Friday, February 28, 2014

Chinese 'spies' attending US universities, says expelled Peking University professor

Chinese 'spies' attending US universities, says expelled Peking University professor


A prominent Beijing scholar who recently fled to the United States has warned that China was sending "spies" to American universities, and urged US institutions to tread carefully on academic co-operation.
Xia Yeliang is one of the original signatories of Charter 08, a petition for reform whose Nobel Prize-winning lead author Liu Xiaobo is in prison.
Xia, an economist, was fired in October from Peking University. In his first public event since moving to the US last month, Xia said on Thursday he was mindful of the 1950s McCarthy era, when smears of alleged communist sympathies hit the reputations of Americans in government, entertainment and academia.
But Xia, who has been a visiting scholar at several US universities, said he was aware of "real spies" sent by Beijing to the US to carry out surveillance under the guise of academic exchange.
"Every year there are some visiting scholars. Among them, I can definitely say some of the people are actually spies. They don't do any research," Xia said at the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank which has made him a visiting fellow.
Xia urged US universities - which have been opening campuses for students from China and Gulf Arab monarchies - to ensure they "keep up some basic values like freedom of speech".
"If Hitler were here and he tried to make some co-operation with Western universities … would you also like to accept that?" he said. "Some people would say, 'Oh, you cannot compare with that.' But there's some aspects [in which] it's quite similar."
Xia said he hoped US universities would keep contacts with Chinese counterparts and encourage enrolment of Chinese students, but called for a clear-eyed look at their motivations.
Peking University said Xia was fired for poor teaching, charges which Xia rejected.

US, UK and UAE draw more Chinese investors

US, UK and UAE draw more Chinese investors

Cash-rich Chinese property investors are increasingly active in key destinations, new data shows.
They are searching for and snapping up homes in America, the UK, the United Arab Emirates and many other leading markets.
Their number one target is the United States, with agents in San Francisco (pictured) and Los Angeles flying in groups of up to 50 Chinese investors at a time to buy property.
Robert Pearce, Director of Hong Kong-based Blackfish, which markets properties in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas/Austin/Houston and New York City, says, “The Chinese end up buying property as well as top brands like Chanel. What do mainland Chinese have? Cash.”
The Asia Society says the state is the number one target for Chinese buyers, “According to survey data, they exceeded $9 billion in the year to March 2012, making them the second largest group of foreign buyers behind Canadians. Not surprisingly, California’s large Chinese and Chinese-American communities, top-flight higher education, and attractive lifestyles make the state the number one destination.”
The west coast state has the biggest Chinese population in the United States and accounts for more investment deals from China than any other, adds fellow Blackfish Director Charlie Rosier.
Andrew Gates, international realty associate broker at Sotheby’s, New York, says, “The Chinese go to the US for their children to be near schools and universities, clean air, and the American lifestyle, which continues to be highly aspirational for Chinese buyers.”
Gregory Karns, a partner at US law firm Cox, Castle & Nicholson, says, “These Chinese groups see a flattening of their [domestic] market, and are looking to the US and California for greater returns.”
Chinese property investment website Juwai.com confirms that US leads 35 other countries worldwide as the most-searched market by mainland Chinese. New York is the most popular destination, followed by San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles and Orange County.
The other most popular countries are Australia, the UK, Singapore and Canada.
Chinese investors targeting the UK market are increasingly looking to Manchester, as well as London.
From January-August 2013, searches, page views, inquiries and search results for Manchester on Juwai.com climbed 171%.
Andrew Taylor, Co-CEO of Juwai.com, tells OPP Connect, “Manchester ticks all the boxes for Chinese investors. The three things most Chinese real estate investors look for are investments that will protect and build capital or income, property their children can live in while studying abroad and a desirable place to immigrate to.”
And he says interest from Chinese investors in overseas property will continue to grow. “The surge of Chinese real estate investing in the UK is only just beginning. The trends show that the number and the wealth of Chinese investors will grow rapidly in coming years.
“In most of the national media in the UK, all you hear about is London, London, London. It’s true that London is the most important destination for Chinese investors, but Manchester is also in the top three.”
Manchester is the third most popular city for UK investors searching on Juwai.com, but London, by far the most popular, has remained in first place for the entire first eight months of the year. The top five destinations in the Manchester metropolitan area are the city centre, Salford, Cheetham Hill, Droylsden and Levenshulme.
“The fact that central Manchester attracts the majority of interest shows that other areas need to improve their marketing efforts so that Chinese buyers understand the value and attractive proposition that they offer,” adds Mr Taylor.
Dubai also remains popular with Chinese buyers who are tempted by rental yields of up to 10% at developments such as International City and Discovery Gardens, according to The National website.
Developer Nakheel has hired Chinese-speaking agents to field sales inquiries from Chinese investors buying homes at its Warsan development announced last month.
“We are seeing a lot of people from China buying for the first time in Dubai – it’s the first time we’ve seen that,” says Nakheel Chairman, Ali Rashid Lootah.
Atomic Properties Sales Agent, Hai Rong Xiao says property available for US$1,500 per square metre in International City, Dubai might fetch US$2,000 in a comparable area in China. “In China, prices have reached the ceiling. In Dubai, they are rising by the day.”

