More political gyrations in China as the leadership succession approaches:
Party Bristles at Military’s Push for More Sway in China
Quote:
With China’s once-a-decade leadership transition only months away, the party is pushing back with a highly visible campaign against disloyalty and corruption, even requiring all officers to report financial assets.
“Party authorities have come to realize that the military is encroaching on political affairs,” said one political scientist with high-level party ties. “Although the party controls the gun, the expression of viewpoints from within the military on political issues has aroused a high level of alarm.” He, like others who agreed to discuss internal party affairs, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals.
Some generals and admirals have loudly called for the government to assert control over the South China Sea, the focus of increasingly rancorous territorial disputes between several Southeast Asian countries and China, where nationalist spirits are on the rise among the public and politicians as well. And earlier this year, leaders in Beijing became alarmed over ties between generals and the disgraced Politburo member Bo Xilai.
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Ah, yes, the South China Sea. I was talking with a friend the other night about parallels between the current situation in Southeast Asia and the various regional wars fought around the turn of the twentieth century. Are we headed for a rerun of the Sino-Japanese, Russo-Japanese, or Spanish-American wars?
Congratulations to our Singaporean friends on your nation's Olympic medal in table tennis, and consolation to our friends in the Philippines fighting the floods.