National Day.

As it is an international convention to hold a parade to mark the victory day, China held the grand event with a theme of "remember history, cherish the memory of China's revolutionary martyrs, uphold peace and create the future".

By PENG YINING in Tian'anmen square (chinadaily.com.cn)



Obama's absence at parade costs US chance to display leadership

Tomorrow, China will be holding a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War. Dozens of global leaders or their special envoys have arrived in Beijing, save for US President Barack Obama or his high-level representative, who could have been a guest of honor at the ceremony.

The absence of the US president at such an important event is a pity. Washington’s move has also affected most Western European leaders, who decided to follow the US' lead.

But Washington compromised, and will send US Ambassador to China Max Baucus to the parade, a gesture to show that the US will be present at the event. Washington clearly doesn’t want the absence of Obama or his high-level envoy to turn into media fodder.

While it is a pity, Obama’s absence will hardly affect Sino-US relations. Still, as former allies, China and the US have lost a chance to celebrate the victory they achieved together. How they fought side by side 70 years ago continues to be cherished by the Chinese, and the memory of that time has helped nurture a favorable impression of the US.

Geopolitics remains central to Washington’s decision-making process, and weighs heavily on US diplomatic policy. However, calculated moves do not always lead to a better decision. Washington’s ambivalence to Beijing’s invitation has cost itself a chance to display leadership across the Pacific Ocean, regardless of trivial gamesmanship and bickering in the region. The US seems unable to look at the big picture: The parade in Beijing is a righteous cause.

It is not hard to figure out why Obama or a special envoy will be absent. To some extent, the reasons are understandable. First, the US simply wants to show its support to Japan, which strongly opposes the parade and imagines itself as the target of the event. Second, the US dislikes such large parades in a non-Western country, considering it “muscle-flexing.” Third, as the US election approaches, presidential candidates try to earn brownie points with the electorate through China-bashing. The political climate in the US might have made Obama think twice.

To be honest, China never expected Obama to attend. But his “remedial work,” by asking Baucus to attend on his behalf, is weak.

Many China watchers have differing takes on the US’ attitude toward China’s parade. Some believe Baucus’ presence reaffirms an agreement between China and the US that both countries have no animosity towards each other. But some think Obama’s absence is much more complicated.

The Chinese have learned how to deal with narrow-mindedness, so they don’t actually mind whether Obama or a high-level official from Washington will attend. China’s open mind will help steer both countries away from unnecessary disputes

Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2015-9-2 21:11:50

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  • South-East Asia’s complex big power relations demand careful and considered understanding, where frequent complications and familiar gut...

Sunday, August 30, 2015

A region evolves with rising China


South-East Asia’s complex big power relations demand careful and considered understanding, where frequent complications and familiar gut reactions do not help.

WHEN countries have difficulty relating to a rising China, part of the problem lies in not understanding where China is heading and not knowing what it will become.

The sheer scale of China’s development and the weight of its trajectory mean that the impact of its rise on the rest of Asia and the world is bound to be considerable and profound.

As a frame of reference, the future of today’s China is often seen in the context of its past: a “Middle Kingdom” entity, the heart of an Asian tributary system, a regional superpower with global pretensions whose once closed-door policy is opening to the world.

Yet none of these references fits because modern China’s pace of change is as rapid as it is vast. Not only is it a post-Deng China, it is now into the fourth- and fifth-generation leadership of post-Dengist society.

A sense of a likely future China may then be deduced through elimination, by discarding what it is unlikely to be.

These include a communist superpower, a nation shaped by a distinct ideology, and one led by a powerful charismatic individual. But what of those things, admittedly few, that it will still be?

One of these is rule by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), particularly since single party rule continues to be a central bastion of the status quo. Yet even this requires qualification, if not some revision, and is already subject to much speculation.

The CCP has had to undergo some redefinition as circumstances evolve. The state socialism it championed underwent a social(ist) market phase to emerge as state capitalism.

