KAZAKHSTAN, ISRAEL: PRESIDENTS DISCUSS BILATERAL RELATIONS
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Israeli President Shimon Peres
held a telephone conversation on March 4 regarding the status and
prospects of developing bilateral relations, Kazinform reported citing
President Nazarbayev's press office. The two leaders recognized the
significance of agreements, including the creation of a joint high tech
fund, that were reached during Peres' prior visit to Kazakhstan.
GEORGIA: A NEW MILITARY STRATEGY
Summary
The Georgian government is undertaking a comprehensive review of the
country's military, taking into account lessons learned in -- and
circumstances created by -- the Russo-Georgian war of 2008. Georgia's
strategy will focus on improving its own military abilities while moving
toward membership in NATO.
Analysis
Georgia is conducting a comprehensive review of its military. The Russo-
Georgian war in August 2008 left Georgia literally broken, with the
secessionist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia declaring formal
independence afterwards. These regions also became home to thousands of
Russian troops (reports vary from 1,000 to 5,000 troops in each region),
and Moscow will be solidifying its presence in each territory by
building permanent military bases there.
The war showed the Georgians that their equipment -- most of which was
from the Soviet era -- simply did not work against the more powerful
Russian military. Furthermore, the pro-Western Georgia, which is a NATO
partner but not an official member, did not get the support from NATO
members that it sorely wanted and needed during the war.
Although the military review is ongoing, the Georgians have already
defined the two areas of focus for their strategy: independent
territorial defense, and political deterrence achieved by moving ever
closer to NATO membership.
For territorial defense, Georgia has determined that, as a matter of
national security and survival, it needs its own defense and deterrence
capability, regardless of its relationship with NATO. For this, it needs
to upgrade its military assets and weaponry, particularly anti-armor and
air defense equipment. The problem with this is that the top three
sellers of military equipment to Georgia -- Kazakhstan, Ukraine and
Israel -- are all cutting their defense ties to Georgia due to pressure
from Moscow. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- very aware of
Russia's leverage over Iran -- has stated publicly that his country will
stop sending military supplies to Georgia. This was finalized during his
last trip to Moscow in February. While Kazakhstan and Ukraine have not
made such public declarations, STRATFOR sources in Georgia say that
Tbilisi expects these supplies to be cut. This is primarily due to the
recent change to a pro-Russian administration in Ukraine, and Russia's
increased economic pressure and influence in Kazakhstan.
Georgia is therefore looking for alternative weapons suppliers to
rebuild and strengthen its military. Theoretically, the United States
would fill that role. Washington has said that it would never place an
embargo on Tbilisi like other countries have. But Tbilisi is unsure of
the extent to which Washington is willing to provide it with equipment
and training when it really needs it. Georgia is concerned that when
push comes to shove (for example, in another war with Russia), the
United States will not truly support the Georgian military.
The Georgians have also been looking to other NATO members for
assistance. Indeed, Georgia has just begun consultations on this issue
with Poland. Poland and Georgia have created a loose and vague security
pact, but Tbilisi is not sure what exactly will come of it. To Georgia,
Poland is a promising partner because both countries are mistrustful of
Russia's intentions, and Poland has received considerable U.S. military
support as part of Washington's ballistic missile defense plans,
including Patriot missiles and military training and exercises. This is
particularly significant because Poland has made greater strides in
advancing from the post-Soviet period when the Polish military suffered
from many of the same weaknesses the Georgians are still trying to
overcome. The reform of the Polish military and Warsaw's rapid ascension
to NATO membership is exactly what the Georgians aspire to -- and
Tbilisi hopes to learn from Poland's successes and challenges in that
evolution.
As far as other NATO heavyweights, Georgia simply does not trust Germany
or Turkey, as it considers both too close to Moscow. France would have
been a good partner for Georgia, as it is less integrated with Russia in
the energy sphere, and even mediated between Russia and Georgia
following the 2008 war. But the ongoing negotiations between France and
Russia over the sale of Mistral warships to Moscow has left Tbilisi
feeling as if it has been betrayed, and that Paris is just as
untrustworthy as Berlin.
