Baloch House

Merics.org Chinese tech companies are  currently deploying an assortment of technological solutions  to help fight corona virus on the ground. Tech giant Baidu, for example, had previously unveiled a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to measure body temperatures by directing an infrared sensor onto the foreheads of moving passengers, while Shanghai Lingzhi Technology had developed a cleaning robot that sprays disinfectant on self-navigated routes in hospitals nonstop for three hours. Xinhua news on 9 February said the  Central Network Office (中央网信办) was allowing the use of personal data  on the grounds of “epidemic disease prevention.” Tech firms and local authorities were given  access to sensitive personal information  on condition everything is deleted after the epidemic prevention is completed. But remains to be seen whether big data and AI can help authorities to put preemptive measures in place – Baidu has a constantly updated map of all reported Coronavirus incidents

TRIVIUM CHINA Another Xinjiang leak A newly leaked document gives more insight into the government’s internment camps in Xinjiang. The FT summarizes: “The Karakax list appears to document the surveillance and imprisonment of hundreds of individuals from the Karakax region, where Turkic Uighur Muslims make up more than 90 per cent of the population.” What’s in the list: “The 137-page file contains personal data on more than 300 individuals in Karakax with relatives abroad.” “Details about family members, social circles and religious beliefs, as well as perceived misdemeanours, are also in the file.”  What the file is used for: “The file appears to be to record judgments on whether an individual should remain in one of four camps in the county or be moved to another part of the system.” This doesn’t look good: “[The list] contradicts Beijing’s claims that its 're-education’ programmes in Xinjiang are voluntary and target violent extremists.” “Justifications for imprisonment include p

Protests by local residents force Chinese investors to quit construction of new facility      By  Ching-Tse Cheng , Taiwan News, Staff Writer 2020/02/18 15:43 Kyrgyzstan part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. (Pixabay photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Chinese investment project in a remote mountainous part of Kyrgyzstan has been canceled over protests by local residents, resulting in the delay of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Belt and Road Initiative strategy. According to  Liberty Times , the project in At-Bashy, a district of the southeast Naryn Region, was agreed upon during a visit to the Central Asian nation by Chinese Secretary-General Xi Jinping (習近平) in 2019. Investors from China had planned to pour approximately US$300 million into a trade and logistics center in Kyrgyzstan, but this was met with resistance when hundreds of protesters rallied against the project's construction site on Monday (Feb. 17). A spokesperson for the local police said that more than

February 18, 2020 25 ISLAMABAD, Feb 18 (APP):Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a game changer for not only Pakistan but the whole region. He said CPEC was the key to success and prosperity of the country specially Balochistan, said a press release. The deputy speaker said this while talking to Lt. Gen ® Asim Saleem Bajwa, Chairman CPEC Authority here at Parliament House on Wednesday. The chairman CPEC authority briefed the deputy speaker about the ongoing projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in Balochistan. He said the completion of CPEC projects would usher in socio-economic prosperity in the country especially in Balochistan. He informed that work on Quetta-Zohb Highway was in full swing. Apprising about the ML-1 project, the chairman informed that work on Karachi Circular Railway, Thar to Chor and Karachi to Hub Railway lines would be initiated soon. Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and Chairman CEPC Authority condemned

February 18, 2020 29 MUZAFFARABAD, Feb 18 (APP):Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan Tuesday said said the progress on three out of four projects launched under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had slowed down, and the Pakistan and AJK governments were making joint efforts to put them back on track. Sardar Masood made these remarks while launching a report “CPEC in Azad Jammu and Kashmir – A Gateway to Connectivity and Beyond”, authored by Sabur Ali Sayyed of the Centre for Peace, Development and Reforms (CPDR), here at the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, an official statement said. CPDR Chairman Zulfiqar Abbasi and Executive Director Sardar Ershad Mahmood, Chief Planning AJK P&D Jamil Ahmad Khan, Sardar Sabur Ali and Vice Chancellor Prof Dr. Kaleem Abbasi also addressed the students and faculty who attended the launch. The AJK president said the 720 MW Karot hydropower project was near completion, while initial planning for the Mansehra-Mirpur