Ideology continues to be diluted as dogma fritters away. Conservatives and reformists both within and outside China agree the trend is irreversible if not also inevitable.

Just about the only thing that a future China is still certain to be is a unitary state. But even this has to be qualified again.

What is now regarded as Greater China – the People’s Republic of China on the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan – are unlikely to be fused into one singularly cohesive whole anytime soon.

Yet they are moving together towards a unitary economy, the basis of the modern nation state. Such a trend is beyond the protestations of democrats and the comprehension of many strategists.

At the same time, provinces are slowly moving towards greater autonomy in economic matters, including in dealings with neighbouring countries. A country as large as China cannot endure too long under strict centralised rule.

And China has endured longer than all others, with the country now into its fifth millennium of continued statehood. These trends and movements take time and may seem imperceptible for other countries, but they are par for the course with China’s enormous timelines.

For decades now, Chinese authorities have also introduced elections at local levels with invited inputs from the Carter Center. Voting has been practised in village and provincial levels, and despite occasional fits and starts the trend is towards a controlled political opening with assured stability.

All of this contributes to the near-incomprehension of today’s China on the part of external observers. A survey of their attitudes, assumptions and responses in any given week attests to this reality.

Questions of whether China (meaning Beijing) can ever govern Taiwan, or even understand Hong Kong, are typical. The real risk of observers not seeing the wood for the trees is ever-present.

A debate of sorts has emerged over China’s likely reaction to a possible win by Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in next January’s election. Pessimists who fret over their own cynical pronouncements fail to realise that China is playing for bigger stakes than petty party feuding.

China’s interest in Taipei is Taiwan, not necessarily a Kuomintang (KMT) Taiwan. A lately declining KMT under President Ma Ying-jou has sufficiently energised pragmatists in Beijing to be diplomatic towards the DPP.

Another perennial issue is the presumed rivalry between the US and China. Although competition exists between them, they have more in common than at variance for now and the foreseeable future.

Their shared interests include international security and a single global economy in which both hold the largest stakes. Rivalry in these core areas compromises the interests of both without enlarging opportunities for either.

An understanding of that basic reality is shared between US and Chinese leaders, but apparently not by Japanese ones. The Abe administration is still stuck between old wartime anxieties and proudly snubbing Beijing.

However, China should also not expect anything but Abe’s cancellation of a visit on Sept 3. The occasion, with Western leaders absent, is being presented by some in China as celebrating its victory over Japan.

China: Military parade not aimed at any country

China says its upcoming September 3rd military parade is part of commemorations for the 70th anniversary of its victory in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression, and is not specifically aimed at any country.http://t.cn/RyzoMBy





Nonetheless, the Abe government remains an activist one in provoking competition with China over military issues. Its White Paper released last month inflates China’s maritime military capabilities and even conflicts with US calculations.

Besides the US, Taiwan and Japan, the other barometer of China’s rise as seen through its foreign relations is Asean.

China regards Asean wariness of its territorial assertiveness as limited and negotiable, since not all member countries have rival claims to offshore territory. But Beijing may seriously be underestimating Asean’s sense of solidarity, given not just Asean’s community-building agenda but also its common resolve to develop community cohesiveness.

The established links between China and Asean’s newer CLMV members (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) are both limited and fraying in places. Beijing needs to rebuild trust and good faith within Asean as much as in North-East Asia.

China has thus emphasised multi-level, multi-sectoral joint ventures both bilaterally and collectively. Its proposals for a Maritime Silk Road and a One Belt, One Road link to Europe are backed by the China-Asean Maritime Cooperation Fund, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Development (Brics) Bank and China’s own solvency.

On the ground however, Asean collectively seeks enlarged trade volumes with China. However, China’s currency devaluations and the subsequent jolts to regional currencies compromise these goals.

With Indonesia, China is extending cooperation in fighting drug trafficking as Jakarta favours using the yuan for bilateral trade. With Malaysia, China is building linkages in education and industrial development.