But despite these hurdles, Georgia is following Poland's model. Even
without a formal membership action plan (MAP) extended by NATO, it is
doing everything it can to act as though it does have a MAP and is
working independently to meet NATO standards, cooperating with willing
NATO members bilaterally where possible.
As Georgia completes its comprehensive military review, it will start
shopping around for the weapons and equipment it needs to build up its
territorial defense, and will attempt to clarify the specifics of the
relationships and deals it has with NATO members in hopes of finding
suitors. While it is far from guaranteed that Georgia will secure what
it needs, it will nevertheless do what it can, as it is a matter of
survival for the Georgians in the face of a resurgent and aggressive Russia.
SOMALIA: U.S. CONSIDERS HELPING TRAIN SOMALI MILITARY
Maj. Gen. Richard J. Sherlock, head of plans for the U.S. Africa
Command, said the United States may join a European Union program to
train Somali armed forces, the Washington Post reported March 4.
Sherlock and Ambassador Anthony Holmes of Africa Command's civil-
military affairs office met with EU officials March 4 to discuss ways to
contribute to training Somali forces. The EU plan, which will begin in
May, will involve about 200 military instructors training up to 2,000
Somali troops in Uganda.
TAIWAN: NAVAL VESSEL COLLIDES WITH CHINESE FREIGHTER
A Taiwanese naval vessel collided with a Chinese freighter off the coast
of the island of Kinmen on March 4, Taiwan's Central News Agency
reported. The Chung Pang, a supply ship in the Taiwanese Navy's 151st
Fleet, was traveling from Taiwan to Kinmen in thick fog when it was
involved in a glancing collision with China's Shunlong No. 6, which was
traveling from Zhejiang province to Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
Taiwan's coast guard is investigating the cause of the collision.
GREECE: ECB CHIEF SAYS IMF HELP NOT APPROPRIATE
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said March 4 he did
not think it would be appropriate for the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) to step in to help Greece through its financial crisis, DPA
reported. Trichet said, "I do not trust that it would be appropriate to
have the introduction of the IMF as a supplier of help through standby
or through any kind of such help."
COLOMBIA: 2 ARRESTED IN ALLEGED ASSASSINATION PLOT ON SUPREME COURT JUSTICES
Colombian Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza Diago met March 4 with
members of the Colombian supreme court to discuss a possible attempt on
the lives of three court justices, El Espectador reported. The alleged
plot was discovered by intelligence agents from the attorney general's
office and two suspected hitmen were captured in Bogota, Caracol Radio
reported.
BRIEF: GREEK BOND SALES BEGIN
Applying STRATFOR analysis to breaking news
The sale of Greek 10-year bonds valued at a total of 5 billion euros
($6.8 billion) began March 4, with Barclays Capital, HSBC, National Bank
of Greece, Nomura and Piraeus Bank handling the sale, according to the
Greek debt agency. The 10-year bonds are offered at a yield of 6.39
percent, which is 0.29 percent higher than the current bond yield. The
agency also announced on March 4 that Greece would issue 8 billion euros
($10.9 billion) in 5-year notes at a yield of 6.1 percent, a sale led by
Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the
National Bank of Greece. It should be noted that the yield offered on
the 5-year notes is lower than the 6.2 percent yield offered in the
January sale of 8 billion euros ($10.9 billion) worth of 5-year notes.
The sales come after Greece announced another round of austerity
measures March 3 worth 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion), a move that was
largely seen as aimed at improving the investor outlook on Greece. It
also comes on the heels of a meeting between the prime minister and
finance minister of Greece with the CEO of Deutsche Bank on Feb. 26,
largely seen as a move to pave the way for Deutsche Bank participation
in Greek bond auctions. The precise bond sale date had not been made
known, although the auction has been awaited for two weeks, and the
rather sudden announcement today seems to indicate that Athens is
looking to complete a prearranged sale to banks with which it has had
negotiations. STRATFOR will continue to monitor the progress of the
auction, but if Athens is selling the bonds to banks that have already
signed off on the offered yield, then we suspect that the sale will go
through. The 13 billion euros ($17.7 billion) worth of bonds will cover
more than half of the 23 billion euros ($31.4 billion) worth of debt
Greece must sell by the end of May due to maturing debt.