PakObserver.net   News desk 8 hours ago Naveed Aman Khan BRI is a welfare project. China, because of its economic policies, has captured almost all the world potential markets. Even in the US, UK and European markets, Chinese products are available in abundance. Within a very short span of time, China has transformed its agriculture and Industry with latest technology. China has invested almost US $ 64 billion on CPEC. Gwadar has acquired pivotal importance, thanks to the CPEC. We need to focus on the brisk development of Gwadar. If China can develop many cities, why can’t Pakistan? Only by rapidly developing and making Gwadar an international city, Pakistan can address its unemployment issue. Along CPEC, we need to develop and modernize northern areas of Pakistan as well. Renowned CPEC analyst Malik Muhammad Ishaq, one of the leading business tycoons of Pakistan, is running wide range of his diverse businesses in Pakistan, UK, UAE, USA, China, Europe and Africa. He is a big story of s

THE NEWSPAPER'S STAFF REPORTER KARACHI: A Balochistan trader was found shot dead near the Northern Bypass on Tuesday, police said. They said the body of 36-year-old Abdul Kareem was found at a desolate place within the remit of the Mochko police station. The victim was identified as a resident of Hub with a business of auto products. “The local police were approached by his family on Monday with complaints that he had not returned from Karachi where he was on a business visit,” said an official at the Mochko police station. “An initial probe suggested that he came to Karachi to collect money from his business associates. It seems that he was kidnapped and then killed.” Woman gunned down in Sachal A mother of three was shot dead in her home in the Sachal area on Tuesday. The area police said that Amna Bibi, 25, was shot dead inside her home in the katchi abadi where she was alone with her three children. “The victim and her family originally hailed from a tribal area in Khyber Pakht

Pseudo-Caliphate and India Tuesday, 18 February 2020  |  Sandhya Jai n Daily Pioneer By throwing his weight behind Islamabad on the Kashmir issue, Erdogan unambiguously signalled his intention to emerge as the imam of the new Caliphate he hopes to lead Even if we overlook the facts about which nation is “occupying” Kashmir, by stating that there is “no difference between Gallipoli and occupied Kashmir”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unambiguously signalled his intention to emerge as the “imam” of the new (pseudo) Caliphate he hopes to lead by 2023, the centenary of the Turkish Republic. Addressing a joint session of Pakistan’s Parliament (February 14), he lauded sacrifices made by it in the war on terror and the “positive contributions” it made to the Afghanistan peace process and promised support during the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meet in Paris (February 16-21, 2020). His denunciation of US President Donald Trump’s Mideast plan hints at an eventual challenge to Riy

THE NEWSPAPER'S STAFF REPORTER KARACHI: The government is committed to making Gwadar a ‘smart port city’ and in this regard a 50-year master plan and by-laws are being prepared for development activities, Director General Gwadar Development Authority (GDA), Shahzeb Khan Kakar said on Monday. The GDA official, addressing members of the Association of Builders and Deve­lopers of Pakistan (ABAD), said all hurdles in Gwadar’s development have been removed and the city will be future Singapore. Gwadar was set to become a modern city like Singapore 10 years ago but due to some mistakes this dream could not materialise but now these issues are being rectified, a press release issued by ABAD quoted the GDA official as saying. Availability of water was a major issue in Gwadar but this problem is now being resolved as pipelines are being installed to bring in water from various dams while desalination plants are also being installed, he said. Electricity is another issue but now a 300-megawa

Inkstonenews.com Science, espionage and paranoia in US-China relations Photo: AFP/Scott Olson/Getty Imagesby Kit Gillet A new book details an unusual FBI investigation into a theft of corn seeds, the US and China’s fight over industrial secrets and the cost of American paranoia. A smartly dressed Chinese man was spotted in a field in rural Iowa, in the United States, in autumn 2011. This was enough to raise suspicion in a community that was 97% white and the local police went to check it out. Thus began perhaps one of the stranger cases of industrial espionage in recent years, one that highlights the threat of industrial theft and the overblown  atmosphere of fear and mistrust  that exists between the United States and China over  intellectual property  and  trade . The field in question was planted with genetically modified seed lines developed by agricultural giant Monsanto, a company that guards its intellectual property – like hybrid seeds and fertilizer – with great secrecy, deter

By   Phil Schueler  - February 18, 2020         Courtesy Photo / wm.edu Thursday, Feb. 13, the Alexander Hamilton Society at the College of William and Mary hosted a discussion in McGlothlin-Street Hall entitled “China’s Western Horizon: Geopolitical Consequences and China’s BRI” with associate proffesor of government Rani Mullen serving as moderator with guest Professor Daniel Markey of Johns Hopkins University. The discussion centered around the topic of China’s relationship with its western and southern neighbors. Themes of the discussion included the effect of China’s rising power on Indo-Pakistani relations, China’s influence on the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia and the state of China’s restive Xinjiang province. Markey is a senior research professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and served as senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2007 to 2015. Prior to his time on the Council, Mar