Recently a Russian warship sank a Chinese cargo vessel, the New Star, just off the port of Nakhodka. Seven crewmembers died in the incident. However, the attitudes of the two countries show a stark contrast.
According to media, the incident was triggered by the Chinese cargo ship leaving the port without receiving permission. Beijing thought that the Russian warship should have taken the option to block the Chinese ship, instead of firing at the Chinese vessel. Its unwillingness to offer help to the Chinese ship and crew apparently violated humanitarian guidelines.
After the incident, Russia said only that it ‘regretted the tragic consequences’ but maintained that the New Star captain was fully responsible.
The outrageous attitude of Russia may cause indignation, but the cowardice of Beijing is simply shameful.
When reporting the incident, the Chinese communist regime’s official media used ambiguous words, tried to downplay the incident and pretended the regime was not clear about the attack. In fact, the China Marine Search and Rescue Center called New Star’s owner and confirmed the SOS signal that the ship had sent out. The regime knew exactly when it happened, and besides, the Chinese Consulate in Russia could also have learned the details from the abundant Russian media reports.
What upsets the Chinese people is that Beijing, knowing the Russian ship opened fire without warning, still went out of its way to get Russia off the hook. Russia admitted in its statement that it opened fire three times, causing the cargo ship to sink with the death of seven crew members. Beijing only expressed that it was ‘concerned, shocked, and resentful’ but still insisted that what happened was an accident and that the cargo ship was sunk by a natural peril at sea.
Beijing’s attitude is surprising, considering that it frequently ‘strongly protests” to western countries and instigates crowds to march on the streets and boycott imports from those countries when offended. Beijing calls itself a rising superpower yet condones the Russians’ murderous act. Many Internet bloggers say the regime’s response is ‘more spineless and incompetent than the late Qing Dynasty.’
There is a reason for Beijing’s unusual cowardliness. This incident happened during crucial negotiations between the two countries. On February 17, China and Russia signed an agreement, a ‘Loan for Petroleum’ so that a Russian state oil company could borrow US$25 billion from China by shipping 15 million tons of crude oil annually to China for the next 20 years. Beijing did not want to sabotage their negotiations and purposely played down the incident.
In fact, Beijing did not have to yield because it was Russia asking for help from Beijing. Currently the oil price is falling and Russia’s economy, which is highly reliant on oil, is facing a crisis. The unemployment rate is rising day by day and the state oil company is short of cash. On the other hand, China has more than enough foreign exchange reserves. Unfortunately, in Beijing’s eyes, buying oil from Russia is all about its political stability and nothing about the Chinese people’s interests. Whether civilians’ lives are important or not depends on the interests of the Party. Beijing did not want to offend Russia and allow any chance of the oil deal going wrong.
Also, Beijing quietly sat by because it does not care much about human rights. Beijing fears that once it starts to fight for the human rights of the ship’s crew, it will get itself into trouble in future incidents like this. “Sovereign rights come before human rights’ is the common principle of communist China and Russia, which hasn’t totally gotten rid of its communist nature and hence could unscrupulously sink a Chinese cargo ship. The communist party which sent machine guns and tanks to suppress students in Tiananmen and uses torture against dissidents in China, would rather let Russia sink a cargo ship than allow human rights to rise above its sovereign right.
Besides the oil deal, Russia has more on the Chinese Communist Party. Russia knows what Beijing needs and fears—Beijing needs support when criticised for human rights abuses. It fears the development of Falun Gong, and patriotic responses are only expedient for political purposes.
Most importantly, Russia knows it has power over a big shot in the CCP. As disclosed in “The Real Story of Jiang Zemin,” the regime’s former leader Jiang joined the KGB in 1955 while he was a student in Russia. This is what Jiang did not want people to know and to keep it quiet had to sign an agreement to give away 395 million acres of China’s land to Russia. As long as Jiang is alive, Beijing has to restrain its temper and endure humiliation when it comes to its relationship with Russia.