COTE D'IVORIE: OPPOSITION NAMES 11 TO UNITY GOVERNMENT
Cote d'Ivoire's opposition named 11 members to the country's unity
government March 4, AP reported. The 28-member Cabinet is made up of 16
ministers from President Laurent Gbagbo's FPI party and former New
Forces rebels; 11 ministers representing opposition parties; and Prime
Minister Guillaume Soro.
ISRAEL: SOME SAY FM IS ON WAY OUT OF POST
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman may be on his way out of his
position, said an unnamed government minister, and many are not
bothering to call for him to resign, Ynet News reported March 4. Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on the evening of March 3 that
Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party would have to decide about a
replacement of Lieberman, said a prime minister associate.
GREECE: UNION LOOKING AT RESCHEDULING STRIKE
Greece's primary union for public workers, ADEDY, said it is looking at
rescheduling a 24-hour, March 16 strike, to the week of March 8,
Bloomberg reported March 4. The General Confederation of Workers of
Greece's executive met on March 4 to discuss strikes and protests.
PAKISTAN: ARREST MAY BE TIED TO TALIBAN FEUD - MCCHRYSTAL
It is possible the arrest in Pakistan of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was
a result of a feud within the Taliban and purges, said U.S. and NATO in
Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Reuters reported on March 4.
BAHRAIN: SHIITE OPPOSITION CALLS FOR PARLIAMENT TO CHOOSE CABINET
Bahrain's largest Shiite parliamentary bloc is calling for the Cabinet
to be chosen by parliament, rather than the king, creating friction with
Sunni politicians, Khaleej Times reported March 4, citing Reuters
Arabic. The al Wefaq bloc has 17 of 40 seats. The country's national
charter, passed in 2002, makes it clear that Bahrain is to move to a
constitutional monarchy, a senior al Wefaq source said, although there
is no intention to challenge the royal family.
BRIEF: GREEK BOND SALE COMPLETED
Applying STRATFOR analysis to breaking news
Greece's 5 billion euro ($6.8 billion) 10-year bond sale was
successfully completed on March 4. Total investor demand for the bonds
exceeded 16 billion euros, according to Petros Christodoulou, head of
the Greek debt agency, Bloomberg reported. Greece offered a yield of
6.35 percent on the rates, which was higher than the yield of 6.09
percent on bonds of similar maturity. The return of investor interest
will be a welcome reprieve for Athens, which is dealing with a restive
populace planning strikes for the next two weeks and with a need to
raise another 18 billion euros ($24.6 billion) before the end of May in
order to repay maturing debt. The successful bond auction also comes as
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou departs for Berlin on March 5,
where he will hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Papandreou is still seeking support from the eurozone, but a successful
bond auction will only support Germany's argument that Athens can secure
international funding simply by committing to its austerity measures,
without the help of the eurozone.
CHINA: REFORMING THE STATE-OWNED SECTOR
Summary
China may be developing another organization to assist in reforming its
state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to media reports. China has
long sought to improve the performance of its SOEs, and already has two
such organizations tasked with conducting reforms. The emergence of this
new group, called the Guoxin Asset Management Corp., underscores the
importance Beijing places on salvaging its SOEs, legacies of the Maoist
era that still hold influence in the country.
Analysis
China's State Council has approved a plan by the State Assets
Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) to create a new asset
management company under its control, called Guoxin Asset Management
Corp., according to reports in Chinese media in recent days. The SASAC
was created in 2003 to play the role of investor on behalf of the
government in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and to manage their reform.