Thailand’s post-coup government is seen as leaning towards China, thanks in part to a US snub. Now Thai-Chinese ties are growing over purchases of stockpiled Thai rice and even the prospect of a Kra Isthmus canal.

China’s relations with Vietnam and more so the Philippines will require more time and work. Ironically, Unctad trade data identifies the Philippine economy as the biggest regional beneficiary of China’s rise.

Beijing’s ties with the other Asean countries may be less complicated but still require attention and constant tending. Its record of fully understanding Asean is not impressive.

Overall, Beijing’s relations with Asean and its member nations are economic, diplomatic and socio-cultural, without political interference in their domestic matters. This contrasts with Washington’s largely military posturing and its political pressures on issues of democracy and human rights.

China’s impact on this region is likely to remain non-political and non-military – differing from US interaction. This asymmetry makes up much of South-East Asia’s strategic status quo.

Whether and how it will endure, and whether it deserves to remain, still have to be seen.

By Bunn Nagara Behind the Headlines

Bunn Nagara is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia.

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CASS briefing on significance of War of Resistance http://t.cn/RyzoTdB

China is preparing to mark the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is currently holding a press conference in Beijing on the significance of the V-Day anniversary.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Service charges under strata title property in Malaysia

Criminalising non-payment of service charge under the Strata Management Tribunal


A recent conversation with a relative on urban living raised a couple of interesting issues. One led to suggest that many high-rise buildings in Malaysia were fast becoming urban slums, of which I agreed, having noticed that although Malaysians have started living in stratified development properties, they express the devil-may-care attitude and expect “free lunch”. Clearly, there is a huge need for a paradigm shift in responsibilities with regard to community living.

This so-called freedom of not paying of service charges will come to an end with the establishment of the Strata Management Tribunal (SM Tribunal). It states that any parcel owner or tenant who fails to pay service charges, can be brought before the SM Tribunal with the implementation of the Strata Management Act 2013, Strata Management (Maintenance & Management) Regulations 2015 (June 2, 2015) and Strata Management (Strata Management Tribunal) Regulations 2015 (July 1, 2015). It is interesting to note that limitation is not applicable to the SM Tribunal and the maximum that can be claimed is RM250,000 per claim. Any non-compliance of an award (decision) of the SM Tribunal is now a criminal offence.

THE TRIBUNAL

“Any person who fails to comply with an award made by the Tribunal commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine, not exceeding RM250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding RM5,000 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.” (Section 123)

The Tribunal shall consist of the following members who shall be appointed by the Minister:
 (a) a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman to be appointed from among the members of the Judicial and Legal Service; and 
(b) not less than 20 other members
to be appointed from among: 
(i) the persons who are members of or who have held office in the Judicial and Legal Service; or 
(ii) the persons who are admitted as advocates and solicitors under the Legal Profession Act 1976 [Act 166], the Advocates Ordinance of Sabah [Sabah Cap. 2] or the Advocates Ordinance of Sarawak [Sarawak Cap. 110], and who has no less than seven years’ standing, each appointed for a period of three years.

JURISDICTION OF TRIBUNAL

The Tribunal shall have the jurisdiction to hear and determine any claims where the total amount in respect of which an award of the Tribunal is sought, does not exceed RM250,000 or such other amount, as may be prescribed to substitute the total amount. 

Claim can be filed in relation to the following:

1. A dispute or complaint concerning an excercise or the performance of, or the failure to exercise or perform, a function, duty, or power conferred or imposed by Strata Management Act 2013 or the by-laws;
2. A dispute cost costs or repairs in respect of a defect in a parcel, building or landed intended for subdivision into parcels, or subdivided building or land, and its common property or limited common property;
3. A claim for the recovery of charges, or contribution to the sinking fund, or any amount which is declared by the provisions of this Act as a debt;
4. A claim for an order to convene a general meeting;
5. A claim for an order to invalidate proceedings of meeting where any provision of the Act has been contravened; 
6. A claim for an order to nullify a resolution where voting rights has been denied or where due notice has not been given;
7. A claim for an order to nullify a resolution passed at a general meeting;
8. A claim for an order to revoke amendment of by-laws having regard to the interests of all the parcel owners or proprietors;
9. A claim for an order to vary the rate of interest fixed by the joint management body, management corporation or subsidiary management corporation for late payment of charges, or contribution to the sinking fund; 
10. A claim for an order to vary the amount of insurance to be provided; 
11. A claim for an order to pursue an insurance claim; 
12. A claim for compelling a developer, joint management body, management corporation or subsidiary management corporation to supply information or documents; 
13. A claim for an order to give consent to effect alterations to any common property or limited common property; or 
14. A claim for an order to affirm, vary or revoke the Commissioner of Building’s decision.