Dissident claims China sending spies to U.S. in scholarly guise

Dissident claims China sending spies to U.S. in scholarly guise 
Dissident claims China sending spies to U.S. in scholarly guise

Xia said he was not advocating cutting off all educational exchanges, but urging caution - especially when it came to visiting Chinese academics.

World Bulletin/News Desk
A prominent Chinese dissident who moved to the United States after being fired by Peking University last year warned on Thursday of the dangers of academic exchanges with China, saying Beijing sent spies as visiting scholars.
Xia Yeliang, an economics professor, was expelled from Peking University in October amid a broader crackdown on dissent, having drawn the ire of school officials for blog posts calling for democratic reforms and rule of law in China.
He took up a post at Washington's Cato Institute in February.
At his first public event at the think tank, Xia said that the fact so many high-ranking Chinese officials sent their children to study abroad showed a lack of trust in China's own education system and a desire to "borrow the good fame and name" from prestigious U.S. universities such as Harvard and Stanford.
"I just have the warning for all those top universities in the U.S.A.: you think you've got some benefits through cooperation with China, but who will win in the future? It's hard to tell. How can you say the Cold War has been ended; there's no enemy for the U.S. any more?"
Xia pointed to the build-up of China's navy, including acquisition of new aircraft carriers and asked: "I don't want to exaggerate the situation, but ... why do you want to build that - only for fun?"
He said U.S. colleges must not compromise fundamental values such as freedom of speech in pursuit of money from the hundreds of thousands of Chinese students who come to study in the United States every year.
"American institutions are so lacking in money?" he asked, adding: "If Hitler is here and he tries to make some cooperation with Western universities and give them money, then you would like to accept that cooperation?
"Some people say you can't compare like that, but some aspects are quite similar," he said.
Xia said he was not advocating cutting off all educational exchanges, but urging caution - especially when it came to visiting Chinese academics.
"Every year among those top universities there are some visiting scholars, and among them I can definitely say there are some people who are actually spies," he said.
"They don't do any research - probably they just do some surveys for their boss."
Thomas Cushman, a sociology professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where 136 faculty members signed a letter to Peking University last year expressing concern about Xia's treatment, said U.S. universities were bringing in billions of dollars a year from an estimated 235,000 Chinese students in the country.
The Wellesley letter was prompted by the fact that the college signed an agreement on student and faculty exchanges with Peking University last June, and Cushman said it was vital that academic freedom was not compromised by such deals.
He expressed concern that the financial allure of such exchanges could lead to pulling of punches and self-censorship when it came to discussing topics deemed sensitive to China on U.S. campuses.
"There is a presence of Chinese politics in American universities now that wasn't there when I started off in academia, and we need to look at it carefully," he said.

The Dropa Stones

The Dropa Stones

 
 
 
 
 
 
