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Chengxin Pan Profile picture
Chengxin Pan
@ChengxinPan
Aug 19, 2022 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
If my English comprehension is correct, here actually the UNCLOS literally defines 'high seas' as 'all parts of the sea that are NOT included in the exclusive economic zone' (EEZ), while the entire Taiwan Strait is clearly in an EEZ (200 nautical miles from the baseline). Therefore, there is no such thing as 'considerable high seas corridor' in the Taiwan Strait. In the past, part of the EEZ might have been considered 'high seas', but not any more under the UNCLOS (perhaps one of the reasons why the US refuses to ratify it).
May 25, 2022 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
This 'leaked' document features prominently in BBC reporting of the alleged 'shoot to kill' policy in Xinjiang. It has no doubt shocked millions of people already given the coordinated coverage in Western MSM. As many have already pointed out, however, the font of some words used in the document is not consistent with simplified Chinese.
May 24, 2022 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
In this article published 6 years ago, @OliverDTurner and I argue that the American discourses of 'virtue' and 'power', shared by most Americans, are productive of the subjectivity of neoconservatism, which, despite its widely abhorred manifestation in the Bush Doctrine, is thus more normatively appealing and more enduring than commonly understood. In fact, it could be argued that there has been a quiet neocon-ization of the West over the past two decades, with many Western countries appropriating American 'virtue' and identifying with US power.
Apr 30, 2022 • 8 tweets • 6 min read
The Ukraine war signals that after 20+ years of failed intervention wars in Afghanistan & Iraq, the US and its allies have now rediscovered the 'winning formula' of proxy wars after the 2018 US national defense strategy identified China+Russia, not terrorism, as main threats. To fight such wars against their designated geopolitical threats, they deploy identity narratives such as 'values', 'freedom' vs 'repression', 'democracy' vs 'autocracy' to sow & exploit divisions between rivals and their neighbors which are primed to distrust & hate each other.
Jun 23, 2021 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
One of the US's earliest concerns about China's human rights violations dates back to the Opium War; one of the earliest UK overseas humanitarian missions also had something to do with its opium trade monopoly. Like-minded democracies have come a long way. books.google.com.au/books?id=OzsxE… In the lead up to the Opium War, one side was appealing to 'universal values', and the other was determined not to let such 'fine things' get in the way of a big bucket of money, legal or not, and was prepared to use fake news to justify a war for it. Guess which is which?
Jun 23, 2021 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Australia 'blindsided' & 'ambushed' by a 'China-led' UN committee where China has a 'stranglehold'... nice media word play sufficient to turn a case of climate emergency facing Australia into the latest episode of China threat emergency for the public. theaustralian.com.au/nation/chinale… So it comes as no surprise when the latest Lowy poll shows 63% in Australia believe China is more of a security threat to Australia than of an economic partner, a 22-point increase since last year’s poll. You wonder why public opinion has changed so much. theguardian.com/australia-news…
Jun 23, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The West is and will remain the largest manufacturing powerhouse in the world when it comes to media & knowledge industry. It enjoys unparalleled comparative advantage: language, loyal customer base who has limited access to foreign-language products of non-Western origins, complete and mature production & distribution ecosystem, well-established & trusted branding, endless supply of cheap or free raw materials. Also, there is no real pressure on product innovation or moving up the value chain; in fact, the more of the same products, the better.
May 8, 2021 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
The Chinese 'paper' or 'document' referred to in this report may lead the reader to think this is a leaked document from Chinese military, but in fact it's a published book and here is its full text if ANYONE is interested to know about this 'secret'. gnews.org/wp-content/upl… In effect, you don't have to be someone from the US State Department to get hold of this prized 'document'. Nor do you have to be a cyber expert to verify 'the ­authenticity of the paper.' Anyone can 'locate its genesis on the Chinese internet'. If you want a hard copy,
Apr 20, 2021 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
Oh, that lovely zero-sum mentality of 'winning' - does everything have to have a winner, a top dog? Apparently yes, according to American politicians and strategists, and that winner always has to be the United States. Much of US China policy makes sense in this context. "China has an overall goal... to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world. That’s not going to happen on my watch" Joe Biden whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
Apr 20, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
The eyes of #HRW, are like what John Locke calls 'understanding', which, 'like the Eye, whilst it makes us see, and perceive all other Things, takes no notice of it self: And it requires Art and Pain to set it at a distance, and make it its own Object' (rather unlikely ATM).
Oct 31, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Very well, albeit too late - wish Pompeo were Secretary of State in 1960s. But never mind, there're still US 'gifts' that keep on giving: "America dropped three times more ordnance over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia than all sides did during World War II." nytimes.com/2018/03/20/opi… "Estimates are that at least 350,000 tons of live bombs and mines remain in Vietnam, and that it will take 300 years to clear them from the Vietnamese landscape at the current rate." "For the Vietnamese, the war continues.