The Orders that the SM Tribunal can make are:

1. Pay a sum of money to another party. 
2. Order the  price or other consideration paid by a party to be refunded to that party.
3. Order the payment of compensation or damages for any loss or damage suffered by a party.
4. Order the rectification, setting aside or variation of a contract or additional by-laws, wholly or in part.
5. Order costs to or against any party to be paid.
6. Order interest to be paid on any sum or monetary award at a rate not exceeding eight per centum per annum.
7. Dismiss a claim which it considers to be frivolous or vesatious.
8. Any other order as it deems just and expedient.
9. Make such ancillary or consequential orders or relief as may be necessary to give effect to any order made by the Tribunal.

EXCLUSION OF JURISDICTION OF COURT

Where a claim is filed with the SM Tribunal and the claim is within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction, the issues in dispute in that claim, whether as shown in the initial claim or as emerging in the course of the hearing, shall not be the subject of proceedings between the same parties in any court unless:

(a) the proceedings before the court were commenced before the claim was filed with the Tribunal; or
(b) the claim before the Tribunal is withdrawn, abandoned or struck out.

This means that a claimant has to decide in advance as to which forum he has to file a case because having filed a case in the SM Tribunal means he cannot file the proceed in the same courts or vice versa.

PERSONS ENTITLED TO FILE A CLAIM

This is a free for all Tribunal with many claimants and they are: 
(a) a developer; 
(b) a purchaser; 
(c) a proprietor, including an
original proprietor; 
(d) a joint management body; 
(e) a management corporation; 
(f) a subsidiary management
corporation; 
(g) a managing agent; and 
(h) any other interested person, with the leave of the Tribunal. Filing procedure is inexpensive, pay only RM20 and simply fill in the required forms. These forms have not been uploaded yet on the KPKT web site but requests can be made by email.

RIGHT TO APPEAR AT HEARINGS

At the SM Tribunal, no party shall be represented by an advocate and solicitor at a hearing unless, in the opinion of the Tribunal, the matter in question involves complex issues of law and one party will suffer severe financial hardship if he is not represented by an advocate and solicitor. A corporation or unincorporated body of persons may be represented by a full-time paid employee of the corporation or body. The Tribunal may conduct the proceedings in such manner as it considers appropriate, necessary or expedient for the purpose of ascertaining the facts or law in order that it may determine a claim.

FAST DISPOSAL OF CASES

The SM Tribunal shall make its award without delay and, where practicable, within sixty days from the first day of the hearing before the Tribunal commences. In making an order under subsection (3), the Tribunal shall have regard to: 
(a) the relevant provisions of this
Act; or 
(b) the interest of all parcel owners or proprietors in the use and enjoyment of their parcels or the common property or limited common property. The award given are final and binding on all parties to the proceedings and are be deemed to be an order of a court and be enforced accordingly by any party to the proceedings. However, any person dissatisfied with the decision of the SM Tribunal can, apply to the High Court challenging the award in the proceedings on the ground of serious irregularity affecting the awards which means an irregularity of one or more of the kinds which the court considers has caused substantial injustice to the applicant. 

With the establishment of the SM Tribunal there is hope for better maintenance and management culture to spur our quest to become a developed nation and zero nonpayment issues.

By Datuk Pretam Singh, thesundaily.com

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