9 Votes

The Dropa Stones were first discovered in 1938, when a archaeological expedition led by Chi Pu Tei, stumbled across a cave high in the mountains that border China and Tibet.
It was obvious to the archaeologists that the cave had been occupied by primitive people from long ago.
On the walls of the caves were carved pictograms of the heavens and earth: the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth, each connected with lines.
Then came the most incredible discovery, half-buried beneath the floor of the cave was an odd stone disk, which was approximately nine inches in diameter and three quarters of an inch thick. In the center was a perfect 3/4″ hole, with a fine grrove spiralling out from the center, resembling that of an old phonograph record.
A total of, 716 plates were found, and each held a secret. The groove on further inspection was a continuous line of strange carved hieroglyphic writing.
Dr. Tsum Um Nui, in 1962, had the enormously difficult task of transcribing the character from the disks to paper.
He estimated that they were at least 12,000 years old, with writing so small he had to use a magnifying glass to see it clearly, much of the writing had worn away, but he was so puzzled at how these primitive people could of fashioned these stones , and how they managed the almost microscopic writing.
Eventually he made progress and a word emerged, then another, and another until an entire sentence, he had broken the code!
Dr. Tsum Um Nui, discovered that the stones were written by a people who called themselves, the “Dropa” , but what he was reading 12,000 years later did not make sense to him.
However, when he had finished his translation, he wrote up a paper on his findings and presented it to the University for publication, however the reaction that he encountered was not what he expected.
The Academy of Prehistory expressly forbade him to publish or even speak about his findings. The world, the Academy decided, would not know about the “Dropa” and their fateful journey to Earth!
The 716 disc plates, tells the story of the, Dropa being a space probe from a distant planet that crash-landed in the Baian-Kara-Ula Mountains of the Himalayas.
The occupants of the spacecraft, the Dropa, found refuge in a caves of the mountains, and further tell how they were unable to repair their disabled spacecraft, leaving them unable to return to their home planet, becoming stranded on earth.
Why did the Academy of Prehistory forbid Dr. Tsum Um Nui, from publishing his paper on the transcriptions from the 716, ancient plates?

North Korean Traffic Officer Crying During Award, Chinese Reactions


North Korean Traffic Officer Crying During Award, Chinese Reactions

Pyongyang, North Korea, female traffic officer Ri Kyong Sim crying and wailing as she receives the rare "Hero of the Republic" award and honor for protecting a senior government official.

North Korean Female Traffic Officer Bawling While Receiving Hero of the Republic Award

May 9th, Japan’s NHK television channel reported that a female traffic police officer in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, as a result of her efforts to protect a revolutionary senior official’s safety, was awarded North Korea’s highest “Hero of the Republic” honor. Photos are of the award ceremony, where the female officer cried emotionally.
Pyongyang, North Korea, female traffic officer Ri Kyong Sim crying and wailing as she receives the rare "Hero of the Republic" award and honor for protecting a senior government official.
Pyongyang, North Korea, female traffic officer Ri Kyong Sim crying and wailing as she receives the rare "Hero of the Republic" award and honor for protecting a senior government official.
Pyongyang, North Korea, female traffic officer Ri Kyong Sim awarded the rare "Hero of the Republic" honor for protecting a senior government official.
Pyongyang, North Korea, female traffic officer Ri Kyong Sim awarded the rare "Hero of the Republic" honor for protecting a senior government official.
Pyongyang, North Korea, female traffic officer Ri Kyong Sim awarded the rare "Hero of the Republic" honor for protecting a senior government official.
Comments from NetEase:
海上钓鳌客 [网易山东省潍坊市网友]:
50 years ago, we too were this pathetic.
永远的未成年 [网易江苏省苏州市网友]:
You guys shouldn’t laugh, we’ve merely just taken two steps ahead of them. This is something my brother’s friend who emigrated to Denmark said to me. At the time, I was very angry, and verbally attacked him even more fiercely than awuman. But now that I think about it, I was so foolish.
网易山西省忻州市网友:
This is a disease/illness, that requires curing.
网易浙江省嘉兴市手机网友:
Crying so bitterly, as if the senior official died. I bet if I said this in North Korea, I’d be locked in jail.
网易山东省网友 [狮屎胜於熊便]:
网易广西手机网友:
That face looks as if she’s lost a husband.
网易广东省广州市手机网友:
Not being educated sure is scary. Take a look at how the people of developed countries receive awards and talk with leaders. Then think about how a bunch of people weep when they see Fatty Kim. This is the disparity in education.
网易重庆市手机网友:
A country where one can only survive by acting.
网易天津市网友 [炮打茅侧洞]:
No worries, continue on, and after a few years, North Korea’s mental retards will go extinct… Starvation is a means of natural selection… Those who don’t use their brains deserve to die of hunger.
网易广东省广州市手机网友:
If Fatty Kim III really died, then the North Korean people would be laughing!
网易广东省东莞市网友:
Hehe, only afraid of not being able to disgust you guys to death, this JBcountry.
lu4163 [网易广西手机网友]:
Feels like she wouldn’t be that upset even if her own father died.
网易福建省龙岩市网友:
Not being moved when getting an award and the reverence of people is what would be strange, whereas in China, everything is all about money money money.
sheng5205205 [网易江苏省盐城市网友]:
Little North Korea is alright. For them to be able to be so firm and staunch in the face of the United States making things so difficult for it and blockading it, that’s very rare and precious. This is a kind of quality/essence, unlike Little South Korea, which yells for its sugar daddy whenever something happens.
大连通通网络 [网易辽宁省大连市网友]:
Knowing how to cry in North Korea is like knowing how to play stupid in theHeavenly Kingdom. It’s a kind of basic survival skill.