The SASAC was charged with restructuring and consolidating the massive
state-owned sector, responding to demands of both the central government
and the Communist Party on how to govern this sector.
China's economic transformation in recent decades has required it to go
to great pains over SOEs. In the Maoist era, China's industries were
taken over and operated by the state, but this gradually changed as
China sought market-oriented reforms beginning in the 1980s. In the
mid-1990s, after a massive bout of inflation that was fueled in great
part by wasteful SOE spending, the Chinese government under Premier Zhu
Rongji moved to cut down the SOE sector. This resulted in more than 40
million lost jobs, but it helped correct one of China's deepest
structural flaws and paved the way for a surge in private enterprise,
mostly export-oriented manufacturers on the coasts that became the
biggest source of employment in China.
Nevertheless, SOE reform was never finished and China retained a
sprawling state sector that was increasingly uncompetitive and dependent
on subsidies and government-provided credit to survive. Since the
sweeping reforms of the 1990s, SOE reform has moved only incrementally.
Currently, the SASAC has two state asset management companies, the State
Development and Investment Corp. and China Chengtong Group, both of
which were created in 2005 to help consolidate the SOEs. In this reform
process, the goal is ostensibly to separate the profitable units from
the unprofitable ones, with the profitable units spun off and the
unprofitable units subject to mergers and management changes to focus on
the areas in which they are competent.
The advantage of this strategy is that it attempts to salvage productive
sectors from a larger morass of inefficiency, state dependency and
corruption. The disadvantage is that the consolidation process results
in behemoth SOEs that are not well integrated or able to function as a
whole, but that have a greater concentration of political power --
mainly due to their $3.3 trillion worth of sales in 2009, and their role
as major employers -- and are able to preserve aspects of the state
sector from private competition, demand continued public funds for
support, and serve as vehicles for government officials' pet projects,
in turn squeezing private sector development.
A recent emphasis for the SASAC has been ensuring that capital is
allocated efficiently amid the massive increase in bank lending in 2009
and 2010 launched by the central government to stimulate the economy
during the global slowdown. Not only are a number of state-owned assets
mismanaged -- for instance, being directed by government officials
rather than businessmen -- but many, especially on the local level, do
not even have clear managers. The huge infusion of credit nationwide has
likely led to a range of ill-conceived investments (including illegal
speculation in equity and property markets by subsidiaries of SOEs) and
the SASAC is responsible both for supervising these investments and
containing any problems, as well as reporting and demoting corrupt
officials and employees.
It is not clear yet how Guoxin will operate -- some reports claim it
will act like the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp., but
rather than investing China's foreign exchange reserves, it will handle
domestic investments of assets in the industrial sector. Other accounts
say Guoxin will simply join the other two asset management corporations
overseen by SASAC in consolidating the SOE sector. The number of
centrally controlled SOEs stands at 128, down from 196 when the SASAC
reduction targets were set in 2003. Guoxin is to be responsible for
further consolidation, taking over at least 12 smaller SOEs and helping
the SASAC reach its goal of reducing the number of SOEs to 100 by the
end of 2010, and eventually down to 80.
STRATFOR will continue to watch the developments related to the SASAC's
new creation and overall SOE reform.
CHINA SECURITY MEMO: MARCH 4, 2010
A 'Fake' Alcohol Problem
Chinese media reported Feb. 25 that Jingzhou's Public Security Bureau
cracked down on an illicit alcohol production and sales operation worth
about 17 million yuan ($2.5 million), the biggest ever uncovered in
Hubei province. Earlier, in September 2009, police identified a store in
Jingzhou that was selling alcohol bottled and labeled with popular
Chinese brands such as Wuliangye, Maotai, Shuijingfang and Jiannanchun.
The subsequent investigation revealed that the alcohol had come from
Beijing, Xiangfan and Jingzhou, and originally had been produced in
underground distilleries in Hanyang district and Wuhan. Several suspects
also were arrested in Beijing.