Oct 15, 2020 • 28 tweets • 9 min read
The 'China's assertiveness' narrative in the early 2010s has been debunked by scholars such as Iain Johnston at Harvard and @bjornjerden at @ResearchUI in their excellent works. belfercenter.org/publication/ho…
academic.oup.com/cjip/article/7…
The quoted thread adds more weight to the research: As far as I can see, the 'China's assertiveness' narrative (a gentler, easier-to-swallow version of the previous 'China threat' narrative) was designed to create fear (of China) and division in the region, fear and division which was largely absent there until roughly 2009-2010.
Oct 15, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Sometimes I wonder if we've really travelled that far from the blatant anti-Chinese racism of the past in this country. As some Australian scholars pointed out, Chineseness played a central but largely negative role in the formation of Australian identity since Federation. Helen Irving: "while there was doubt about the meaning of citizenship when Australia federated, there was one certainty amidst the doubt and that was that Australian citizens were not going to be Chinese. The Immigration
Restriction Act made this clear.
Oct 13, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This seems to be a case of mutually self-fulfilling prophecies at work: each side claims to be defensive against a foreign threat, and that 'defence' in turn is seen by each other as threatening which justifies further 'defence' preparation which then confirms mutual fear. Simply insisting that one's own is peaceful whereas the other is completely offensive is just disingenuous. However, 'at least in Asia' (let's be honest, mostly on China's 'doorsteps'), doesn't China have a slightly more credible case than the US when it claims to be defensive?
Oct 12, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
I cannot help thinking if this might be the resurgence of Chinese exclusion & expulsion that occurred in the 19th & early 20th centuries (so much for the End of History). Exclusion today is less about Chinese immigration than about political participation from Chinese immigrants. 'Chinese Exclusion 2.0' now seems to sweep across the Five-Eyes countries. By coincidence or by design, the five countries were also known for their Chinese exclusion legislations and poll tax policies. Then as now Australia was the canary in the (gold) mine and led the way.
Oct 8, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
5 days after Kunming bus bombing (21/07/2008) for which Turkistan Islamic Party 'claimed' responsibility, Rice warned China that "security threats have to be dealt with... But security should not become in any way a cover to try and deal with dissent." app.ft.com/content/c361bb… Her words struck me at the time & I thought: Wow! That just sent an interesting message both to Beijing and its opponents in Xinjiang. Back then I had a gut feeling that this wouldn't augur well for Xinjiang. Within 15 days Kashgar attacks and Kuqa sucide bombing occurred.
Oct 7, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Great news folks! There's never been a better time to become a China analyst. Besides the mentoring opportunities offered by US intelligence gurus, and the plentiful amount of financial support from defence sectors, now you can gain instance fame simply by using Google. Seriously, the Googlisation of China studies is THE best & most groundbreaking paradigm shift in the field's history, ever. Wannabe even more cutting-edge? Remember Google Maps? No Chinese language skills, no problem! Google Translate just a click away. What are you waiting for?
Sep 27, 2020 • 23 tweets • 5 min read
Engage in your research in good faith I did. It's by your (ASPI) own admission that your research is based on 'highly suspected', 'possible camps', 'could be', waiting-for-coroboration-type speculation and insinuation. There is nothing good faith about this type of practice ImageImage and it's everything against the spirit of research. Also research in good faith, in this case, China's policy in Xinjiang, should be to engage with the policy and its pros and cons. Like China's one-child policy, or any Chinese policy, it should be scrutinised and criticised.
Sep 27, 2020 • 23 tweets • 8 min read
ASPI's report's Turpan Detention Center Facility #7 & Facility #1 turn out to be Gaochang District Bureau for Veterans Affairs and Gaochang District Bureau for Business & Industry Informationisation respectively. The smoking gun is that they both have external walls! I swear most Chinese work units & government compounds have external walls, so do most Chinese schools, universities & gated communities. And don't forget the Great Wall, which means that the entire country inside the wall has been a giant concentration camp.
Sep 26, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Since when was diplomacy ('mask/vacine/boycott/hostage diplomacy') made more threatening than actual wars? Since when did 'weaponising' take on a more terrifying undertone than routinely using real weapons? Since when was soft power sharper & more loathed than hard power? Since when did technology transfer become more universally hated than daily wage theft? Since when was population growth of ethnic minorities worse than accomplished genocide? Since when was protecting people's lives in a pandemic more inhumane than protecting the bottom line?
Sep 12, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Who/what is the West's main threat is mainly up to the West to decide & define. Threats can be in & out of fashion as 'we' please & as per the agenda-setting media. Not long ago, every muslim looked like a terrorist; now, every Chinese citizen is a spy. floridapolitics.com/archives/33585… “One of the things we’re trying to do is view the China threat as not just a whole-of-government threat, but a whole-of-society threat on their end.” FBI Director Christopher Wray. businessinsider.com.au/china-threat-t…