Life in North Korean Prison Camp, Chinese Netizen Reactions

Life in North Korean Prison Camp, Chinese Netizen Reactions

north-korean-prison-concentration-camp-life-01
From NetEase:

Foreign Media Exposes Life in North Korean Concentration Camp

According to a report by the UK’s Daily Mail on the 23rd, a guard of North Korea’s Prison/Concentration Camp No. 16 recently revealed the cruel living conditions inside the concentration camp. This guard surnamed Lee has withheld his name to avoid reprisals against his family. According to reports, this concentration camp imprisoned approximately 2000 political prisoners. Thousands of people who have been imprisoned here have afterwards died.
north-korean-prison-concentration-camp-life-02
Some high-level political prisons unhappy with Kim Jong-un’s governance of the country have been sent to the concentration camp along with their families. This former guard says these people will be stripped of their possessions and the family members will no longer be able to see each other. The concentration camp occupies 200 square miles.
north-korean-prison-concentration-camp-life-03
Prisoners are forced to work in -25 degree temperature conditions, with starvation being common, and many people worked to death.
Photo is of a North Korean female soldier guarding a prison camp.
Photo is of a North Korean female soldier guarding a prison camp.
Image is of a drawing of prisoners inside the concentration camps. Guards will brag between themselves about the ways they execute prisoners.
Image is of a drawing of prisoners inside the concentration camps. Guards will brag between themselves about the ways they execute prisoners.
<span title="图为惩罚犯人的一些方法。">Image is of several ways prisoners are punished.</span>
Image is of several ways prisoners are punished.
Image is of several ways prisoners are punished.
Image is of several ways prisoners are punished.
Image is of prisoners relying on grass, mice, snakes, and even ants to allay their hunger.
Image is of prisoners relying on grass, mice, snakes, and even ants to allay their hunger.
Image is of several ways prisoners are punished.
Image is of several ways prisoners are punished.
Photo is of North Korean soldiers.
Photo is of North Korean soldiers.
A North Korean soldier at Sinuiju on the Yalu River bank.
A North Korean soldier at Sinuiju on the Yalu River bank.
Photo is of a North Korean concentration camp.
Photo is of a North Korean concentration camp.
Photo is of a North Korean concentration camp.
Photo is of a North Korean concentration camp.
Comments from NetEase:
夏小阿碗 [网易江苏省镇江市网友]:
Strongly recommend watching a movie called Crossing, which has scenes of [what it is like in a] concentration camp.
网易辽宁省大连市网友 ip:182.201.*.*:
For a country like this that is this lousy, the end will be the same.
X以下犯上X [网易广东省网友]:
North Korea today is a very good history lesson for Chinese people.
大新帝国 [网易湖南省长沙市网友]:
Those who can come out alive must be unrivaled martial arts masters.
网易山东省德州市网友 ip:119.189.*.*:
Guantanamo is even more advanced than North Korean concentration camps.
网易安徽省宿州市泗县网友 [请叫我党员]:
North Korea doing this is reasonable, as well as necessary. Those political prisoners who attempt to topple socialist regimes and agitate for Western notions of freedom should be vigilantly punished, killed as a warning to others.
加107723974 [网易四川省成都市网友]: (responding to above)
Those who want to fuck the mother of the person above, ding this comment.
普世价值1 [网易河南省信阳市网友]:
Dictatorships always collapse suddenly, democracies are not established in a day, the people will not let you wait long, history will not let you be disappointed.
关注他的微博 不拿群众一针一线的老红军 [网易浙江省金华市网友]:
North Korea is not a country with prisons, but a prison with a country. The establishment of the so-called state machine is only to perpetuate and more effectively manage this super prison. Remove the “People’s Republic” painted skin and this “North Korean Democratic Concentration Camp” is the most authoritative interpretation of democratic centralism of our age, it also representing a festering sore of modern civilization.
网易河北省唐山市网友 ip:110.250.*.*:
Seeing North Korea like this, I once again thank American Empire [Imperialist America, American imperialism].