This "fake" alcohol in China is typically low-quality liquor made in
cheap distilleries in western China, although some counterfeiters make
their own bootleg variety or use industrial alcohol (which is not meant
for consumption). The alcohol is put into genuine bottles that the
counterfeiters usually buy from nightclubs. STRATFOR sources say there
is a healthy black market in China for empty alcohol bottles with
genuine labels, which is what really drives this counterfeit industry.
Most producers use real bottles and sometimes reproduced labels, and
sell their counterfeit spirits at a fraction of the price. Retailers and
fencing operations in on the take may also have ties to bigger organized
crime networks.
Many karaoke music-video (KTV) bars and other nightclubs in China will
sell genuinely bottled brands (at KTVs, alcohol is usually purchased by
the bottle instead of by the drink) when customers first arrive and are
more sober. After the customers have consumed a bottle or two, the
counterfeit liquor is served, representing foreign as well as domestic
brands. These bars also are known for what one STRATFOR source calls
"stretching" (a tactic also used in the melamine scandal). The bar owner
will buy a case of genuinely branded liquor (12 bottles), remove 20
percent of the liquor from each bottle and refill the bottles with
denatured alcohol. This yields enough of the branded spirits to create
more than two full bottles of genuine product that can be sold at a
premium. Our sources say as much as 35 percent of the alcohol sold in
some areas of the country is adulterated or counterfeited. And it is a
lucrative industry. As much as $75 per bottle in pure profit can be made
when it is sold as the real thing.
Most of the counterfeit liquor is no more harmful than the brand it is
copying, but in some cases it has blinded or even killed unwitting
consumers. To protect their reputations, the brand-name liquor companies
are quick to investigate distilleries and bars when they find out about
counterfeit operations, often before the police get involved. And the
police are quick to respond in cases where people are poisoned. In most
cases, however, counterfeit alcohol is hard to detect, making it an
enticing and profitable venture for many.
Wage Protests
More than 2,000 assembly-line workers at Taiwanese-owned Lacquer Craft
Manufacturing in Dongguan, Guangdong province, staged a three-day strike
over wages, according to a March 2 media report. The Taiwanese employer
reportedly would not raise the workers' pay after nearby factories
supposedly had increased wages by almost 20 percent. Dongguan's Human
Resources Bureau issued a statement saying that only the provincial
government could decide to raise minimum wages, and they had yet to
announce a new wage level. According to a Lacquer Craft spokeswoman, all
of the workers have since returned.
Dongguan, a city built by China's export market, has been hit
particularly hard by the global economic crisis, and its problems are
now being exacerbated by a growing labor shortage as migrants take
advantage of lower costs and stimulus policies back home, making the
coastal export industries less enticing. Even before the economic
crisis, exporters were working on very slim profit margins -- often
estimated at 3 to 5 percent -- and raising wages could put many who
survived the crisis over the brink. If minimum wages are raised in an
effort to stave off social instability, the government also would likely
have to provide some subsidies to these industries if they want them to
survive.
The current labor shortage gives workers more bargaining power vis-a-vis
their employers, and we can expect further strikes as the central
government and provincial governments continue to discuss wage increases
(this issue is sure to be addressed at the National People's Congress
that begins March 5 in Beijing). Since some wealthy provinces can afford
such hikes while others cannot, the central government will be called to
make up the shortfall or risk having the blame shifted in Beijing's
direction.
Increased Security
In the run-up to the National People's Congress in Beijing, authorities
have tightened security in the metropolitan area, and this has included
preventing "petitioners" from traveling to the city to air their
grievances. According to a media report on March 2, the municipal
governments in Sanhe, Hebei province, and Yongzhou, Hunan province,
issued restrictions to prevent petitioners from traveling to Beijing.
Those who somehow evade local authorities and make the trip are often
monitored after they arrive in the city, either because of a tip by
local officials or by having their ID numbers show up in a police
database linked to hotel and hostel registrations.
An increased security presence has also been noted in Shanghai as
preparations continue for the six-month World Expo, which opens May 1.