The New Star cargo ship sinking was simply a case of bad luck and bad timing.
Read original article in Chinese
According to media, the incident was triggered by the Chinese cargo ship leaving the port without receiving permission. Beijing thought that the Russian warship should have taken the option to block the Chinese ship, instead of firing at the Chinese vessel. Its unwillingness to offer help to the Chinese ship and crew apparently violated humanitarian guidelines.
After the incident, Russia said only that it ‘regretted the tragic consequences’ but maintained that the New Star captain was fully responsible.
The outrageous attitude of Russia may cause indignation, but the cowardice of Beijing is simply shameful.
When reporting the incident, the Chinese communist regime’s official media used ambiguous words, tried to downplay the incident and pretended the regime was not clear about the attack. In fact, the China Marine Search and Rescue Center called New Star’s owner and confirmed the SOS signal that the ship had sent out. The regime knew exactly when it happened, and besides, the Chinese Consulate in Russia could also have learned the details from the abundant Russian media reports.
What upsets the Chinese people is that Beijing, knowing the Russian ship opened fire without warning, still went out of its way to get Russia off the hook. Russia admitted in its statement that it opened fire three times, causing the cargo ship to sink with the death of seven crew members. Beijing only expressed that it was ‘concerned, shocked, and resentful’ but still insisted that what happened was an accident and that the cargo ship was sunk by a natural peril at sea.
Beijing’s attitude is surprising, considering that it frequently ‘strongly protests” to western countries and instigates crowds to march on the streets and boycott imports from those countries when offended. Beijing calls itself a rising superpower yet condones the Russians’ murderous act. Many Internet bloggers say the regime’s response is ‘more spineless and incompetent than the late Qing Dynasty.’
There is a reason for Beijing’s unusual cowardliness. This incident happened during crucial negotiations between the two countries. On February 17, China and Russia signed an agreement, a ‘Loan for Petroleum’ so that a Russian state oil company could borrow US$25 billion from China by shipping 15 million tons of crude oil annually to China for the next 20 years. Beijing did not want to sabotage their negotiations and purposely played down the incident.
In fact, Beijing did not have to yield because it was Russia asking for help from Beijing. Currently the oil price is falling and Russia’s economy, which is highly reliant on oil, is facing a crisis. The unemployment rate is rising day by day and the state oil company is short of cash. On the other hand, China has more than enough foreign exchange reserves. Unfortunately, in Beijing’s eyes, buying oil from Russia is all about its political stability and nothing about the Chinese people’s interests. Whether civilians’ lives are important or not depends on the interests of the Party. Beijing did not want to offend Russia and allow any chance of the oil deal going wrong.
Also, Beijing quietly sat by because it does not care much about human rights. Beijing fears that once it starts to fight for the human rights of the ship’s crew, it will get itself into trouble in future incidents like this. “Sovereign rights come before human rights’ is the common principle of communist China and Russia, which hasn’t totally gotten rid of its communist nature and hence could unscrupulously sink a Chinese cargo ship. The communist party which sent machine guns and tanks to suppress students in Tiananmen and uses torture against dissidents in China, would rather let Russia sink a cargo ship than allow human rights to rise above its sovereign right.
Besides the oil deal, Russia has more on the Chinese Communist Party. Russia knows what Beijing needs and fears—Beijing needs support when criticised for human rights abuses. It fears the development of Falun Gong, and patriotic responses are only expedient for political purposes.
Most importantly, Russia knows it has power over a big shot in the CCP. As disclosed in “The Real Story of Jiang Zemin,” the regime’s former leader Jiang joined the KGB in 1955 while he was a student in Russia. This is what Jiang did not want people to know and to keep it quiet had to sign an agreement to give away 395 million acres of China’s land to Russia. As long as Jiang is alive, Beijing has to restrain its temper and endure humiliation when it comes to its relationship with Russia.
The New Star cargo ship sinking was simply a case of bad luck and bad timing.
Read original article in Chinese
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