Airports and roads, in particular, are being monitored closely. STRATFOR
sources say the Shanghai government is extremely concerned that domestic
terrorists will take advantage of the event to raise their profile.
Perhaps even more worrisome to authorities are localized protests,
especially regarding real estate issues, which could disrupt the smooth
operations of the expo and tarnish Shanghai's image internationally.
Feb. 25
Five people were found dead on a Malaysian ship near Zhuhai, Guangdong
province, on Feb. 21, Chinese media reported. Two were Malaysian crew
members, and the other three were Chinese citizens who had been on the
ship without local government approval. All five died from carbon
monoxide poisoning. The Chinese might have been onboard to smuggle oil
from the ship. The ship's owners claimed the Chinese were there to
collect garbage and metal scraps for recycling.
Baidu, the biggest Internet search engine in China, was fined 50,000
yuan (about $7,000) for intellectual property infringement by a court in
Beijing. Baidu said it would appeal.
A woman in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, was convicted of fraud and
sentenced to death after claiming she was related to a top city official
and obtaining some 470 million yuan (about $69 million) in loans from
people in the region between 2005 and 2008. She spent the money
gambling, paying interest on loans and buying luxury items.
Thirteen people died and five are missing after an explosion at the
Lihua Starch Co. factory in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province. Authorities are
investigating the cause of the blast, which injured another 50 people.
The Ministry of Public Security announced that it had solved 210 online
gambling cases and arrested 918 suspects in a two-week crackdown ending
Feb. 20.
Beijing police arrested 18 suspects connected to an attack on artists in
one of the city's art districts. Eight people were assaulted by thugs
who they believed had been hired by developers while the artists were
guarding the Zhengyang Creative Art Zone to keep it from being demolished.
A report issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that
crime in China has continued a sharp rise that began in 2007. In 2009,
public security cases increased by about 20 percent.
Feb. 26
A man died at a police station on Feb. 21 in Lushan, Henan province, and
police are suspected of torturing him, Chinese media reported. Early
reports indicated that the prisoner died from drinking hot water or
water out of an officer's bottle that contained "medicine." But the
man's family took photographs of his body that showed a hole in his
head, that his nipples had been cut off and that his genitals had been
damaged. Two days later four policemen were arrested, and the chief and
deputy chief were dismissed.
Fuzhou police announced they had solved an illegal emigration case and
detained 27 suspects in Fujian province. Some 80 individuals had been
charged a fee of about $80,000 each for help in illegally emigrating to
the United States and Europe over the past year.
Fujian provincial police announced they have stopped issuing passports
to residents of 19 villages near Fuzhou, an area considered a hotbed for
illegal emigration. Police also announced they have enhanced customs
controls and increased measures to detect human smuggling on boats.
Two men suspected of making at least 10 bomb threats to Shanghai
businesses were arrested. One man called supermarkets and threatened to
detonate bombs on the premises if he was not paid, recently asking for
25,000 yuan (about $3,600) from one grocery store. Another man was
arrested after calling Shanghai police from the northeastern city of
Yingkou, in Liaoning province, threatening to bomb Shanghai's Hongqiao
International Airport.
Jieyang police in Guangdong province shut down a counterfeit medicine
operation and arrested two suspects. Seized in the raid were 21 cartons
of fake repaglinide tablets, production equipment and packaging.
Repaglinide is a drug used for the treatment of type II diabetes.
Police in Qinghai province arrested two suspects and seized one gun
connected to an armed robbery, Chinese media reported. On Feb. 23, the
two men allegedly shot two people in a tobacco and alcohol store in
Ping'an and stole 1,000 yuan (about $147). Police arrested the suspects
the next day, and the suspects admitted to the crime.
Three people beat a police officer to death Jan. 31 after an argument in
a karaoke club in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, Chinese media reported.
Police announced they have arrested six suspects and one other suspect
is still at large.
An unidentified group of people demolished a two-story building that was
part of the Qingsong Primary School in Daye, Hubei province. The group
broke into the campus and used a bulldozer to destroy the building.
Three people were convicted of human trafficking and sentenced to four
to six years in prison by a court in Shanghai. A Chinese farmer from
Yunnan befriended two teenage Laotian girls while working in Laos and
coerced them into traveling to Wuhu, Anhui province, where he was
planning to sell them as wives. He then contacted two other people for
help in finding a buyer. They were planning to sell the girls for 30,000
yuan (about $4,400) each.
In a recent crackdown on aluminum exporters, authorities have accused
many Chinese companies of violating customs regulations and tax laws,
Chinese media reported. Shanghai customs officials are investigating
more than a dozen companies, and some have been forced to close down.
Manufacturers are claiming the inquiry is politically motivated and
results from a need for more tax revenue.
Five urban management officials went on trial for beating a street
vendor in Shanghai who ended up in a coma. The officials were in the
process of shutting down illegal street vendors when the fight occurred.
Feb. 27
Kunming police in Yunnan province arrested a Tanzanian man in the
airport who was suspected of drug smuggling, Chinese media reported. The
man later confessed that he had swallowed packets (according to the
media report) that contained 1,540 grams of heroin before flying from
Dar-es-Salaam to Kunming through Bangkok.
Feb. 28
Guangdong provincial border police in Shenzhen said they stopped two
smuggling attempts overnight. In one, they investigated a suspicious car
from which suspects had fled and found 85 boxes of cigarettes they
believed were being smuggled to Hong Kong. In the second case, they
seized a boat that was carrying 1,800 computer hard drives, 6,000 mobile
display screens and memory cards, all worth 1 million yuan (about $147,000).
An explosion during a New Year's celebration killed 20 people and
injured 50 in a village near Shenzhen, Guangdong province. The explosion
was caused by fireworks at a wealthy family's home and damaged a number
of nearby houses.
March 1
Border police in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, arrested a man carrying
nearly 5 kilograms of heroin at the Chinese-Myanmar border. A female
suspect involved in the smuggling was later arrested.
March 2
A bomb exploded on a minibus in Luxi, Yunnan province, leaving the
suspected bomber dead and 11 others injured. The suspect formerly worked
as an explosives technician before being convicted of drug trafficking
in 2000. He was believed to have had more than 100,000 yuan (about
$14,700) in gambling debts before he made the bomb from ammonium
nitrate. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
The trial of two sisters who are accused of making more than 100 million
yuan (about $14.7 million) by forcing hundreds of woman into
prostitution began in Chongqing. They are accused of operating nine
beauty salons, teahouses and hotels for the purpose of prostitution
since 1994. Many of the prostitutes were threatened or beaten, and the
sisters' 29-person gang paid off government officials to keep the
businesses open.
Dalian customs officials in Yunnan province arrested a nervous-looking
Chinese man after discovering that he was smuggling gall bladders from
endangered species of deer and trying to fly the organs to Seoul, South
Korea. Such animal products are commonly used in traditional Asian medicine.
Beijing police announced that they have seized 16,000 illegal knives
since 2007. Knife dealers are required to register with police and
record buyers' identities.
Chongqing ended its eight-month crackdown on organized crime and
authorities announced the arrests of 3,348 suspects. Liu Guanglei,
China's top party official overseeing law enforcement, said that 63
gangs were broken up during the operation.
Three officials of Guangxi's Human Resources Department were suspended
and another 18 suspects were detained in a scandal involving a civil
service exam. More than 1,500 police officers have been investigating
the case in which the contents of the exam were leaked. More than 900
recent test-takers have been questioned in the matter.
An official from the Guangxi Tobacco Monopoly Bureau was relieved of
his post after his diaries were posted online. They contained notes
about sexual acts with some of his colleagues as well as records of
bribes he had received. The case is currently under investigation.
A man turned himself into police in Gaoyang, Hebei province, after six
of his family members were found dead. They had arrived in the town
looking for work and were renting a home there.
Copyright 2010 Stratfor.
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